The Golden Age of Light Music: The Hall of Fame, Vol. 3

by HALL OF FAME 3 / VARIOUS

Overview

The Guild label, based in Switzerland, has performed an enormous service with its Golden Age of Light Music albums. This large and expanding series covers the genre known as easy listening in the U.S., and it includes recordings by British, American, and sometimes Continental orchestras. It's not at all clear what makes this (and the other two discs so titled) a set of "Hall of Fame" selections, as the title proclaims; the booklet notes (in English only) give the contradictory explanations that "recognition should already have been given for outstanding achievement" but that "if only the most famous melodies and orchestras are considered worthy for a CD such as this, the result would probably be a rehash of what may have been done many times before." At any rate, those in search of a sampler from Guild's series will not find it here; they might do better with one of the Four Decades of Light Music albums, or perhaps the two Musical Kaleidoscope releases. The music here is actually more specifically focused than on most of the other albums in the series. Most of it dates from the late 1950s, a period when light music was entering a final, sometimes mannered efflorescence in advance of its temporary eclipse by rock styles. There are especially brilliant orchestrations from this period; hear the uniquely heavy string pizzicato rhythms in counterpoint with maracas, and the subtle entrance of the main theme, in the version of Ernesto Lecuona's Love and the World Loves with You by Richard Hayman & His Orchestra. There are also, especially in the American selections, examples of the syrupy sound that helped do the genre in. Unusually for Guild's series, this album includes a segment devoted to a single orchestra leader, George Melachrino, represented not only with his own Melachrino Orchestra but with the San Remo Festival Orchestra. These date from between 1947 and 1958 (from the latter year comes a fine version of the Warsaw Concerto). With the proviso that it's not the right place to start, fans of Guild's series will find enjoyable items here.~James Manheim

Product Details

Release Date:	04/13/2010
Label:	Guild / Guild Light Music
UPC:	0795754516227
Rank:	120902

Tracks

1. Singin' in the Rain  - Buddy Bregman  - Nacio Herb Brown  - Conrad Salinger  -  Salinger
2. A Suite of Serenades~Spanish Serenade  - Percy Faith  -  Faith  - Victor Herbert
3. Lingering Lovers  - David Carroll  -  David Carroll Orchestra  - Ron Goodwin
4. Ecstasy  - Jose Belmonte  - Philip Green  -  Philip Green's Orchestra
5. Amor que bonito (Love and the World Loves with You)  - Richard Hayman  -  Hayman  - Ernesto Lecuona
6. Solitude  - Duke Ellington  - Morton Gould  -  Gould
7. Easter Isle  - Lee Gillette  - Nelson Riddle  -  Riddle
8. La mu¿¿eca espa¿¿ola (The Spanish Doll)  - Hugo Winterhalter  -  Winterhalter
9. Dream  - Johnny Mercer  - Billy Vaughn  -  Vaughn
10. Vivre (Love of My Life)  - Guy Luypaerts  - Ray Martin  -  Martin
11. The Merry Widow Waltz  - Franz Lehar  - Freddy Martin  -  Martin
12. Devil's Galop  - Charles Williams  -  Williams
13. Jumping Bean  - Robert Farnon  -  Kingsway Symphony Orchestra
14. When Day Is Done  - Robert Katscher  -  Palm Court Orchestra  - Albert Sandler
15. Shooting Star  -  Queen's Hall Light Orchestra  - Sidney Torch
16. Elizabethan Serenade  - Ronald Binge  - Ron Goodwin  -  Ron Goodwin and His Concert Orchestra
17. Crazy Violins  - Charles Wildman  - Helmut Zacharias  -  Zacharias
18. The Kerry Dance  -  Geraldo  - James Lyman Molloy  - Angela Morley  -  Tip Top Tunes Orchestra
19. Bubble, Bubble, Bubble (Pink Champagne)  - George Forrest  - Henri Rene  -  Rene  - Robert Wright
20. March of the Pretzels  -  David Rose Orchestra  - David Rose
21. Music Everywhere (Rediffusion March)  - Eric Coates  -  Queen's Hall Light Orchestra
22. Where Water Lilies Dream (Theme from 'Runnymede Rhapsody')  - Reginald King  -  Melachrino Orchestra  - George Melachrino
23. My Song of Spring (from 'London Melody')  - Robert Farnon  -  Melachrino Orchestra  - George Melachrino
24. Winter Sunshine  -  Melachrino Orchestra  - George Melachrino
25. Aprite le finestre (Open the Windows)  - George Melachrino  - Virgilio Panzuti  -  San Remo Festival Orchestra
26. Warsaw Concerto  - Richard Addinsell  - William Hill-Bowen  -  Melachrino Orchestra  - George Melachrino

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Kingsway Symphony Orchestra   Orchestra
Charles Williams   Conductor
Tip Top Tunes Orchestra   Orchestra
David Carroll   Conductor
Morton Gould Orchestra   Orchestra
Nelson Riddle Orchestra   Orchestra
David Rose   Conductor
Billy Vaughn   Conductor
Philip Green   Conductor
Robert Farnon   Conductor
Ron Goodwin   Conductor
Philip Green's Orchestra   Orchestra
Buddy Bregman   Conductor
George Melachrino   Conductor
Henri Rene   Conductor
Conrad Salinger Orchestra   Orchestra
Richard Hayman & His Symphony Orchestra   Orchestra
Melachrino Orchestra   Orchestra
Helmut Zacharias and His Magic Violins   Orchestra
Billy Vaughn's Orchestra   Orchestra
William Hill-Bowen   Piano
Ray Martin Orchestra   Orchestra
San Remo Festival Orchestra   Orchestra
Eric Coates   Conductor
Freddy Martin   Conductor
David Rose Orchestra   Orchestra
Freddy Martin & His Orchestra   Orchestra
Morton Gould   Conductor
Richard Hayman   Conductor
Ron Goodwin & His Concert Orchestra   Orchestra
Percy Faith & His Orchestra   Orchestra
Hugo Winterhalter Orchestra   Orchestra
Charles Williams & His Concert Orchestra   Orchestra
Percy Faith   Conductor
Hugo Winterhalter   Conductor
Nelson Riddle   Conductor
David Carroll Orchestra   Orchestra
Queen's Hall Light Orchestra   Orchestra
Sidney Torch   Conductor
Ray Martin   Conductor
Helmut Zacharias   Conductor
Henri Rene & His Orchestra   Orchestra
Geraldo   Conductor
Palm Court Orchestra   Orchestra
Albert Sandler   Conductor

Technical Credits

Richard Addinsell   Composer
Charles Williams   Composer
Jose Belmonte   Composer
Reginald King   Composer
Conrad Salinger   Arranger
James Lyman Molloy   Composer
Ernesto Lecuona   Composer
Franz Lehar   Composer
Angela Morley   Arranger
David Rose   Composer
Robert Farnon   Composer
Robert Katscher   Composer
Ron Goodwin   Composer
George Melachrino   Arranger,Composer
Robert Wright   Composer
Charles Wildman   Composer
Virgilio Panzuti   Composer
Eric Coates   Composer
Duke Ellington   Composer
Victor Herbert   Composer
Lee Gillette   Composer
Morton Gould   Arranger
Johnny Mercer   Composer
Percy Faith   Arranger
Hugo Winterhalter   Composer
Nelson Riddle   Composer
Nacio Herb Brown   Composer
Sidney Torch   Composer
Alan Bunting   Remastering,Audio Restoration
George Forrest   Composer
Guy Luypaerts   Composer
Ronald Binge   Composer