GLCD 5105 Great American Light Orchestras Reviews Broadcasts

THE GOLDEN AGE OF LIGHT MUSIC Great American Light Orchestras With Leroy Anderson - Percy Faith - Victor Young - Acquaviva - Gordon Jenkins - Andre Kostelanetz - Hugo Winterhalter - Morton Gould - Paul Weston, Richard Hayman - Paul Whiteman - David Rose etc. Sound Clips Track 02 The Bad And The Beautiful Track 20 Tropicana

Contents:
 

Among the foremost of the great names in American Light Music are Andre Kostelanetz, David Rose, Percy Faith and Morton Gould. Kostelanetz was born in Russia; Rose came from England; Faith was Canadian - leaving just Gould to be born in the USA, although his parents were Austrian and Russian. But all four came to represent all that was best about American music, and their influence encouraged many other orchestras to participate in this popular musical form, as evidenced in this collection.

Andre Kostelanetz (1901-1980) was one of the biggest names in American light orchestral music during the middle years of the 20th century. He created a rich symphonic style of scoring that was to transform many popular melodies into minor masterpieces, and there is little doubt that he influenced many of his contemporaries. He was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, but the Kostelanetz family emigrated to the USA in 1922. Young Andre had received a classical music education, and initially he used this training to work in various capacities with several opera houses. However, his arrival in America could hardly have been better timed.

Radio was starting to make an impact, and he got in on the ground floor of symphonic broadcasting, making a debut in 1924 with national broadcasts from New York. In 1928 he became a naturalised American, and in the same year he began a long association with the Atlantic Broadcasting System (later CBS) which resulted in a series of very popular radio programmes which lasted from the early 1930s right through to the 1950s. Numbering around 65 players, the CBS Symphony Orchestra was at that time the largest orchestra regularly on radio, and the show "Andre Kostelanetz Presents" became something of a national institution.

Although electrical recording had arrived in the mid-1920s, it would take some years before gramophone records could do justice to the kind of sounds that Kostelanetz wanted to achieve. He is credited with helping Columbia to improve its recording techniques, perhaps hastening the day in the late-1940s when they would become the world’s first company to issue commercial long-playing records at 33rpm. The Kostelanetz ‘sound’ was achieved largely through the way in which the music was scored, but it is reported that the Maestro (which was how he liked to be addressed) also used some physical means. Apart from adapted microphones, carpeting was placed under the trumpets to absorb some of their sound and to prevent them from drowning out the violins, who also had their own special flooring.

In North America Kostelanetz was a household name, thanks mainly to his work on radio and in the concert hall. In other countries he became known through his recordings, which must at times have caused his sound engineers some headaches. His arrangements favoured light and shade, with extremely loud passages being followed (sometimes quite abruptly) by quieter phases, often involving only a few instruments. Early 78 discs found it difficult to cope, especially when the softer moments were aggravated by the hisses and crackles inherent in the poor quality pressings that were around in the 1940s due to war conditions. But that didn’t stop people from buying them: during the 1940s Columbia calculated that his sales had topped 20 million records in the USA alone. In 1950 his record company confirmed that he was their best-selling Masterworks artist, further adding to his prestige.

As the century wore on, the money spent on radio productions dwindled, and eventually the live concerts which had helped to establish Kostelanetz in the hearts and minds of the American people came to an end. In 1963 he conceived and conducted the Lincoln Centre ‘Promenades’ of the New York Philharmonic, mixing symphonic music with dance, narration, mime and folk song. The success of this venture carried it through no less than 15 seasons. Although Kostelanetz went on to conduct almost all the major symphony orchestras of North and South America, as well as many in Europe and Japan, the New York Philharmonic was his home base. He held the post of guest conductor from 1952 to 1979, longer than anyone else in its long history.

