The first
problem faced in reading or reviewing this book is defining ‘light’ music: I believe
that no-one has come to a truly satisfactory answer. A good characterisation is given on the web pages
of the Light Music Society: - ‘Light Music bridges the gap between classical
and popular music, although its boundaries are often blurred. It is music with
an immediate appeal, music to entertain and to enjoy. It has a strong emphasis
on melody…’ Light Music is seen as being ‘more accessible and enjoyable, less highbrow
and less elitist’ than the main run of ‘classical music.’ The composers deemed to have contributed to
this genre include Gilbert & Sullivan, the Strauss family, Sousa and more
recently the music of Eric Coates, Leroy Anderson, Ernest Tomlinson and Robert
Farnon. Media typically includes
orchestral, chamber (palm court) and instrumental.
A more succinct
definition is that of Lyndon Jenkins
who describes the genre as ‘original …pieces, often descriptive but in many
cases simply three or four minutes of music with an arresting main theme and a
contrasting middle section.’ David Ades, of Guild, writes that ‘it is generally
agreed that it occupies a position between classical and popular music, yet its
boundaries are often blurred’.
This would appear to be Philip Scowcroft’s view, however he
adds the important caveat that [whilst] being easier to assimilate than most
classical music, it should have an artistic, as well as an entertainment
element about it, with due regard for attractive orchestration and
craftsman-like construction.’ And finally it ought to be listened to – not
relegated to background music.
I would add that
light music will often move the listener as much as more ‘serious’ pieces can.
Philip
Scowcroft’s British Light Music will
be of interest to a number of different groups of people. Firstly, reviewers
and musicologists will be extremely grateful to this book when preparing essays
or programme notes. I have often turned
to Scowcroft’s ‘Garlands’ on MusicWeb International when trying to get to grips
with some obscure piece of music or a composer that is not even a name to me.
Secondly, I
would like to think that listeners will find helpful and challenging
information in these pages. I know that the current swathe of light music CDs
issued by Hyperion, Guild and Marco Polo are popular. Hopefully, listeners will
use this book to give them a better understanding of the life and works of many
of these composers with information that goes beyond what is contained in the necessarily
restricted sleeve notes.
Thirdly, and I
hate to use this dumbed-down term, but it is an ‘ideas store’ (vide Tower
Hamlets Library Service). Page after page of names and numbers all waiting to
be discovered. A dozen lifetimes would be too little to explore all the
composers and music that are listed in this book. But one has to start
somewhere.
The fundamental structure
of the volume is two major sections. The first is a generous selection of 31
composers who each have been given a miniature essay. The second part is a
listing of the ‘best of the rest.’ The
book opens with a preface by the author where he outlines the ‘methodology’ of
the book as well as defining the concept of ‘light music.’ There follows a
fascinating overview and appreciation by one of the greatest exponents of the
genre, Ernest Tomlinson. At the conclusion of the volume there are two appendices.
The first is a discography and the second is a brief bibliography of the genre.
The composers
that have been chosen for detailed examination represent a wide-ranging cross-section
of the field. Almost all the names are
well-known to enthusiasts of the genre, but in most cases little is known about
them. Glancing down the list would
suggest that only about five of these names have ‘full’ biographies dedicated
to them – Eric Coates, Samuel Coleridge Taylor, Edward German, Billy Mayerl and
Roger Quilter. The rest are lucky if they have entries in the current edition
of Grove. I take an example at random: -
Percy Fletcher. Apart from Philip
Scowcroft’s essay on MusicWeb International, there is a brief reference in
Wikipedia, a post on my blog, a few YouTube videos and a number of CD adverts.
Digging a little deeper, I found a very short sketch on the Light Music
Society’s webpage and a good entry on the Robert Farnon Society webpage which
was contributed by Philip Scowcroft.
There is a short note in Grove by Geoffrey Self. Apart from that the
researcher would seem to be reduced to looking at CD liner notes, old journals
and newspapers and programme books.
Interestingly there is also a short reference in the recently published
3rd edition of the British music Society’s British Composer
Profiles.
Now Percy
Fletcher (1879-1932) is in my opinion one of the doyens of the genre –
certainly from the first half of the 20th century. He is recalled
for some important brass band works such as Labour and Love (1913) and the Epic Symphony (1926). His monumental Toccata is still played in
cathedrals and churches. His piano works are a pleasure to play even if they
are typically sub-Grieg! His best-known
piece is his Bal-Masque. This is a
work that I regularly give an airing to on my piano. It was once a favourite of
pier-head orchestras.
Scowcroft
dedicates three pages (about 1200 words) to Percy Fletcher: it is the longest
essay in print (if not in existence) concerning the composer. This approach is
given to the thirty favoured names. I
was delighted to see essays on Hubert Bath, Ronald Binge, Leighton Lucas, Walton
O’Donnell and Frederick Rosse, although each reader will have their own
favourites or desideratum.
The second major
section of this book is a list of ‘short’ entries for more than 300 composers
not explored in the essays. Naturally, a selection like this is going to be subjective.
