MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


CD REVIEW

Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger

alternatively
Crotchet AmazonUK AmazonUS


The Golden Age Of Light Music -Bandstand In The Park – Volume 2
Transferred from various 78 rpm discs recorded between 1929 and1955 ADD
GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD 5147 [78:40]
Experience Classicsonline

Eric COATES (1886 – 1957) The Dam Busters – Film Theme (1954)
DAVIS Jenny Wren
Robert FARNON (1917 – 2005) Smiles ‘N’ Chuckles
Jaime TEXIDOR (1884 – 1957) Amparito Roca (1925)
Ronald BINGE (1910 – 1979) Flash Harry
Arthur PRYOR (1870 – 1942) The Whistler and his Dog (1905)
John Philip SOUSA (1854 – 1932) High School Cadets
Easthope MARTIN (1882 – 1925) Evensong
John BELTON (pseudonym for Tony LOWRY and Douglas BROWNSMITH (1902 – 1965)) Down the Mall (1927)
P BEECHFIELD-CARVER The Jolly Airman
Harry PARR-DAVIS (1914 – 1955) Sing As We Go (1934)
Jack STRACHEY (1894 – 1972) Eros in Piccadilly
Eric COATES Knightsbridge (from London Suite)
Eduard WAGNES Die Bosniaken Kommen
Joseph BERGEIM Music in the Park
Arnold STECK (pseudonym for Major Leslie STATHAM MBE) (1905 – 1974) Royal Review
Vivian DUNN (1908 – 1995) Cockleshell Heroes – Film Theme
Hermann STARKE With Sword and Lance
Edrich SIEBERT (pseudonym for Stanley SMITH–MASTER) (1903 – 1984) Over the Sticks
Tony LOWRY Golden Spurs
James L TARVER (b 1916) El Charro
Kenneth J ALFORD (pseudonym for Frederick Joseph RICKETTS) (1881 – 1945) The Great Little Army (1916)
Roger BARSOTTI (b 1901) New Post Horn Galop
A E SIMS March of the Royal Air Forces Association
Karl KOMZAK (1850 – 1905) Vindobona
Alexander BORODIN (1833 – 1887), arranged by Dan GODFREY (1868 – 1939) Prince Igor - llet Dances (1869/1887)
Band of H M Grenadier Guards/Capt George Miller (Knightsbridge, Starke); Band of The Queen’s Royal Regiment/Roger Barsotti (Barsotti); Band of The Royal Marines School Of Music/Vivian Dunn (Dunn); Band of The Royal Netherlands Navy/Capt G Nieuwland (Lowry, Steck); BBC Wireless Military Band/B Walton O'Donnell (Borodin, Martin, Parr-Davies); Black Diamonds Band (Pryor); CWS (Manchester) Band/Alex Mortimer (Siebert); Deutschmeister Kapelle/Julius Herrmann (Komzak, Wagnes); Fodens Motor Works Band (Belton); Grand Massed Bands/James Oliver (Alford, Sousa); Grenadier Guards Band/Major F J Harris (Binge, Tarver, Texidor); Irish Guards Band (Bergeim); William Lang (Cornet Solo) Black Dyke Mills Band/Arthur O Pearce (Davis); New Era Symphonic Band/Michael John (Farnon); The RAF Central Band/Squadron Leader A E Sims (Beechfield-Carver, Dam Busters, Sims, Strachey)

 

EMI has its GROC – Great Recordings of the Century - and Guild has its GALM, its miscellaneous compilation albums devoted to that amorphous sub-genre known as the Golden Age of Light Music. This one is a continuation of its Bandstand in the Park sub-series with its evocative LNER poster art from 1930; Bridlington by Henry George Gawthorn (1879-1941), all dappled sunlight on the promenade, blazers and knee length skirts, a military band visible in the bandstand; turquoise parasols twirling in the light breeze. A land where the Great Crash never intruded.

Despite the specificity of the cover artwork the dates of recordings range between 1929 and 1955. The disc opens with the last of them, a number that will swell the chests of patriotic Englishmen everywhere; the Eric Coates theme from The Dam Busters, a tune so good even Adrian Boult loved it. That’s followed by a sparkling and virtuosic example of cornet playing from William Lang and the Black Dyke Mills conducted by Arthur O. Pearce. Robert Farnon is heard in cheeky form in Smiles ‘n’ Chuckles whereas there’s a famous old novelty staple in the line-up as well – The Whistler and his Dog. This is played by the Black Diamonds Band on a 1929 Zonophone but it was made famous of course by Arthur Pryor of Sousa’s band.

Easthope Martin’s evergreen Evensong is played smoothly by the elite BBC Wireless Military Band conducted by B. Walton O’Donnell in 1932 whilst the aviation branch of the fighting forces is represented by the Central Band of the RAF. They essay the wholly appropriate The Jolly Airman from 1956 – confident, breezy, post-War optimistic and full of swing. I think it was Terry Jones of Monty Python (and Chaucerian Studies) fame who did the dirty on Harry Parr-Davies’s Sing As We Go - which is again a BBC Wireless/O’Donnell recording - and appropriated its melody for one of his naughty songs. No such fate befell – or has befallen – the confident swagger of Vivian Dunn’s Cockleshell Heroes. His Marines School of Music orchestra is one of the many and varied such bands on this disc. Another is the Band of the Royal Netherlands Navy directed by Captain G. Nieuwland – and a stirring show they make of Tony Lowry’s Golden Spurs. The ‘March King’ – Kenneth Alford – is represented by The Great Little Army which is a typically winning and spruce march. The final track represents two sides of a 1934 Columbia 78; The Prince Igor Ballet Dances in this arrangement by Dan Godfrey and once more in the capable embouchures of the men of the BBC Military Wireless Band under O’Donnell.

Charismatic military blowing has been intelligently harnessed in the interest of a varied programme. If some of the earlier sides are too treble starved for my tastes then the later ones are better. As ever, top notch notes.

Jonathan Woolf

see also review by Bob Briggs

 

 


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools




Return to Review Index

Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.