Light Music

The title of this collection is self-explanatory, but it is far more than just a selection of pieces associated with different parts of the world. Once again Guild has discovered a rare recording, never before made available commercially, which will appeal to everyone interested in television nostalgia. It is a response to the inclusion of Scherzetto for Children in the "Childhood Memories – Volume 2" CD (GLCD 5144). This was the piece commissioned by the BBC in the early 1950s as a prelude to children's TV programmes each day. A similar work depicting the music of the four countries of the British Isles – England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland – was heard every evening. Max Saunders was the composer of Fantasy on National Airs and, as with the Scherzetto, the piece (believed to have been recorded in 1951) was performed by the BBC Television Orchestra conducted by Eric Robinson. These two works have not previously been available on any commercial recordings, so a unique part of British television history has now been preserved for posterity. Another 'first' on this CD is an arrangement by Ronald Hanmer (from his own private collection) of the French folksong Sur le Pont d'Avignon.

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