Doreen Carwithen: Travel Royal Suite

One of my minor discoveries during Doreen Carwithen’s (1922-2003)centennial year, is her score for the short documentary film Travel Royal. This was commissioned by the former airline, British Overseas Airways Corporation in 1951. The concept of the film was to present highlights of the British “way of life in the country” and to depict “historical places of interest” for potential overseas travellers. These included Ann Hathaway’s cottage, Shakespeare’s birthplace, Cotswold cottages, Hampton Court, a Wimbledon tennis match, the Tower of London, the Trooping of the Colour, Drake’s Statue in Plymouth and more. The film lasted for about 21 minutes and featured the voice of the actor John Pudney. In 2002-03 Philip Lane arranged some of Carwithen’s score to make a short Suite, which lasts just under nine minutes.

The liner notes for the Dutton Epoch recording of the Travel Royal Suite explained that the director and script writer, Peter Bradford, encouraged Carwithen to include “as many national and folk tunes” in the score as possible to “reflect England’s green and pleasant land.”  Melodies heard in Lane’s Suite include Oranges and Lemons, John Peel and Greensleeves.

Rob Barnett, reviewing the CD for MusicWeb International (11 October 2011) considered that “This nine minute continuous piece is masterfully broad…and radiates 1950s confidence.” Add to this a generous warmth of tone, splendid orchestration and a sense of ceremony of almost Bliss-ian intent, and the listener has a perfect miniature.

Sadly, Travel Royal does not appear to have been uploaded to the British Film Institute or the Pathé websites. That said, the latter does have a fascinating selection of scenes from this film that were left on the cutting room floor.

In 2011, the Suite was issued on Dutton Epoch (CDLX7266) along with several others derived from Carwithen’s film scores, including East Anglian Holiday, Three Cases of Murder and Mantrap.

Doreen Carwithen’s Travel Royal Suite has been uploaded to YouTube.