During a period of 20 years from around 1940 onwards Andre Kostelanetz conducted a series of recordings that stand as fine examples of the art of the orchestral arranger. With hindsight, it is kinder to ignore his later work, when his record company obliged him to alter his style to pander to changing musical fashions, and the fact that the average age of record buyers was getting lower each year. Fortunately he was a prolific recording artist during his ‘glorious years’, and his tracks in this collection all emanate from that golden period. Andre Kostelanetz died at Port-au-Prince on the Caribbean island of Haiti on 13 January 1980, aged 78.

Morton Gould (1913-1996) became one of the most highly respected American composers, and his distinguished career was crowned with a Pulitzer Prize (for his Stringmusic, commissioned by Mstislav Rostropovich for the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington) just a year before his death at the age of 82. Other conductors attracted to Gould’s works included Arturo Toscanini, Leopold Stokowski and Leonard Slatkin. Gould composed for the concert hall, radio, television, films, theatre and ballet, in styles ranging from classical to jazz. The only area in which he didn’t succeed greatly was in popular songs – "I’ve written songs millions of people have not sung!" he once said.

Among his best-known works were the ballet Fall River Legend and American Symphonette No. 3, which became better known as Pavanne (the mis-spelling was deliberate). His American Salute (based on When Johnny Comes Marching Home) also caught the public’s attention. During his long career he steadily built up a reputation as a true guardian of the best in American music, resulting in several prestigious commissions such as America Sing which opened the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

Morton Gould made many light music recordings, often in praise of the greatest American songwriters. He was also attracted to Negro spirituals, both as an arranger of traditional songs and – as in the case of his LP ‘Spirituals For Orchestra’ – as a composer. From 1986 to 1994 Gould was President of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

Paul Weston (born Paul Wetstein 1912-1996) was entirely responsible for his own success. When you hear his orchestra you are hearing Paul Weston. He was responsible for the notes on the music manuscripts that his musicians performed with such magical results. His own instrument was the piano, although his particular favourites were saxes and clarinets. He turned to arranging during a period of forced inactivity recovering from an accident, and in 1934 he began contributing scores to well-known bands such as Joe Haymes, Rudy Vallee and Phil Harris. Tommy Dorset hired Weston as his chief arranger, an association which was to last for five years.

In 1940 he started working on Hollywood films, and eventually met songwriter Johnny Mercer, who in 1942 was in the process of forming Capitol Records in partnership with record-store owner Glenn Wallichs and composer Buddy de Sylva. So in 1943 Weston joined the staff at Capitol, where he recorded with their growing roster of singers, including Jo Stafford, whom he later married. In due course he began making orchestral 78s, and collections such as ‘Music For Dreaming’ and ‘Music For Memories’ were to provide the springboard for many future albums as his career progressed.

In the USA Weston distinguished himself in films, and was a regular on US radio and television. But internationally it was his ‘mood albums’ that made him famous. Unlike some of his contemporaries, he liked to use the whole orchestra, not just a few sections. "All I did was add strings to a dance band" he once explained. "The reason it still swung was because I used good jazz musicians." In 1971 the Trustees of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences gave its Trustees Award to Paul Weston. The citation read in part: "To Paul Weston, whose dedication, wisdom and strength led it (the Academy) through its earliest years, and whose inspiration and dedication ever since, has contributed so greatly to the Recording Academy’s development, acceptance and respect throughout the world."

David Rose was born on 15 June 1910 in London, England, and the family moved to the USA when he was just four-years-old. After leaving the Chicago College of Music at the age of 16, he joined Ted Fio Rito's dance band, and three years later became a pianist/ arranger/ conductor for NBC Radio. He moved to Hollywood, and in 1938 formed his own orchestra for the Mutual Broadcasting System, and featured on the programme "California Melodies". In 1943 he had a big hit with his own composition Holiday For Strings which firmly launched him as a light music composer in the eyes of the public. Other catchy novelties soon followed, such as Dance Of The Spanish Onion, One Love, Our Waltz and Manhattan Square Dance. During military service in World War II Rose was conductor for the Army-Air Force morale-boosting stage musical "Winged Victory", which was filmed in 1944. By the late '40s he was a regular on Red Skelton's radio show, moving with him into television. He later wrote scores and themes for over 20 television series and won Emmy awards for his 14 year stint on "Bonanza", 10 years with "Little House On The Prairie" and his work on three much-acclaimed Fred Astaire specials.

