GLCD 5134 Four Decades of Light Music - Volume I 1920s & 1930s Reviews & Broadcast

THE GOLDEN AGE OF LIGHT MUSIC Four Decades of Light Music - Volume 1 1920s &30s REGAL CINEMA ORCHESTRA Conducted by EMANUEL STARKEY- NAT SHILKRET AND HIS ORCHESTRA- LONDON PALLADIUM ORCHESTRA Conducted by HORACE SHELDON PLAZA THEATRE ORCHESTRA Conducted by FRANK TOURSDEBROY SOMERS BAND -LONDON COLISEUM ORCHESTRA Conducted by ALFRED DOVE -NEW LIGHT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - JULIAN FUHS’ SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - ATHENAEUM LIGHT ORCHESTRA - WEST END CELEBRITY ORCHESTRA - REGINALD KING’S ORCHESTRA - NEW LIGHT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA - BERLIN PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA Conducted by EDUARD KÜNNEKE - BARNABAS VON GECZY AND HIS ORCHESTRA ORCHESTRE RAYMONDE - SCALA SALON ORCHESTRA BOURNEMOUTH MUNICIPAL ORCHESTRA  Conducted by Sir DAN GODFREY - COMMODORE GRAND ORCHESTRA Conducted by JOSEPH MUSCANT - BBC THEATRE ORCHESTRA Conducted by STANFORD ROBINSON 01 Northwards (from “Four Ways” Suite) (Eric Coates) 02 Flapperette (Jesse Greer) 10  Frog King’s Parade (Heini Kronberger, Mary Marriott) 13 Blues (from “Dance Suite”) (Eduard Künneke) 18 Teddy Bears’ Picnic (John W. Bratton)

Contents:

Music has been called the international language, and in its many guises it is probably as diverse as all the spoken tongues around the world. Individual styles constantly develop and change in response to various influences, and there is no doubt that our ancestors who listened to what we might term ‘their’ light music in the 1800s would find the sounds of the 1950s too avant-garde for their ears. Light music is not alone in this; some of today’s best loved classical works were harshly criticised at their premieres. In this, and the companion volume (GLCD 5135), an attempt is being made to illustrate the many varied forms and ensembles that fall within the scope of what many people generally regard as ‘Light Music’ (sometimes called Concert Music or Easy Listening) during four decades of the 20th century. This was touched upon in the first CD in this series (GLCD 5101) and it is now possible to look in greater depth at the way in which Light Music has developed. From the somewhat sedate styles of earlier years, we progress through the influences of the jazz era until we finally arrive in the 1950s, when the advent of hi-fi often allowed composers, arrangers and conductors to express themselves in a spectacular fashion.

      It took thirty years before sound recordings were made using microphones. Until then performers had to position themselves as close as possible to the giant horn that recorded them acoustically, and some instruments such as violins (known as “Stroh fiddles”) even had small horns attached to them to amplify their sound. The results would have seemed amazing to record buyers at the time, and the technology managed to cope fairly well with solo performers accompanied by a piano. Sadly orchestras did not sound very good, which is why the temptation to include some very early recorded light music has been resisted as far as this collection is concerned. Our researches have therefore concentrated on the period from 1925 onwards, and the opening track from the end of the decade illustrates how quickly the sound engineers at the time were mastering the new techniques at their disposal.

      No excuse is necessary for including more than one composition by Eric Coates (1886-1957), the Englishman widely regarded as ‘the uncrowned King of Light Music’. He began his career as a violinist, and was such an accomplished string player that in 1913 he was appointed principal viola of Sir Henry Wood’s Queen’s Hall Orchestra. But he had a passion for composing, and his earliest successes were ballads, notably Stonecracker John. Coates seems to have regarded this as somewhat restrictive: he wanted to express himself through the full orchestra, probably encouraged by the warm reception for his Miniature Suite at the 1911 Promenade Concerts. In the 1920s he absorbed the syncopation that was influencing popular music, and turned his attention to nursery subjects which were sometimes called ‘tone poems’ but which he preferred to label ‘Phantasies’. The Selfish Giant was the first in 1924, and early in 1926 he conducted the augmented Jack Hylton Orchestra on an HMV 78. This was a different version from the usual orchestral score and, although interesting, the sound quality is rather disappointing. Rather better is the rare recording by Julian Fuhs’ Symphony Orchestra selected for this CD (although this was certainly not a full size symphony orchestra!). It was recorded in Berlin on 29 February 1928, and seems to have been released in Britain a year later by Parlophone (it appears that it was unissued in Germany). Julian Fuhs (1891-1975) was a German jazz pianist and conductor who, as a young man, emigrated to the USA and became an American citizen, but returned to his native Berlin in 1924. In 1926 the legendary trumpeter Bix Beiderbecke recorded with Fuhs’ band, and the following year he conducted the first German recording of Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue with Mischa Spoliansky on piano. Due to the political situation in his original homeland, Fuhs returned to the USA in 1936 but failed to repeat his earlier success as a musician.