It is pointless to argue that this or that composer has not been included. From
my study of these entries I would make three observations. Firstly, there is
considerable depth to these names. Just glancing at the letter ‘I’ there are
three composers mentioned. The first is John Ireland (1879-1962): he is not
necessarily everybody’s idea of a light music composer, however Scowcroft does suggest
that ‘Sea Fever’, ‘The Holy Boy’, the ‘Overlanders’ and the ‘Epic March’ fall
into this category. Ernest Irving (1877-1953) certainly deserves his place in
these listings, even if only for his music to the film Whiskey Galore. I have never
heard of Herbert Ivey; however the author notes that his Glimpses of London Suite and ‘Four Little Dances’ are worthy
numbers. A glance at COPAC suggests that there are more from where these come
from too.
Secondly, there
is huge stylistic disparity in the works of many of these composers. I accept
that Malcolm Arnold’s English Dances and
Alan Rawsthorne’s Street Corner
Overture or his ballet score to Madame
Chrysantheme are definable as ‘light’ music. These works have a musical
structure, subtlety and inventiveness that seem a million miles away from the
pop-saturated utterances of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Yet, all three composers are
listed here. But all this is a matter of opinion. There are no hard and fast
rules when defining ‘light music.’
I do feel that a
long article about Robert Farnon would have been appropriate in the first
section. He died in 2005 and is not still ‘active’ as the Preface suggests.
Farnon does have his entry in the ‘shorts’ section.
And thirdly, I
guess that Philip Scowcroft has utilised extensively his excellent ‘Garlands’
published on MusicWeb International to provide much of the information in these
pages. It is good to have them printed in ‘hard copy.’
One important feature
of this edition is 30 photographs of composers and venues. It is always good to
put a face to the music. I guess I could have spotted a ‘mug shot’ of Eric
Coates but not Vivian Ellis, Montague Phillips or Frederic Curzon. A great
bonus.
The Discography
is disappointing. No attempt has been made to update these listings since the
first edition of the book in 1997. Since then, there has been a flood of CD
releases made available for interested listeners. Key amongst these must the
Guild Light Music series. This is a massive library of re-mastered recordings
that first began appearing in 2004. Since then there have been more than a
hundred well-filled CDs issued. These contain a huge variety of light music –
from the early days of Edward German and Edward Elgar (who does not get an
essay or entry in this book) through to the nineteen-sixties. I accept that
many of the composers are American or European, but a large number are British
and have entries in Philip Scowcroft’s book. I can understand that the author
did not want to give a complete listing of these CD with an excess of 2000
tracks: I do feel that it would have been helpful to have mentioned them, along
with a hyperlink. Another important release
was the four CDs of the Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra on the Dutton Epoch label.
Finally, many of the recordings noted in the text are now only available as
MP3s or from second-hand record shops.
The ‘select’
bibliography has been updated to include Robert and Nicola Hyman’s fine book
about the Pump Room Orchestra which
was published in 2011 and Geoffrey Self’s Light
Music in Britain from 1870, for example. Yet, many important books in the
field of light music have been omitted. I would have expected to see references
to Kenneth Young’s important study of Music
Great Days in the Spas and Watering Places (1968), Ernest Irving’s Cue for Music (1959) Alan Hyman’s Sullivan and his Satellites, Peter
Dickinson’s essential study of Billy Mayerl (1999) and Mike Carey’s Sailing By: The
Ronald Binge Story.
I note the short
list of Light Music Societies. I do wonder about giving ‘GPO’ addresses as
opposed to web addresses. In the lifetime of this present edition these are
likely to go out of date. Incidentally, anyone trying use
the information given to contact the Eric Coates Society will do well to put a
full stop between the forename and surname of the secretary in the email
address!
The book, on the
whole is well-presented. It feels nice and has an attractive soft cover. The
font size is excellent and the quality of the print good. The book achieves what it set out to do- it
provides detailed essays on 30 composers and short notes on 300. The cost of
the book is £15.00, however if it is purchased from MusicWeb International
before the end of April 2013 it is priced £10. As for value for money, it seems
to me to be good. There are 180 pages full of useful and fascinating
information. If you are a light music
fan, then I suggest that this is a book that sits close to you chair by the CD
player. It will be a constant reference guide as you make your way through some
of the many tracks now available on CD. However, the listener may be
occasionally frustrated when a name he expects in the listings is not there.
Finally I
mentioned that this book is a book of ‘ideas’. Perhaps I ought to have said of
‘wildest dreams’. Even the briefest of flick-throughs reveal names of compositions
that excite, delight and will ultimately frustrate the listener if they cannot
get their hands on a copy of the music. At random I suggest that Montague
Ewing’s Suite: Guy Fawkes Night,
Christopher Le Fleming’s London River
Suite and Frank Tapp’s English Landmarks Suite
are all desideratum that deserve rediscovery. There are thousands more such
pieces mentioned in Philip Scowcroft’s British
Light Music. Happy hunting!
With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.
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