Rose began working in movies in 1941 and is credited with scoring 36 films. After chart success with Calypso Melody in 1957, Rose had a worldwide smash hit in 1962 with another of his own tunes, a humorous and satirical piece called The Stripper. He had actually composed this four years previously for a television show called "Burlesque", and it gathered dust on his record company’s shelves until they needed a ‘B’ side for Ebb Tide. A Los Angeles disc jockey picked it up, and the rest – as they say – is musical history. It spawned a complete album - "The Stripper and Other Fun Sons for the Family", one of the 50 or so LPs he recorded, including the best-selling "Like Young" and "Like Blue", made with André Previn. In total he won five Grammy awards and six gold records. Apart from his record, film and television work, Rose was guest conductor with several symphony orchestras. His Concerto For Flute And Orchestra was first played by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and later by the Boston Pops. Towards the end of his life his enduring passion was miniature steam trains, which ran on 900 feet of track around his house. Rose died on 23 August 1990, at his home in Burbank, California, aged 80.

Percy Faith was born in Toronto, Canada, on 7 April 1908, and originally he expected that his musical career would be as a concert pianist. But he injured his hands in a fire, which forced him to turn to composing, arranging and conducting. During the 1930s his programme "Music By Faith" was carried by the Mutual network in the USA, which prompted offers of work south of the border. He eventually succumbed in 1940, leaving Robert Farnon (previously his lead trumpeter) to conduct his Canadian orchestra. Initially Faith concentrated on broadcasting, and his occasional recording sessions during the 1940s were for several different companies. Things were to change when he signed a Columbia (CBS) contract in 1950, and he soon discovered that his singles sold well and the new long playing records needed the kind of popular instrumental sounds that had formed the basis of his broadcasts for so many years. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Faith arranged all his own material, and his exciting and vibrant scores made his work stand out among the rest. He accompanied many of Columbia’s contract singers, and even contributed the odd popular song, such as My Heart Cries For You for Guy Mitchell. But today it is his numerous albums that have created a resurgence of interest in his work, thanks to their reissue on CD. Faith was always busy, whether working in the recording studios, radio, television or films. Like David Rose, he was also a model railway enthusiast. He died at Encino, California, on 9 February 1976, aged 67.

Monty Kelly (1910-1971) was a trumpeter, arranger and bandleader who played with the Paul Whiteman and Skinnay Ennis bands before landing a job with NBC in New York. For a while he was a regular in the recording studios backing singers such as Al Martino, and he managed to secure some success with singles including Tropicana and Three O’clock In The Morning (heard on this CD) which reached the US Top 100 in 1953. This persuaded Cash Box magazine to name him ‘most promising orchestra’ that year, but by then the era of popular instrumentals was starting to wane in the USA. His albums continued to do well, and they are still sought by light music fans. Later he was one of the ‘anonymous’ conductor/arrangers for the ‘101 Strings’ series, specialising in their Latin-American LPs.

Leroy Anderson (1908-1975) is probably the best-loved American light music composer of his generation. For many years he was the chief arranger for the Boston Pops, and its famous conductor, Arthur Fiedler, introduced many Anderson novelties to an appreciative world. Perhaps Sleigh Ride has been the most enduring, but numerous others like Serenata, Belle Of The Ball, Blue Tango, Forgotten Dreams, The Waltzing Cat and Fiddle Faddle have ensured his rightful place in the Light Music Hall of Fame.

