Featured Composer CLIVE RICHARDSON

There are probably at least one thousand talented composers, arrangers and conductors whose work in the fields of Light, or Concert, music deserves to be recognised as outstanding. Sometimes composers arrange and conduct their own music; others prefer to allow arrangers to embellish their melody lines, but certainly all need conductors to perform their works. It is perhaps a bonus when composers conduct their own creations, because it can be assumed that they are being heard by audiences exactly as intended. But there are those who prefer to adopt a low profile – verging on anonymity – content to allow others to interpret their music.

Therefore any tribute such as this will invariably feature famous, high profile names alongside musicians whose work, and true identity, may be known to very few within the profession. They all have one thing in common: an undeniable talent to produce beautiful music for the whole world to enjoy, whether as creators (composers and/or arrangers), or interpreters (conductors whose skill in selecting and performing music has justifiably gained them recognition).

No attempt will be made to compile any kind of league table. Such exercises have little real value, because music appreciation is such a personal matter of taste. It is simply hoped that the works chosen for this collection will each have a certain appeal, and be recognised as valuable contributions to an important area within the world of music which came to prominence and flourished during the 20^th century.

This CD is aimed specifically at two kinds of buyer. First of all it is intended to offer newcomers to the World of Light Music a taste of some of the finest performances of works that have become classics in their own right. Secondly it is hoped that music lovers already familiar with the ‘big names’ will discover some surprises among the more familiar titles. Where certain well-known recordings may have previously appeared elsewhere, because of their importance the opportunity has been taken to return to the original recordings and undertake completely fresh digital restoration. Techniques are making great advances all the time and the improvement compared with releases in the late 1990s is sometimes quite astounding.

At this point it may be appropriate to mention that the kind of music some call ‘Light Music’ does attract different labels in various parts of the world. In North America it may be more familiar as ‘Concert Music’, while general terms such as ‘Easy Listening’ and ‘Middle of the Road’ have been coined by record companies anxious to suggest where record stores might display such discs on their shelves.

Detailed notes on each and every title would fill several booklets and many of the composers and conductors featured here have already been recognised with mini-biographies in previous Guild Light Music releases. But certain tracks have assumed great importance in shaping the way in which Light, or Concert Music developed during the past century, and it would be extremely remiss not to acknowledge such pieces.

Our opening number Holiday For Strings caused a great stir during World War 2. English-born David Rose (1910-1990) had previously been regarded as a jazz pianist, but he persuaded RCA to let him record four instrumental numbers and the session in March 1942 resulted in the million-seller which firmly launched his career as one of America’s top orchestras. At that time recording technology was still in its infancy and, although historically interesting, that very first RCA performance of Holiday For Strings does contain imperfections. In choosing the later version by Morton Gould (1913-1996) we can enjoy possibly the best early US recording of a work which has assumed its rightful place in the Light Music Hall of Fame.

Other American orchestras whose lasting fame is assured include the Boston Pops under its famous conductor, Arthur Fiedler (1894-1979); Andre Kostelanetz (1901-1980) whose radio broadcasts in the 1930s and 1940s brought light classics into millions of US homes; Percy Faith (1908-1976) – the Canadian whose own scintillating arrangements resulted in the sales of millions of LP albums; Nelson Riddle (1921-1985) possibly better known as Frank Sinatra’s brilliant arranger and conductor, but who deserved to make more purely orchestral records of his own; Camarata (1913-2005) who combined his entrepreneurial skills with conducting; and Harry Horlick, still fondly remembered from the early days of broadcasting.

In Britain Light Music had been around since Queen Victoria was on the throne. It has co-existed happily alongside whatever trends in popular music have come and gone, appealing as it does to generations of music-lovers who like to expand their appreciation of all kinds of quality musical fare. Classical composers have often dabbled in lighter works, and during the 20^th century the film industry would have struggled to find writers capable of providing background scores had light music not been around. Jazz has also taken up numbers from this repertoire; it is well-known that successful jazz needs a good melody to work on, so it is hardly surprising that light music has proved to be a fertile hunting ground.

Vivian Ellis (1903-1996) was firmly established as a successful composer of stage musicals long before he wrote Coronation Scot. It received a big boost when BBC radio chose it as the new signature tune for a detective series “Paul Temple” which had actually started in 1938.

Robert Farnon (1917-2005) is regarded by many as the man who ensured the survival of Light Music through his inventive and fresh approach which inspired so many of his fellow composers and arrangers. His Portrait Of A Flirt is, without question, one of the greatest pieces of its kind.

