GLCD 5133 Amor Amor: Music for Romance Reviews & Broadcast

THE GOLDEN AGE OF LIGHT MUSIC Amor Amor: Music for Romance ROBERT FARNON AND HIS ORCHESTRA  - RON GOODWIN AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA  - DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA  - JOHNNY DOUGLAS AND HIS ORCHESTRA PHILIP GREEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA  - AMBROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA Conducted by LAURIE JOHNSON  - HENRI RENE AND HIS ORCHESTRA  - KINGSWAY PROMENADE ORCHESTRA Conducted by STANLEY BLACK - featuring STANLEY BLACK, piano - SIDNEY TORCH AND HIS ORCHESTRA  - WERNER MULLER AND HIS ORCHESTRA  - RAY MARTIN AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA  - BRUCE CAMPBELL AND HIS ORCHESTRA - ROBERT FARNON AND HIS ORCHESTRA  - ROBERTO INGLEZ AND HIS ORCHESTRA - FRANK CORDELL AND HIS ORCHESTRA - PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA QUEEN’S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by CHARLES WILLIAMS - GORDON JENKINS AND HIS ORCHESTRA HUGO WINTERHALTER AND HIS ORCHESTRA featuring EDDIE HEYWOOD, piano - THE MELACHRINO STRINGS Conducted by GEORGE MELACHRINO  -FRANK CHACKSFIELD AND HIS ORCHESTRA     04 They Can’t Take That Away From Me (George Gershwin, arr. Johnny Douglas)  - JOHNNY DOUGLAS AND HIS ORCHESTRA 08 The Song Is You (Jerome Kern, arr. Angela Morley) - KINGSWAY PROMENADE ORCHESTRA Conducted by STANLEY BLACK featuring STANLEY BLACK, piano 11  Unforgettable (Irving Gordon, arr. Ray Martin) - RAY MARTIN AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA 13 Last Night When We Were Young (Harold Arlen)  - DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA 21 Touch Of Your Hand (Jerome Kern)  - GORDON JENKINS AND HIS ORCHESTRA

Contents:
 

Romance has always been in fashion, but its expression in musical terms has certainly gone through many changes. Once upon a time a young swain would probably have serenaded his lady fair to the accompaniment of a stringed instrument of doubtful competence, but by the 1950s it was lush string orchestras that were the order of the day. The arrival of the long playing record at the end of the 1940s provided the ideal medium for programmes of soothing pleasant melodies that could be enjoyed as an accompaniment to dining and virtually any form of relaxation.

Some of the finest exponents of this particular art are included on this CD, and the spotlight falls first on the arranger and conductor who provides the album’s title track. Born in Toronto, Canada, Robert Farnon (1917-2005) came to Britain in 1944 as conductor of the Canadian Band of the Allied Expeditionary Forces. After the war he chose to remain in Britain where he quickly established himself in radio, records, films and television. His ability to create exceptional arrangements was recognised by many of his peers, particularly André Previn who said that he was the world’s greatest living writer for strings.

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”, “Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines” and Alfred Hitchcock’s “Frenzy”.

David Rose (1910-1990) was born in London, England, and the family moved to the USA when he was just four-years-old. He began working in movies in 1941 and is credited with scoring 36 films. 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. He later wrote scores and themes for over 20 television series.

Johnny Douglas (1920-2003) made his first professional appearance as a pianist in 1939 but soon afterwards he was called up for war service in the Royal Air Force where he formed his own dance band. After the war he began arranging for many famous bands including Bert Ambrose, Ted Heath, Edmundo Ros and Cyril Stapleton and he played piano with broadcasting outfits of all kinds. He gradually expanded his arranging skills and recorded over 500 titles for Decca, and received many commissions for radio and television work. In 1958 he was asked to score and conduct “Living Strings Play Music of the Sea” for RCA, which was recorded at the Kingsway Hall, London, with an orchestra of 61 musicians. This began his long association with RCA, New York, and during the next twenty-five years he made 80 albums for RCA alone and received a Gold disc for the RCA album entitled “Feelings”. Johnny has to his credit over 100 albums and 36 feature films, the most well-known of the latter being “The Railway Children” for which he received a British Academy Film & TV Arts Nomination.

Philip Green (1910-1982) began his professional career at the age of eighteen playing in various orchestras. His long recording career began with EMI in 1933, and he is credited with at least 150 film scores.

