Trevor Duncan’s Little Suite (1959)

Ever since first watching episodes of the original Dr Finlay’s Casebook back in the mid to late1960s, I have enjoyed the theme music. This memorable tune was the first movement March from Trevor Duncan’s Little Suite completed in 1959.

Yet, at that time it was the railway scenes that most interested me. In 1966 (thereabouts), the fictional town of Tannochbrae was represented by the former Scottish station of Uplawmoor, and an elderly North British Railway J36 locomotive was pressed into service. It is rumoured that two surviving Caledonian Railway coaches also appeared. These are now safely preserved at the Scottish Railway Preservation Society site at Bo’ness.

Dr Finlay’s Casebook drama series ran from 1962 until 1971. It starred Bill Simpson as the eponymous character and Andrew Cruikshank as the craggy Dr Cameron. Viewers will not forget the part played by their housekeeper and receptionist Janet, played by Barbara Mullen.

In the liner notes for the Marco Polo retrospective of Duncan’s music, David Ades explains that the composer regarded this Suite as absolute music, with no hint of a programme or literary subtext. Yet, due to the use of the March in the TV series, the piece has become to be regarded as being ‘Scottish.’ The composer insisted that he had England in mind when writing it.

Trevor Duncan’s charming Little Suite has three contrasting movements. The March is lively and energetic, suggesting the busyness of a street or marketplace. The second part is a serene Lullaby that is gentle and soothing. The last movement is a rhythmic Jogtrot that is catchy and playful. Careful listening will reveal melodies from both the March and Lullaby worked into this finale.

The March has been recorded many times, but the entire Suite less often. The premiere recording was made in 1993 on the Marco Polo label (8.223517), The Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava) was conducted by Andrew Penny.

Listen to Trevor Duncan’s complete Little Suite on YouTube, here.

Trevor Duncan: The Girl from Corsica

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. 

Trevor Duncan: Meadow Mist

If ever a short piece of music presents the listener with the dilemma of establishing in their mind whether it is ‘classical’ or ‘light’ it is Trevor Duncan’s Meadow Mist. Duncan has contrived to compose a short tone-poem that balances the nature mysticism of Delius with the high-romanticism of the mid-nineteen fifties school of ‘light’ music. The work was composed in 1954, although it could be from Duncan’s pen anytime over his more than a half century career.  

Meadow Mist is a deeply felt piece that perfectly creates an evocative mood of an early summer’s morning or possibly an evening vista when the mist is gradually gathering and two lovers look towards the slowly setting sun. It is surely a water meadow somewhere in deepest England. A place that may, or may not, actually exist, but is surely very real in the minds of all devotees of the landscape.

The liner notes quote Trevor Duncan (1924-2005) as saying that ‘he, like almost every harmony conscious musician on earth, applauds the contribution of Robert Farnon to music. He acknowledges his influence deep down among the string harmonies that you hear in this sensuous piece.’ Effective use is also made of woodwind and harp in creating this perfect nature study.

When I reviewed this work as part of the Golden Age of Light Music: Nature’s Realm CD (GLCD 5194) for MusicWeb International, I wrote that ‘…Trevor Duncan has contributed an essay of English pastoral music…This is one of the loveliest works on this CD and probably deserves inclusion in [all] ‘samplers’ of English landscape music.’  

I understand that Meadow Mist was originally released on a 10” vinyl 78rpm record as late as 1959 coupled with the composer’s Little Debbie and Casulaire (Boosey & Hawkes O.2340).

Trevor Duncan’s Meadow Mist can be heard on Marco Polo 8.223517.  The Guild CD version of this work, performed by the New Concert Orchestra conducted by Dolf van der Linden, has been posted on YouTube

Trevor Duncan: Listings of Music recorded on the Guild Light Music Series.

I have recently given a listing of Guild Light Music CDs featuring the music of Eric Coates and Haydn Wood. One of the most prolific of Light Music composers was Trevor Duncan (1924-2005), born, Leonard Charles Trebilcock, later wisely changing his name to Trebilco.  His most popular piece is the ‘Little Suite’ from which the ‘March’ was used as the theme tune to Dr. Finlay’s Casebook starring Andrew Cruikshank and Bill Simpson.  Other works of note include ‘The Girl from Corsica’, ‘High Heels’ and ‘St Boniface Down’. My personal favourite is Vision in Velvet.

I have not included links to each CD, however further information can be found on the record company’s webpages.