Gordon Jenkins (1910-1984) arranged for many of the top bands in America during the two World Wars, and he soon carved out an impressive career in radio and films. He signed with US Decca in 1945, and eventually became their managing director. Under his guidance the label had several big hits, although it has to be said that his own instrumental records sometimes disappointed. His ambitious "Manhattan Tower" first appeared in the mid-1940s, and it was later re-recorded by Capitol in 1956. Sadly time has not been kind to it. Far better were his arrangements for Nat King Cole (especially Stardust) and Frank Sinatra (the album No One Cares). Smoke Gets In Your Eyes comes from a collection of Jerome Kern Melodies, indicating that Jenkins could have created a far greater amount of tuneful orchestral scores, given the chance.

Hugo Winterhalter (1909-1973) arranged for the likes of Benny Goodman, Count Basie, Claude Thornhill and Will Bradley, before being appointed musical director at several different record companies. His biggest successes were at RCA and, despite his modest output of popular instrumental recordings, his work is still highly regarded.

In the USA Frank De Vol (1911-1999) is known primarily as the composer for the radio and TV series "The Brady Bunch", but light music fans appreciate that his career has been far more substantial. It was not uncommon to see the credit ‘Music by De Vol’ on many films, and he started playing violin in cinema orchestras just as the silent films era was coming to an end. After touring with the Alvino Rey orchestra, in the 1940s he began a recording career, first as an arranger for vocalists Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, Doris Day, Vic Damone and Nat "King" Cole. His arrangement of "Nature Boy" sung by Nat "King" Cole became a number one hit in 1948. That earned him an executive position at Columbia Records, for whom he went on to make a number of successful mood music albums. In the 1950s his own Hollywood orchestra, called "Music of the Century", played frequently at the Hollywood Palladium. His many motion picture scores included the following which were all nominated for Oscars: the Doris Day/Rock Hudson comedy "Pillow Talk" (1959), "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte" (1964), "Cat Ballou" (1965), and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" (1967). Frank also appeared as a character actor in several US television series, such as "I Dream of Jeannie", "Bonanza" and "Petticoat Junction".

As well as being a respected arranger and conductor, Richard Hayman (b. 1920) was also a harmonica virtuoso, and he sometimes adapted his scores of popular melodies so that he could perform on his favourite instrument. This formula brought him two chart successes in the early 1950s, with 78s of ‘Ruby’ and ‘April In Portugal’. He followed Leroy Anderson as an arranger for the Boston Pops Orchestra over a period of more than 30 years, and also served as Music Director of Mercury Records. He was regularly in demand to orchestrate Broadway shows and film soundtracks, and notable among his own compositions are ‘No Strings Attached’ and ‘Skipping Along’.

Meredith Willson (b. 1902) achieved his biggest success as composer of the Broadway musical "The Music Man" which was also turned into a popular film starring Robert Preston. Willson originally played the flute in John Philip Sousa’s band, then in the New York Philharmonic. A busy career in radio and films followed, punctuated by a spell as a major in the Armed Forces Radio Service during World War 2. Marguerite Waltz was originally written for one of Willson’s radio series "Encore" on NBC in 1952.

David Carroll (b. 1913) was musical director of Mercury Records from 1951 to the early 1960s, during which time he accompanied many of the label’s contract singers as well as making some instrumental recordings of his own. Several of his LPs had a ‘dance’ theme, often including his own compositions, and he employed the cream of Chicago’s session musicians.

Harry Horlick and Paul Whiteman (1890-1967) both belong to an earlier period of American music than most of the other orchestra leaders featured here, but their success helped to pave the way for the big names that were to take their place on centre stage.

Light orchestral music flourished in America throughout the 20^th century. It probably had its first great surge of popularity during the 1930s, thanks to the expansion of radio, closely followed by the influence of Hollywood and the magnificent scores that were composed for many films – largely by the group of now famous émigrés from Europe. Long playing records helped to spread the enjoyment of light music in millions of homes, and the famous orchestras heard in this collection were widely appreciated for their high standards. Popular melodies acquired bright, fresh scores, which often transformed them into minor concertos: the ingenious settings dreamed up by the gifted arrangers were frequently way beyond the aspirations of the tunesmiths, who merely thought that they had conjured up something for errand boys to whistle.

Page revised 07.04.06