There’s so much to enjoy in this full and varied programme. Dance
Of The Little Pink Horse really sets the tone for what is
to come. It’s a delicious little piece, full of the most felicitous
touches of orchestration, and with a most disconcerting ending.
Leroy Anderson is represented by two well known pieces – the graceful
Waltzing Cat and the rumbustious Chicken Reel (in
what must be a creator recording by Fiedler and the Boston Pops
from 1948). David Rose’s My Dog Has Fleas is based on the
four notes of the strings of the ukulele and banjo. This is a
most inventive piece.
One of the real
highlights of this disk is Sydney Torch’s marvellous arrangement
of Friml’s lovely Donkey Serenade. We are bombarded
these days with orchestral arrangements of current pop tunes
under the title of Symphonic Whoever, the latest sensation
in pop groups, and the arrangements only serve to show what
a paucity of invention there is in much contemporary pop.
Here is a classic arrangement of a great tune which, when
shorn of its lyrics, still stands up to repeated hearings.
What a superb musician Sydney Torch was!
Oliphant Chuckerbutty’s
(believe it or not, this is only part of his real name – in
full Soorjo Alexander William Oliphant Chuckerbutty) Fauns
And Satyrs has really caught my attention – what will
surprise many is that it is a scherzo which reminds one of
Sibelius and Bantock in its orchestration! But what a piece!
Dance of the
Three Blind Mice is a joyful fantasy on the well known
nursery rhyme, with a marvellous part for xylophone. It’s
good to hear Paul Lincke’s Glow Worm in a serious arrangement
because the fabulous deconstruction undertaken on it by Spike
Jones and his City Slickers sticks in the mind. But no matter
how often I hear this version I do miss the car horns, pistol
shots and ludicrous vocals.
It
would be too easy to simply go through the whole programme
telling you how enjoyable each work is but it’s not really
necessary. Pick any piece and you will find something to enjoy
– Jack Strachey’s Lambs in Clover is especially delightful.
There I go again, wanting to describe the music to you.
There’s
nothing profound here, but who needs profundity when there’s
such a wealth of great tunes, fantastic orchestrations, and
very high spirits - try the Tiger Tango for all of
these things. What is amazing is that every composer succeeds
in making his presence and personality felt in a matter of
a couple of minutes.
The
sound is very good indeed, considering the various sources
for the original material. The recordings appear to have needed
little cleaning up, and we are presented with clear and clean
sound for every track. The notes are pretty good too. This
is another winner in a most enjoyable series.
Bob Briggs
Track Listing:
Bernie WAYNE (pseudonym for Bernard WEITZNER) (1919–1993) Dance Of The
Little Pink Horse [02:02]
Leroy ANDERSON (1908–1975)
The Waltzing Cat (1950) [02:41]
David ROSE (1910–1990)
My Dog Has Fleas [02:33]
Rudolf FRIML (1879–1972)
The Donkey Serenade (1912)–introducing Sympathy (arr. Sidney TORCH (1908–1990)) [03:08]
Arnold STECK (pseudonym
for Major Leslie STATHAM MBE)
(1905–1974) Morning Canter [02:39]
George ROSNER, Fred WISE, Xavier CUGAT
(1900–1990) Nightingale (arr. Percy
FAITH) [03:04]
Oliphant CHUCKERBUTTY
(1884–1960) Fauns And Satyrs [03:14]
Howard WHITNEY Mosquitos’
Parade [02:02]
Donald THORNE (1901–1967)
Dance Of The Three Blind Mice [02:43]
Paul LINCKE (1866–1946)
The Glow Worm (1902–1940s) [04:16]
Ed ANDERSON, Ted GROUYA Flamingo (arr. Richard JONES) [02:08]
Jack STRACHEY (1894–1972)
Lambs In Clover [02:48]
King PALMER (1913–1999)
Meadow Lark [02:38]
Charles WILLIAMS
(1893–1978) Snake Charmer [01:27]
Charles Wakefield CADMAN
(1881–1946) I Hear A Thrush At Eventide (arr. Cecil
MILNER (1905–1989)) [04:27]
Peter BARRINGTON
(pseudonym for Felton RAPLEY)
Peacock Patrol [02:38]
Kermit LESLIE; Walter LESLIE (pseudonyms for Kermit and Walter LEVINSKY) Gilbert The Goose [02:19]
Dolf van der LINDEN (pseudonym for David Gysbert van der LINDEN) (1915–1999) Pelican
Parade [03:00]
Hoagy CARMICHAEL
(1899–1981) Skylark (arr. Ron
GOODWIN (1925–2003))
[02:30]
Eugene ETTORE Butterfly
Fantasy (arr. Mischa MICHAELOFF)
[04:02]
Leroy ANDERSON Chicken
Reel (1946) [02:55]
Robert FARNON (1917–2005)
Bird Charmer [02:48]
Clyde HAMILTON (pseudonym
for Cyril STAPLETON),
Robert EARLEY (pseudonym for Robert Frederick STANDISH (aka Bob SHARPLES)) Tiger Tango [02:43]
George LIBERACE (1911–1983)
Bullfrog On A Spree [02:47]
Norman RICHARDSON March
Of The Penguins [02:13]
H Ashworth HOPE The
Frolicsome Hare [02:47]
Karl BELL Frogs’ Wedding
[02:44]
Colin WARK (1896–1939)
Animal Antics [02:08]
Sidney Bowman (Whitney), Percy Faith (Rosner/Wise/Cugat),
Ron Goodwin (Carmichael), Leslie Jeffries
(Hope), Kermit Leslie (Leslie), George Liberace
(Liberace), Mischa Michaeloff (Ettore), Cyril Stapleton (Hamilton/Earley),
Sidney Torch (Friml), Dolf van der Linden (van
der Linden), Louis Voss (Chuckerbutty),
Bernie Wayne (Wayne), Victor Young (Rose) all
conducting “their own” Orchestras; Leroy Anderson and
his Pops Orchestra (Anderson), Boston Pops
Orchestra/Arthur Fielder (Anderson), Danish
State Radio Orchestra/Robert Farnon (Steck,
Williams and Farnon), London Palladium Orchestra/William
Pethers (Wark), Dolf van der Linden and his Metropole
Orchestra (Palmer), New Concert Orchestra/Jack
Leon (Thorne), R de Porten (Barrington) and Jay Wilbur (Lincke
and Cadman), L’Orchestre Devereaux/Georges Devereaux (Strachey), The Pittsburgh Strings/Richard Jones (Anderson/Grouya), Central Band of the RAF/Squadron Leader A E Sims (Richardson),
Regent Classic Orchestra (Bell).