Anglesey (from 'British Scenes') - New Concert Orchestra / Nat Nyll [actually Dolf Van Der Linden] (GLCD5201)

Broad Horizon - Lansdowne Light Orchestra [actually Stuttgart Radio Orchestra / Kurt Rehfeld] (GLCD5141)

Children in the Park: ‘Dancing for Joy’ - New Concert Orchestra / Nat Nyll [actually Dolf Van Der Linden] (GLCD5125)

Dancing in the Starlight - The Symphonia Orchestra / Curt Andersen (GLCD5179)

Dream of Tomorrow - Symphonia Orchestra / Curt Andersen (GLCD5156)

French Leave - Lansdowne Light Orchestra [Actually Stuttgart Radio Orchestra / Kurt Rehfeld] (GLCD5132)

The Girl from Corsica - The New Concert Orchestra / Cedric Dumont (GLCD5164)

Grand Vista - New Concert Orchestra / R De Porten (GLCD5124)

Great Quest - New Concert Orchestra / Nat Nyll [Actually Dolf Van Der Linden] (GLCD5136)

High Heels - New Concert Orchestra / Jack Leon (GLCD5124)

Inhumanity - New Concert Orchestra / Frederic Curzon (GLCD5140)

Lady in Love - L'orchestre Devereaux / Georges Devereaux (GLCD5124)

Little Debbie - New Concert Orchestra / Nat Nyll [Actually Dolf Van Der Linden] (GLCD5183)

Luccombe Common - The Symphonia Orchestra / Curt Andersen (GLCD5183)

Mam'selle Moderne - Lansdowne Light Orchestra [Actually Stuttgart Radio Orchestra / Kurt Rehfeld] (GLCD5146)

Meadow Mist - New Concert Orchestra / Nat Nyll [Actually Dolf Van Der Linden] (GLCD5194)

Moon Magic - New Concert Orchestra / Nat Nyll [Actually Dolf Van Der Linden] (GLCD5112)

The Olive Grove - The New Concert Orchestra / Cedric Dumont (GLCD5205)

Panoramic Splendour - New Concert Orchestra / R. De Porten (GLCD5111)

Pictures in a Fog: ‘Backstreet’ - New Concert Orchestra / Jack Leon (GLCD5124)

Posterity - New Concert Orchestra / Frederic Curzon (GLCD5124)

Premiere - New Concert Orchestra / Jack Leon (GLCD5149)

Rhythm for Romance - New Concert Orchestra / Frederic Curzon (GLCD5118)

Smile of a Latin - Frank Chacksfield & His Orchestra (GLCD5160)

St. Boniface Down - Lansdowne Light Orchestra [Actually Stuttgart Radio Orchestra / Kurt Rehfeld] (GLCD5157)

Still Waters - New Concert Orchestra / Frederic Curzon (GLCD5145)

The Tall Ships - Lansdowne Light Orchestra [Actually Stuttgart Radio Orchestra / Kurt Rehfeld] (GLCD5145)

The Unwanted (modern Ballet Impression): The Boy - New Concert Orchestra / Cedric Dumont (GLCD5195)

Valse Mignonette - New Concert Orchestra / Nat Nyll (actually Dolf Van Der Linden) (GLCD5191)

Vision in Velvet - New Concert Orchestra / Jack Leon (GLCD5101)

A Waltz for Terry - New Concert Orchestra / Nat Nyll [Actually Dolf Van Der Linden] (GLCD5182)

The Wine Harvest - The New Concert Orchestra / Cedric Dumont (GLCD5205)

With Noble Purpose - Grand March - The Symphonia Orchestra / Curt Andersen (GLCD5203)

With Tongue in Cheek - The Symphonia Orchestra / Curt Andersen (GLCD5197)

Trevor Duncan: Children in the Park

I have always enjoyed the music of Trevor Duncan. Best-known for his A Little Suite from which the well-known ‘March’ was used as the theme tune of the original Dr. Finlay’s Casebook, starring Andrew Cruikshank and Bill Simpson. However Duncan’s  catalogue is vast. He specialised in ‘mood music’ that could be used for newsreels and documentaries. Yet he produced scores for the movies –Joe Macbeth, The Intimate Strangers. Duncan could rise to an almost impressionistic height with his St. Boniface Down. His deeply romantic The Girl from Corsica is one of the loveliest musical portraits in the genre.

Children in the Park was composed in 1954 and features the composer writing innocent music with the backward glance from man for whom these activities are but a pleasant but ever present memory.  However there is nothing innocent or childish about the quality of the music. They are diminutive masterpieces.