George Melachrino (1909-1965) was one of the top British conductors of light music, with his records (especially LPs) selling in large numbers around the world. Like many of his contemporaries he served his musical apprenticeship in British Dance Bands (especially Carroll Gibbons), then World War 2 found him fronting the British Band of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, alongside Glenn Miller and Robert Farnon who conducted the American and Canadian bands respectively. His Gorgeous Gown is one of the rarities on this CD, having never previously been available on a commercial release.

Ron Goodwin (1925-2003) was a brilliant composer, arranger and conductor, whose tuneful music reached the furthest corners of the world. As he gained recognition for his original compositions he became in demand for film scores and among his best-remembered are “633 Squadron” and “Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines”. His version of Wedding Of The Rose was one of his very first 78s for a small British company, Polygon, before EMI’s Parlophone label brought him international fame.

Stanley Black (1913-2002) was a talented pianist who eventually conducted numerous successful albums which sold in millions. He was also active in the British film industry, and could probably have become a leading composer had his other activities not been so demanding upon his time.

Sadly there is not enough room to mention all the composers and conductors on this CD, but the one man who carried the torch for Light Music during the first half of the last century was Eric Coates (1886-1957). Originally a successful composer of ballads, eventually he devoted all his energies to light music and was particularly adept at writing catchy melodies that appealed as BBC signature tunes, the most famous being Knightsbridge from “London Suite” (used as the opening and closing music for “In Town Tonight”). At one time it was the custom to compose ‘suites’ of three or more works that could be performed at concerts. From “Four Centuries” (1941) the spotlight falls upon the final movement Rhythm, which clearly demonstrates that Coates was not afraid to embrace the syncopated sounds that had wafted eastwards across the north Atlantic. In 1954 he provided the memorable march for the war film “The Dam Busters”, and his vast body of work is still attracting the attention of the new generation of conductors, resulting in welcome performances in the concert hall and on disc.

Featured Composer

The composer and pianist Clive Richardson (1909-1998) has contributed more to the genre of Light Music than most people realise. Although trained as a doctor, he soon realised that music was his future and, while still a student in 1931, he played the piano in Bach's 5th Brandenburg Concerto at the Queen's Hall, London, with Sir Henry Wood conducting. During the 1930s, as well as contributing arrangements, he acted as musical director for several West End revues, and spent several years touring with the international star Hildegarde as her accompanist.

The first steps towards his later career were taken in 1936 when he joined the Gaumont British Films Company as arranger and assistant musical director to Louis Levy. For the next three years he worked alongside many other famous names in British films and light music, including Charles Williams, Leighton Lucas, Jack Beaver, Bretton Byrd and Mischa Spoliansky, although almost every film only credited Louis Levy for the music, despite the fact that Levy did little conducting and virtually no composing himself.

During World War Two he served in the Royal Artillery Regiment but, like many other musicians who were drafted, he continued to be involved with music. In 1944 the BBC asked him to contribute arrangements to Tommy Handley's "ITMA" programme and his witty scores of folk songs, nursery rhymes and traditional melodies, played by Charles Shadwell and the BBC Variety Orchestra, became a popular feature.  

Towards the end of the war the publishers Lawrence Wright asked Richardson to compose an eight-minute work similar to Richard Addinsell's hugely successful "Warsaw Concerto", which had been featured in the 1941 film "Dangerous Moonlight" starring Anton Walbrook, Sally Gray and Cecil Parker. The work was originally conceived as "The Coventry Concerto" being a tribute to the Midlands city where Clive Richardson had been stationed. But as the score developed, the composer realised that it was more suited to the capital city and it eventually appeared in 1944 as "London Fantasia".  It portrayed a day in the life of a city being blitzed, opening with a broad theme suggesting Londoners at work and children at play (Richardson inter-weaved snatches of nursery rhymes); then the strings (with an eerily real interpretation of an air raid siren that apparently upset some people at the time) announce that heavy bombers are approaching. A raid ensues and bells accompany the arrival of the rescue services. Eventually the all-clear sounds and life returns to what passed as 'normal' in wartime. This magnificent mini-concerto provides the finale for our short tribute to Clive Richardson, and of the three versions that were recorded at the time the choice has fallen on Charles Williams’ version for Columbia, with the composer himself on piano.

Before that we feature two other pieces also from the 1940s: firstly the exuberant Holiday Spirit which was chosen by the BBC for its Children’s Television Newsreel, and then the atmospheric Outward Bound. Apart from composing, Clive also formed one half of “Four Hands in Harmony”, a popular piano duo which appeared in more than 500 broadcasts and performed throughout Britain during the 1940s. Clive Richardson continued composing for the rest of his life and his works have gained new admirers through the renaissance of light music on CDs which began in the 1990s. He was particularly proud of the LRAM after his name and, in 1988, received the Gold Award from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, for lifetime services to the music business.                                                                                                                                    David Ades