      Among the works selected to represent the 1920s, Derby born Percy (Eastman) Fletcher (1879-1932) is often recognised today for his brass band pieces although he spent much of his career as a musical director in London’s West End theatres. A prolific composer, he wrote numerous ballads as well as choral works and light orchestral suites. Perhaps his best-remembered piece of light music is the valse-caprice Bal Masque, which was the second of his “Parisian Sketches”, composed in 1914 (on Guild GLCD 5108). This time we feature Pearl O’ Mine on the other side of the same 78, which was also recorded in the Plaza Theatre, London.

      Charles Orth (1867-1921) composed In A Clock Store which seems to have been one of those works favoured by recording companies when they wanted to illustrate the technical brilliance of their products, due to its many special effects. Even as late as the 1950s it was still being recorded, and it often turned up on the radio in children’s record request programmes. The New Light Symphony Orchestra version still sounds amazing when one considers that electrical sound recording had only been launched commercially a year previously.

      Turning now to the 1930s, it will be noticed how the sound quality changes quite dramatically from the previous decade. During the acoustic era, the rhythm was often supplied by a tuba or similar brass instrument, and this habit continued for a while when electrically recorded 78s were first offered for sale in 1925 and Debroy Somers was still using one on Laughing Marionette in 1928. Eventually conductors and record companies realised that the double bass was more appropriate, but a great deal of skill was required in the placing of instruments around the microphone. Unlike today when almost every instrument in the orchestra has its own microphone (allowing sound engineers to manipulate the sound long after the musicians have gone home), during the 1930s it was the conductor’s responsibility to ensure that the quieter instruments could be heard alongside their noisy colleagues. Drums remained a problem for many years, sometimes causing the recording needle to jump, until improved microphones eventually solved the problem.   

      Guild Light Music’s first 1930’s collection (GLCD 5106) included the Overture to the Tänzerische Suite (Dance Suite) by Eduard Künneke (1885-1953). This prompted several requests for more from this work, and the movement entitled Blues does sound good as a stand-alone piece. During 1925/26 Künneke visited America where he developed an interest in jazz styles through meeting Paul Whiteman, who did so much to popularise the works of the young George Gershwin. The influences are certainly apparent in his Dance Suite although Künneke was regarded more as a composer of operettas (a musical form that has virtually vanished today) with his works being performed in London – one such example was “Love’s Awakening” in 1922 at the Empire Theatre.

      The choice of 1930s recordings attempts to illustrate the many varied styles of that troubled period in world history. The 1929 Wall Street stock market crash and the economic depression that followed created misery and hardship for millions, and as the decade progressed the world stumbled towards a second war which finally erupted in 1939. The record industry (and indeed the entertainment profession in general) saw its role as the provider of much-needed relief from the troubles of everyday life, and therefore much of the popular music expressed a cheery optimism which eventually proved to be tragically misplaced.

      Titles such as Sunny Side Up were typical and the 1929 film of the same title produced a handful of tunes that were to become standards – If I Had A Talking Picture Of You (sound films had only recently been invented), I’m A Dreamer and Turn On The Heat being three examples. This 8 inch 78 is a wonderful memento of countless small ensembles to be heard in restaurants, hotels, bandstands and theatres of that era, but the label on the disc is so small that no mention could be made of the composers or the conductor. Reference books suggest that the baton may have been waved by Harry Hudson (d. 1969) who fronted a ‘studio’ band during the 1930s, notably with the Edison Bell Radio label.

      Lionel Monckton (1861-1924) started his distinguished career as one of England’s foremost popular composers by contributing many songs to the shows by other writers – notably those of Sidney Jones, in The Geisha and San Toy, and Ivan Caryll at the Gaiety and other theatres under George Edwardes. Nearly every year of King Edward VII’s reign brought forth a new success, each containing a string of still memorable tunes, like The GirIs of Gottenberg (1907), Our Miss Gibbs (1909), The Arcadians (1909), The Quaker Girl (1910), The Mousme (1911) and The Dancing Mistress (1912). Many of his best remembered songs were written for his wife, the famous musical comedy actress Gertie Millar. Our closing selection features a pot-pourri of his most memorable tunes conducted by Stanford Robinson (1904-1984) who began his musical career on the piano in hotel orchestras, until attending the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied conducting under Sir Adrian Boult.  From 1924 to 1966 he was on the staff of the BBC, originally as organiser of the BBC’s London Wireless Chorus in 1924.  He conducted the BBC Theatre Orchestra (heard on this recording) from 1932 to 1946, and was also director of music productions (including opera and operetta) from 1936 to 1946. From 1946 to 1949 he was opera director and associate conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and he worked with the BBC Opera Orchestra as an opera organiser from 1949 until 1952. Thereafter he served in various capacities (involving numerous broadcasts) until his official retirement in 1966.

      If the 1920s and 1930s witnessed a sea change in many styles of popular and light music, the musicians responsible could hardly have anticipated what would happen in the following two decades. The Second World War and improving recording technology would ensure that nothing would ever sound quite the same again, as can be heard on the second volume that continues our survey into the 1940s and through to the 1950s (on Guild GLCD 5135).                        © David Ades, 2007

Page revised Tuesday August 07 2007