The first movement is ‘Dancing for Joy.’ Perhaps for ‘dancing’ we can read ‘running wild.’ There are echoes of half-remembered tunes in this short musical portrait that sounds like something that could have been written for a chase scene in a Carry On film. The second movement is a wistful little mediation about being ‘At the Pool.’  For those of us who were alive in the fifties and sixties we can still recall model yachts launched by retired naval gentlemen making their way across the water in the lakes in Regents Park in London or Heaton Park in Manchester. So rare to see these days: I wonder where all the model boats have gone? And then there is the opportunity to watch the duck and drakes feeding in the shallows.  Lasting just over two minutes this delicious piece is a complete portrait of this magical location.  The last movement reflects all the hustle and bustle of a traditional game of hide and seek. Duncan makes characteristic use of woodwind to suggest chases in and out of the trees.

One cannot listen to this music without being aware that simple as these three pieces may appear, there is a poise that is largely classical: there is no doubt that a master’s hand is at work in these miniatures.  They achieve what ‘light music’ does best. They are enjoyable, but also encourage the listener to sentimentalise about a lost way of life. What chance model yachts in the age of xbox, Twitter and iPhones?

Trevor Duncan’s Suite: Children in the Park can be heard only on Marco Polo 8.223517. 

Trevor Duncan: Wine Festival

Everyone loves a glass of wine (or two) wherever it is drunk. However there are certain romantic locations which add to the drinking experience. For example drinking Lacryma Christi in Shepherds’ Bush is good: in a little bar in Sorrento overlooking the Bay of Naples is much better! I love the South of France – especially Cannes and Monte Carlo. There is nothing nicer than sipping a glass of the local vino whilst watching the world go by. And I guess that Trevor Duncan felt that way too about life. After his success with the idiomatic Girl from Corsica, his publishers persuaded him to write some more pieces with a Mediterranean flavour. As the sleeve notes for the Marco Polo recording of Duncan’s music points out ‘...in Wine Festival he imagines the sunny south of France where no-one really needs an excuse to celebrate the riches of the vines.’

The music opens with a sultry, moody tune that may suggest the weather but is more likely to be a lady! It is set in the minor key, but is warm and in no way sad. Soon a balalaika enters the fray, with a typically Mediterranean tune, which may be more suggestive of Greece than France. Suddenly snatches of a dance tune tries to assert themselves but are swept aside by Mademoiselle. However they are not kept out of the picture for long. Soon the fiesta begins with a sunny tune that surely depicts villager, vintners and the swirling of the wine. Good use is made by Duncan of the woodwind section of the orchestra. Once again the balalaika enters, suggesting evening, perhaps. The girl returns complete with lovely harp glissandi. Yet the piece is brought to a fine conclusion with a coda that echoes the dance.

Wine Festival can be heard on Marco Polo 8.223517

Trevor Duncan: 20th Century Express

There is virtually nothing written about Trevor Duncan’s (1925-2005) evocative 20th Century Express on the ‘web or in the musical press. In fact almost every ‘hit’ is simply an advert for the fine Marco Polo retrospective CD.
The liner notes of this recording state that the work was written in 1953. It was the latest offering from the composer in over four years of writing ‘descriptive’ music. I guess that much of this kind of work found its way into the music libraries of the radio, Pathé News and budding television studio to be used as the background to drama and news programmes. To this end publishers usually decided on the title of a piece after it had been written: fortunately Trevor Duncan was allowed the freedom to choose his own.
Apparently the composer originally entitled this piece Making Tracks - with its obvious railway oriented pun. It is one of a large number of pieces that have railways as a theme – one need thing only of Coronation Scot, Puffing Billy or Rhythm on Rails by Vivian Ellis, Edward White and Charles Williams respectively.

I guess that people of different ages will see 20th Century Express in a variety of ways. Perhaps I recall seeing a Duchess Pacific pulling thirteen coaches over Beattock Summit in the nineteen-sixties? Or maybe someone else will bring a picture of an electric train heading down to Brighton? Or maybe another will associate it with a train heading to Paris through the Channel Tunnel. I guess that bearing in mind the date of composition, it has to be a steam locomotive, and from the light, open air feel to the music a journey to the seaside is suggested. This is certainly not a train journey to work although it could be a days’ shopping in Regent Street with a show at Shaftesbury Avenue in the evening! The music certainly propels itself along, with a definite rhythm of the steam engine’s motion and the ‘diddly-dum’ on the rails being featured in the musical accompaniment. Like virtually all of Trevor Duncan’s music, 20th Century Express is beautifully scored and is a well-balanced miniature.

