GLCD 5141 Globetrotting Reviews & Broadcast

THE GOLDEN AGE OF LIGHT MUSIC GLOBETROTTING   STUTTGART RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by KURT REHFELD (THE LANSDOWNE CONCERT ORCHESTRA on 78 label) - RAY VENTURA AND HIS ORCHESTRA - FRED HARTLEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA - CEDRIC DUMONT AND HIS ORCHESTRA - THE MELACHRINO ORCHESTRA Conducted by GEORGE MELACHRINO - ARTURO CHAITE AND HIS ORCHESTRA - REG OWEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA - JOE LOSS AND HIS ORCHESTRA - NEW SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Conducted by STANFORD ROBINSON DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON (MELODI LIGHT ORCHESTRA on 78 label) - RICHARD HAYMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA - JACKIE BROWN AND HIS ORCHESTRA - ORCHESTRE RAYMONDE - ROCHESTER POPS Conducted by MORTON GOULD - MONTY KELLY AND HIS ORCHESTRA - MORTON GOULD AND HIS ORCHESTRA - FRANK DEVOL AND HIS ORCHESTRA - PALACE THEATRE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Conducted by GIDEON FAGAN - NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by RAE JENKINS - NEW CENTURY ORCHESTRA Conducted by SIDNEY TORCH   01  Broad Horizon (Trevor Duncan real name Leonard Trebilco) 04 Swiss Boy (Cedric Dumont) 05 Music for the Nostalgic Traveller in Italy (arr. William Hill-Bowen) 06 The Italian Theme (Angelo Giacomazzi) 16 Cuban Love Song (Jimmy McHugh) 20 From Three English Dances (Roger Quilter)  - No. 1

Contents:

The popular song spoke of “Faraway places with strange sounding names”, and it is a fact that many of the places mentioned in the music in this collection were just names to most people when the recordings were made in the middle years of the last century. Since then ‘Globetrotting’ has become a pastime for millions, and the music has taken on the additional role of providing pleasant memories of past visits, both near and far from home.

No longer do exotic locations appear out of reach to intrepid adventurers, so the opening track Broad Horizons seems an appropriate way to commence our journey. It is one of many works depicting the beauty of the great outdoors created by Leonard Trebilco (1924-2005), who composed most of his music under the pseudonym Trevor Duncan. ‘Treb’ (as he was known to his friends) contributed hundreds of pieces to background music libraries, and there are already many examples of his work in this Guild Light Music series, including the special tribute to him on GLCD5124 – ‘Hall of Fame’ Volume 2.

Frenchman Ray Ventura (1908-1979) was a multi-talented entertainer who, in addition to being an orchestra leader, also worked as an actor, producer, composer and writer. He was involved in numerous film productions particularly during the 1950s and 1960s.

Fred Hartley (1905-1980) was a familiar name in British broadcasting for many years, having made his first appearance on the BBC as a solo pianist as early as 1925. He was then employed as an accompanist, and founded his famous Novelty Quintet in 1931. In 1946 he was appointed the BBC’s Head of Light Music

Cédric Dumont (1916-2007) was born in Hamburg, Germany, but during his long career he became known as “Mr. Music Man of Switzerland”. Growing up in the 1930s he came into contact with Jack Hylton in England, and over in the USA he seems to have worked briefly with Teddy Wilson, Harry James and Benny Goodman. He settled in Switzerland at the outbreak of World War 2 and was soon broadcasting from the studios in Basel. His career touched the classics as well as jazz, but it was in the sphere of light music that he became known throughout Europe. British mood music libraries engaged him to conduct their works (often anonymously) when they were unable to record in Britain due to a Musicians’ Union ban, particularly during the 1950s.

William Hill-Bowen (1918-1964) was George Melachrino’s right-hand man in the years immediately following World War 2, often appearing on piano but, perhaps, more importantly as a brilliant arranger who managed to recreate his master’s famous style to perfection. Such an example is the charming selection of well-loved Italian melodies, which includes Funiculi Funicula (Denza), Santa Lucia (Cottrau), Tarantella (traditional), Catari Catari (Cardillo), Gondola Song (Vassini), Parlami d’Amore Mariu (Bixio) and La Danza (Rossini). Later Hill-Bowen was to receive due recognition for his talents, partly thanks to a series of LPs commissioned by RCA.

Reg Owen (born George Owen Smith, 1921-1978) became arranger for the Ted Heath orchestra from 1945, then arranged for other conductors including Cyril Stapleton. Regarded as one of England's leading orchestrators, Reg published his book "The Reg Owen Arranging Method" in 1956. He is considered a ‘one hit wonder’ thanks to his best-selling recording of Manhattan Spiritual in 1958.

