Leaning over the rail of the ship with a glass of chilled
vin blanc in my hand, I slipped past the beautiful Corsican town of Bonifacio.
This wonderfully sited village, high up on the cliffs at the southern end of
Corsica is justly famous as a tourist attraction. I thought of Trevor Duncan’s
idyllic short tone poem -The Girl from Corsica and wondered if this was where she
came from? Out of interest, Bonifacio is the setting of Guy de Maupassant's
macabre short story, ‘A Vendetta’ which is well worth reading. It certainly
does not reflect the beauties of the Corsican coast...
Anecdotally, Trevor Duncan (real name Leonard Charles Trebilco 1924-2005) met a certain Mademoiselle on holiday
one year. The history books do not tell us if the tryst took place in Corsica,
the Auvergne where she lived or maybe even the Isle of Wight. Apparently, she
was half-French, half-Corsican, but may herself have been on holiday in
England. The relationship between them, so Duncan insisted, was ‘spiritual’ but
it is obvious from even the least attentive hearing of the music that she made
a considerable impression on him! The same lady inspired another wonderful
tone-picture from Duncan’s pen, St
Boniface Down. This work
‘celebrates a silent walk along the ridge of St. Boniface Down; it was followed
by a beautiful correspondence for some weeks.’ I posted about this in June
2008.
The Girl from Corsica was composed around 1959 and is wistful work packed full
of sultry and sensual beauty. Wherever Trevor Duncan met her, he has transposed
the setting to the ‘sunny south.’ In fact, there is even a hint of North Africa
about this music. So maybe, like Webster’s Dictionary, Duncan was Morocco-Bound
when he met this bewitching young lady? The work ends ‘suspended on an
unresolved chord’ so who knows what the true story really was?
The tune was used in the serial The
Scarf, by Francis Durbridge
(1959) which was a murder mystery.
The Girl from Corsica has been recorded several times. A shortened version was made
popular by Ron Goodwin in his Adventure Album issued
in 1966. Guild Light Music Classics has issued it on The Golden Age of
Light Music, A Trip to the Library, with The New Concert Orchestra conducted by Cedric Dumont
(GLCD5164). The full version, a full minute
and a half longer is available on Hyperion CA 67148 with Ronald Corp conducting
The New London Orchestra. Another great recording is on the retrospective of
Trevor Duncan’s music, performed by Andrew Penny and the Slovak Radio
Symphony Orchestra on Marco Polo 8.223517. Once again this is the long
version.
2 comments:
Hello John, this is a great blog.
I wonder if you can help me try to track down a tune? There is a tune which was used at the end of the ITV documentary "7 Up" in the sixties, and has been used from time to time in the follow up programmes. It's not the main theme, which Wikipedia lists as "Synchro Jazz" by Trevor Duncan (a sinister sounding jazzy theme). But just before that, just before the end titles, there is a much calmer, more sentimental orchestral theme that sounds like Vaughan Williams or Delius. In all the sequels to 7 Up it has been used occasionally, sometimes on the opening credits, sometimes at the end.
I'm desperate to track this down and hopefully buy a copy somewhere. I'm not sure if it is just a 40 second tune or (hopefully) part of a longer composition. It's a really beautiful them and has really grabbed my ear every time I hear it.
I am assuming it is by Trevor Duncan as well, as it sounds similar to some of his other stuff, but I've trawled through various youtube videos and can't find it anywhere.
Hope you can help! Thanks in advance if you can.
Arthur,
I had a listen, and alas am unable to identify that tune. I suggest that you write a Message to the MusicWeb international Message Board.
https://members2.boardhost.com/MusicWebUK/
or
Contact The Robert Farnon Society or the Light Music Society who may be able to assist,
Regards
J
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