Although the record label for Starlit Hour names the Ambrose Orchestra, in truth all the credit has to go to the arranger and conductor Laurie Johnson (b.1927), who has been a leading figure on the British entertainment scene for 50 years. A gifted arranger and composer, Laurie has contributed to films, musical theatre, radio, television and records, with his music used in many well-known productions such as “The Avengers” and “The Professionals”.

Henri René (1906-1993) was born and raised in Germany, where he studied piano at Berlin's Royal Academy of Music; he emigrated to the US during the mid-1920s, appearing with a series of orchestras before returning to Berlin a few years later to serve as an arranger with a German record label. René came back to the States in 1936 to accept the position of musical director with RCA-Victor's international arm.

Stanley Black (1913-2002) was a pianist and arranger with the Harry Roy band, and during an engagement in South America in 1937 he was introduced to Latin American music which was to be an enduring passion for the rest of his life. After war service in the RAF, Black was kept busy with numerous broadcasts, films and a recording contract with Decca which resulted in many top selling albums prompting numerous international concert tours.

Sidney Torch (1908-1990) was one of Britain’s finest theatre organists during the 1930s. After war service in the Royal Air Force, where he conducted the RAF Concert Orchestra, he concentrated entirely on composing, arranging and conducting light music. For some reason he did not follow the example of many other orchestra leaders and make albums when long playing records arrived on the scene. His only Parlophone LP was a collection of earlier singles, but one notable exception was an album called “Music From Across The Sea” for the US label Coral. Two tracks from this very rare record are included on this CD, although those familiar with Torch’s work will find little evidence of his usual style in the orchestrations. Indeed it is possible that Torch merely fronted the orchestra.

Werner Müller (1920-1998) was a bassoonist who became the first conductor of the RIAS (Radio In American Sector) Dance Band based in Berlin, which gave its first concert on 24 April 1949. It was not long before Müller began to realise that the public’s love affair with the swing era was gradually starting to wane, and sixteen strings were added to the line up. A good example of the way in which strings became an integral part of the line up can be heard in Manhattan Serenade (GUILD GLCD 5130) from their LP “Holiday in New York”. In 1966 Werner moved to Westdeutsche Rundfunk in Cologne, where he continued to make LPs – both purely orchestral and also accompanying popular singers such as Caterina Valente.

Ray Martin (1918-1988) was one of the biggest names in British popular music during the 1950s.  His arrangement of Unforgettable surely brings out all the tragic pathos in this haunting melody.

Bruce Campbell was one of several writers who owed much to his association with Robert Farnon. He was a fellow Canadian, who came to Britain and played trombone with various British bands during the 1930s. He assisted Farnon on his post-war BBC radio shows, and eventually became a frequent contributor to various mood music libraries. His US LP “Lovelight” is very rare, and makes one wonder why he was not invited to make other albums in a similar style.

Roberto Inglez was actually a Scotsman called Robert Inglis (1919-1974) who specialised in Latin American music. He built up a loyal following through his work in leading London West End clubs and his frequent BBC broadcasts.

Frank Cordell (1918-1980) was a fine composer, arranger and conductor whose work first became noticed through the tuneful backings he often supplied to some contract singers on HMV singles in the 1950s. Occasionally he was allowed his own 78s, and he was also responsible for several fine LPs which quickly became collectors’ items.

Percy Faith (1908-1976) was born in Toronto, Canada, and 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. In the USA he became one of the most famous light orchestra conductors, and 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.

Charles Williams (real name Isaac Cozerbreit : 1893-1978) began his career accompanying silent films, then played violin under the batons of Beecham and Elgar. Right from the start of the ‘talkies’, he provided scores for numerous British films, and his “Dream Of Olwen” is still remembered long after the film in which it appeared – “While I Live”.

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. The Touch Of Your Hand comes from a collection of Jerome Kern Melodies.

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 where his recording of Canadian Sunset with its composer Eddie Heywood on piano sold two million copies in 1956. Sadly his earlier collaboration with Heywood on Land Of Dreams was less successful, but it still deserves its place on this CD.

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) before World War 2 found him fronting the British Band of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, alongside Glenn Miller and Robert Farnon.

Frank Chacksfield (1914-1995) conducted one of the finest light orchestras in the world, and during his long recording career with Decca alone, it is estimated that his albums sold more than 20 million copies. In total he made more than 150 long-playing albums which were released in many countries, especially in Europe, Japan and Australia as well as Britain and America.
David Ades

Page revised Thursday June 14 2007