Gilbert Vinter (1909-1969) is mainly remembered in Britain as the conductor of the BBC Midland Light Orchestra when it was one of the foremost contributors of quality light music on the BBC. As a young man he played bassoon in the BBC Wireless Band and the London Philharmonic, and taught at the Royal Academy of Music. During World War II, he was a member of the Royal Air Force Central Band and later led several RAF bands. After the war, Vinter joined the BBC as a  staff conductor and he also developed his skill as a composer. Many of his works were for brass band, and among his finest works is The Trumpets, which is scored for a large brass band, chorus, and bass soloist. Portuguese Party was a bright piece he wrote in 1956 for Inter-art Music Publishers when they launched their new production music library Impress. It was well-received, and enjoyed many broadcasts and eventually a commercial recording on HMV. The Guild Light Music CD “Musical Kaleidoscope – Volume 1” (GLCD 5139) includes Gilbert Vinter’s arrangement Music of the People – England played by the BBC Midland Light Orchestra under his baton in 1952. It is a clever work which incorporates some of the street cries of old London as well as traditional English airs.

It may seem strange to find the name of Joe (Joshua Alexander) Loss (1909-1990) on this CD, because most of his career was firmly built on the solid rock of dance music, at which he was supremely successful. But like many others who have tended to get ‘pigeon-holed’ simply because they have been so good at providing what their public wanted, there is always the urge to expand horizons. Maybe Joe Loss looked with envy at what his peers were doing with large light orchestras in the 1950s, which encouraged him to add strings to his fine band. The result is a pleasing arrangement of the popular melody Majorca which certainly did the image of that popular Mediterranean island no harm at all. Joe’s career stretches from the 1930s to the 1980s   and such was the kudos attached to his name that he was able to operate several bands within his organisation to satisfy the many demands from society functions, including royalty.

Albert William Ketèlbey (1875-1959) was a highly successful composer, who earned the equivalent of millions of pounds during the peak of his popularity. Pieces such as In a Monastery Garden, In a Persian Market and In The Mystic Land Of Egypt (on this CD) brought him international fame, no doubt assisted by his enthusiastic participation in the rapidly growing business of producing gramophone records.

Peter Yorke (1902-1966) worked with many leading British bands during his formative years, some of the most notable being Percival Mackey, Jack Hylton and Henry Hall. In 1936 he began a fruitful collaboration as chief arranger with Louis Levy, one of the pioneers of music for British films, who employed several talented writers such as Clive Richardson, Charles Williams and Jack Beaver, but seldom gave them any credit on-screen. Later on Peter Yorke conducted one of Britain’s most popular broadcasting orchestras from the 1940s until the 1960s. He was also a gifted composer and he created many stunning arrangements that brought out some fine performances from the top musicians he always employed.  Several different London publishers including Chappell (for whom he wrote Oriental Bazaar) were happy to accept his work for their background music libraries.

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.

Jackie Brown was one of Britain’s leading cinema organists, equally at home on large theatre consoles as well as their small electronic counterparts performed by enthusiasts at home. His output as a composer was relatively sparse, although light music aficionados regard his Metropolis (on Guild GLCD 5102) as one of the finest pieces of its kind. This time we hear him as the conductor of Ray Martin’s (1918-1988) Tahiti Tango.

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. 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. From 1986 to 1994 Gould was President of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

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, and managed to secure some success with singles which prompted Cash Box magazine to name him ‘most promising orchestra’ in 1953.

In the USA Frank De Vol (1911-1999) is known primarily as the composer for the radio and TV series “The Brady Bunch” (and later as an actor), 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. In the 1950s his own Hollywood orchestra, called "Music of the Century", played frequently at the Hollywood Palladium, and he worked on numerous motion picture scores.

Gideon Fagan (1904-1980) was born in Cape Town, South Africa, and studied music under Vaughan Williams at London’s Royal College of Music from 1922 to 1926. He worked in films and his conducting assignments included a spell with the BBC Northern Orchestra (now the BBC Philharmonic) from 1939 to 1942, and several West End shows. He contributed a few compositions to recorded music libraries, and his best-known work was probably Pastoral Montage (for Chappell) which the BBC used as the music accompanying its television interlude film of a windmill. Fagan returned to South Africa in 1949 and was appointed a music director of the South African Broadcasting Corporation in 1963, then lectured at Cape Town University from 1967 to 1973.

Roger Quilter (1877-1953) has been regarded essentially as a miniaturist, and it is for his songs (particularly his settings of poems by Shakespeare and Herrick) that he is and always will be chiefly remembered. His famous Children's Overture was featured on Guild GLCD 5125, and this time it is the turn of his Three English Dances which were orchestrated by Percy Fletcher (1879-1932) and received their première at London’s Queen’s Hall on 30 June 1910.

Jack Beaver (1900-1963) was another ‘backroom boy’ who provided many scores for the Louis Levy organisation – in total he was responsible for over 100 films and documentaries. He was also a very prolific contributor to several different production music libraries, and Journey’s End is one of the early pieces he wrote for the fledgling Francis, Day & Hunter mood music library, which was launched in the late 1940s.                                             David Ades

Page revised Friday March 07 2008