The 20th Century Express can be heard on Marco Polo 8.223517

Trevor Duncan: Vision in Velvet.

Recently I have been listening to the music of Trevor Duncan: I have posted brief notes on two of his works – St Boniface Down and High Heels. These are two very different pieces- the first a kind of impressionistic tone poem and the second an epitome of the light music genre at its very best. 

Yet, recently, I discovered that his very first published piece is available on CD – allowing the listener the opportunity to hear the genesis of a great composer.

After war service, Trevor Duncan returned to the BBC as a ‘sound and balance’ engineer with special responsibilities for ‘light’ music orchestras. In addition to an opportunity to experiment with microphone placings for best broadcasting effect, it allowed him to hear a wide variety of contemporary music. The composer and conductor Ray Martin (1918-1988) was impressed with Duncan’s early efforts at composing. In fact he conducted the first performance of Vision in Velvet - the first work to issue from Duncan’s pen.

I love this work. For a first essay it is really rather good. It is one of those pieces that make me think of a beautiful ‘date’ turning up for a dinner party arrayed in all her finery. Perhaps Audrey Hepburn would make the ideal accompaniment to this music! My mind's eye sees her sweeping into the lobby of the Ritz rather than some provincial hotel in deepest rural Herefordshire! Yet, I guess the listener can allow his or her imagination the luxury of recalling anyone and anywhere that fits the bill.

The piece is written in a largely Mantovani or Henry Mancini style – with gorgeous string sound. But the interesting bits are surely the counter themes and melodic decoration that is continually happening in the background. A harp adds to the largely ‘over the top’ romanticism of the piece. Of course, it could be argued that there is very much a ‘film music’ feel to this pieces. And my answer to that would be so what? Surely the imagery and emotion of this piece is based on the ability of the music to create an audio image of a physical reality. Curiously, the work was subsequently renamed Morning Star –a far less appropriate title as far as I can see.

The orchestral writing is actually the subject of a story. Apparently Trevor Duncan credited his mentor Ray Martin with due encouragement in the skills of orchestration. Duncan had ‘plucked up courage’ to show Martin the piano score for Vision in Velvet. It had a favourable reaction on the elder man. Duncan then asked if he would consider orchestrating it for a future broadcast with his orchestra. The story goes that Martin immediately said “No, you do it. It’s all there already in your piano part.” To Duncan’s credit he worked at the score and a few weeks later it was ready for performance.

Duncan was now an established composer and he was encouraged to approach Tom Elliot who was at that time the manager of Light Music Exploitation at Boosey and Hawkes. Both Vision in Velvet and High Heels were recorded in 1949/50 on a 12 inch 78 rpm disc in 1949 having been recorded at Abbey Road Studios by the New Concert Orchestra conducted by Jack Leon. I understand that this is the version that listeners can hear on the Guild Light Music CD.

Listen to Vision in Velvet on the Golden Age of Light Music: An Introduction on Guild Light Music GLCD 5101

Trevor Duncan: St. Boniface Down – a tone poem.

Trevor Duncan (1925-2005) is more often than not associated with the March from his Little Suite which was used to eternal memory in Dr. Findlay’s Casebook. It has been the subject of many recordings over the years. Of course, this was not the only work that Duncan wrote. Amongst his better known works are the 20th Century Express, High Heels, Children in the Park and The Girl from Corsica.

Many people have gone for a walk along the beautiful St. Boniface Down which is located in the Isle of Wight near the town of Ventnor. When I was last there it was a lovely sunny day with a slight breeze. At a height of just under 800ft the view over the English Channel and the ‘roads’ towards Portsmouth Sound was truly stunning. Interestingly there is supposed to be a wishing well on its southern slope – which requires the ‘wisher’ to walk from the south without looking back! Yet it was not the scenery or the view that initially inspired Trevor Duncan to compose this music. It was a girl. In fact it was C. Gurrieri who is rather more famous as The Girl from Corsica (1959) He had met this femme fatale who was half-French and half-Corsican on holiday. The relationship was supposedly ‘spiritual’ but it is quite obvious that she made a considerable impression on him!

The composer has stated that “the work celebrates a silent walk along the ridge of St. Boniface Down; it was followed by a beautiful correspondence for some weeks”.

St Boniface Down is a miniature tone poem that was written in 1956. Rarely for Duncan, it was not a commission but was composed because he wanted to write it: it was a cathartic work.

