Ronald Binge: Listings of Music recorded on the Guild Light Music Series.

At the time of writing this post (February 2014) there are some 22 CDs listed in the Arkiv catalogue featuring the music of Ronald Binge.  There are also about 22 individual works listed.  Unfortunately only one disc is currently dedicated to the composer –Marco Polo 8.223515 - which was released 20 years ago.  There are 10 CDs featuring the ubiquitous ‘Elizabethan Serenade’, which is justifiably the composer’s best known, if not necessarily his finest piece. Five recordings are shown for the equally popular ‘Sailing By’ which was used as the signature tune to the BBC late-night shipping forecast.  Five also for ‘The Watermill,’ remembered as a melody featured in the television production of The Secret Garden. If I recall correctly it was also used as an ‘interlude’ in the early days if TV.

The now deleted ASV two-CD set entitled Sailing By - The Music of Ronald Binge was a great treat for enthusiasts of British Light Music: fortunately it is available still as a download. These discs included many numbers that were not available anywhere else, including a rather surprising Symphony. The Guild Light Music series has showcased a number of less well-known numbers culled from the archives of record releases and library tapes.  The above mentioned favourites are all present and correct, but other titles include the adorable ‘Miss Melanie’, the enigmatic ‘Mischievous Mac’ and the tantalising ‘Flash Harry.’ Interestingly, a good number of these tunes are played by Mantovani and his Orchestra.

Cornet Carillon - The ‘All Star’ Concert Brass Band / Harry Mortimer OBE (GLCD 5117)

Dance of the Snowflakes - Lansdowne Light Orchestra (GLCD5203)

Elizabethan Serenade - Ron Goodwin & His Concert Orchestra (Stereo Recording) (GLCD5162)

Elizabethan Serenade - Mantovani & His Orchestra (GLCD5184)

Flash Harry - Band of the Grenadier Guards / Major F.J. Harris, MBE (GLCD5147)

Man in a Hurry - Lansdowne Light Orchestra [Actually Stuttgart Radio Orchestra / Kurt Rehfeld] (GLCD5146) 

Mischievous Mac - Crawford Light Orchestra (GLCD5142)

Miss Melanie - Lansdowne Light Orchestra [Actually Stuttgart Radio Orchestra / Kurt Rehfeld] (GLCD 5182)

Red Sombrero - Sidney Torch & his Orchestra (GLCD 5132)

Siesta - A Rumba Serenade - Mantovani & his Orchestra (GLCD 5113)

Snakes and Ladders - Mantovani & his Orchestra (GLCD 5181)

Tales of the Three Blind Mice - Sidney Torch & his Orchestra (GLCD 5154)

The Watermill -The Lansdowne Light Orchestra (Probably Stuttgart Radio Orchestra / Kurt Rehfeld) (GLCD 5183)

Whirlwind - Mantovani & his Orchestra (GLCD 5110)