The piece opens enigmatically and creates a misty mood. Duncan’s use of percussion and woodwind here is surely reminiscent of Mercury and Venus from Holst’s Planets. The first main theme tries to establish itself- yet this very slow music does not emerge from its initial unfocussed mood. The strings try out what appears to be a new tune: they are supported by comments from the woodwind. The tempo is still slow but soon the ‘big’ tune and an apparent counter melody begin to assert themselves. Harp arpeggios lead to a seeming climax which does not fully materialise. The music eases off before a reflective tune for oboe and then horns is presented. The music becomes misty once more – as if a sea fret had blown up the English Channel. Suddenly a folksong-like tune is heard supported by tuned percussion. The strings and French horn reflect on this theme before a few Delius-like horn cadences lead to the final bars. The close is quiet and largely depends on percussion and woodwind. St Boniface Down is a relatively long piece of ‘light’ music lasting for just over seven minutes.

Two questions arise about this piece – firstly, what is the genre and, secondly, one of dating.

I am never happy with critics who consign music written by Farnon, Duncan, Coates et al to the one single category of ‘light music’. Now it is self-evident that this little tone poem is not in the same league as Bax’s Garden of Fand or even William Alwyn’s Magic Island. It could be argued that it is ‘mood’ music or maybe even a ‘characteristic piece.’ Yet I believe this would be disingenuous: in St. Boniface Down there are many echoes of Fred. Delius and Gustav Holst: perhaps even a nod to Vaughan Williams in a few bars. Yet this is no whimsical album-leaf using musical clichés but a well constructed and beautifully orchestrated essay. In fact this is a serious piece of music that is written from the heart, but uses a musical language that is readily accessible to most listeners. And finally, what is probably most important, is that it succeeds in creating its effect and manages to communicate its romantic message.

Dating is a problem. Traditionally The Girl from Corsica was dated as being composed in 1959: according to conventional wisdom, Trevor Duncan had met this enigmatic lady the previous year. Yet the dating of St. Boniface Down is 1956, at least on the CD sleeve notes – some two years before he was supposed to have had that brief relationship. I look forward to someone clearing this minor mystery up for me!

Interestingly, Duncan made use of the poetic rhythm of a line of poetry by Paul Verlaine: -“Il pleure dans mon coeur comme il pleut sur la ville.” One naturally wonders if the composer’s walk was done during a day of light rain? Certainly the music hints at a misty day.

St. Boniface Down is available on Marco Polo 8.223517.

Trevor Duncan: High Heels

One of my favourite pieces by Trevor Duncan is High Heels. Now there is no doubt that this piece owes much to David Rose’s ever popular Holiday for Strings – however Duncan has taken this idiom and created a work that is entirely his own. It is very much a case of a composer producing an early masterpiece and latterly feeling no need to disown it or even revise it.

To my mind this is one of those pieces that typifies the genre – there is absolutely no doubt from the first bar to the last that this is ‘light music’ of the very highest quality. Yet that is not to disparage it. What matters is whether it is good music: not if it is light or heavy, complicated or simple. And by every canon of criticism High Heels is good music – tune, scoring and formal balance.

High Heels was actually one of the earliest of Duncan’s contribution to the genre. In fact his first performed piece would appear to have been Vision in Velvet which had been inspected and approved by the conductor Ray Martin. In those days, the BBC had a restriction on its employees having music performed on the air, so Trevor Duncan chose to compose for newsreel and film companies who were not associated with the BBC. Interestingly, at this time, he chose his pseudonym – his given name was Leonard Charles Trebilcock! High Heels followed on from Vision of Velvet, once again receiving Martin’s approval. It became an immediate hit with a number of recordings and broadcasts.

The music is full of hustle and bustle and it is hard to imagine that it was written at a time of post war utility. It describes a vivacious lady in equally attractive surroundings. I guess that it has to be a grand entrance to The Dorchester Hotel rather than on the farm in East Anglia! Anyone with the least of imagination can provide the mental furniture for this piece of music.

Interestingly, it was composed at the time of his marriage to his first wife – who alas died some years later– so it may well be that she was the lady of style in Park Lane.

The ambience of this piece is something between Jazz and Mantovani – with an attractive syncopated rhythm and a melody that is underpinned with an evolving pizzicato bass. It was a soundscape that was to appear many times over the next two decades by a wide variety of composers. It was style that was definitely in the air.

Finally, Rob Barnett at MusicWeb International has summed this piece up well in his review of the Hyperion British Light Music compilation: “Trevor Duncan's High Heels is a flurry of 1950s style pizzicato - sophisticated: all fresh rain, shop windows and neon”…

‘High Heels’ on Hyperion 67400