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on Sunday October
10th. 2021
at The Lancaster Hall
Hotel,
35 Craven Terrace, London W2 3EL
Doors open:
1.30pm, Programme: 2pm - 6pm
The
event includes presentations
using recordings.
Our
special guest will be Dennis
Wilby, who was principal trumpet
with the BBC Northern Ireland
Light Orchestra from 1959 - 1969,
later turning his attention to
brass bands - becoming the
conductor of the famous
Grimethorpe Colliery Band. He
continues to adjudicate at major
brass band contests. Brian
Reynolds will be talking to him
about his career, illustrating it
with recordings from a new double
CD of the N.I.L.O.
Admission
fee: £12.00 - includes
refreshments during the first
interval
A selection of CDs and Books will
be available for sale
Nearest
stations: Paddington (main line),
Paddington and Lancaster Gate
(Underground)
On-street
parking nearby and very limited
spaces in
the hotel car park @ £8 per
vehicle
Dear Friends,
tonight (Saturday 5th June) David
Mellor gives me a very special
birthday gift; a programme
devoted to my recordings, and, I
believe, reminiscences from what
he called my "fantastic
career"!!. He has delved
into my CDs and has chosen the
titles himself so I have no idea
what to expect. If you can't
catch the show tonight, remember
you can use the ClassicFM
"Listen Again" button
on the web page. https://www.globalplayer.com/catchup/classicfm/uk/episodes/BUq5rJ8PAdpa5DNu3VjTg2UmP/
Aspidistra
Drawing Room Orchestra Concert May 31st
2021
After a
year’s absence –
perforce due to the Covid virus
– and following a miserably
wet and mostly cold May, a
wonderfully warm and sunny Spring
Bank Holiday Monday heralded a
most welcome return of the
Aspidistra Drawing Room Orchestra
to the historic Lauderdale House
on Highgate Hill, North London.
The venue's staff
had ingeniously managed to
arrange socially-distanced
seating in family 'bubbles'. I am
told that the attendance was,
however, nearly as great as at
the ADRO's previous concerts. In
addition, due to the marvels of
modern technology and some
intensive work by the orchestra's
flautist, Ana Arnold, the event
was streamed and watched by very
many more people.
With the exception
of 2020, Adam Bakker and his
intrepid band of musicians have
presented a concert annually
since 2003. A good number of us,
including 'yours truly', have
managed to attend every single
one, and there were many
'regulars' present, together with
some new friends as well.
The instrumental
line-up consists of a string
quartet, i.e. two violins, viola
and cello, together with piano,
oboe/cor-anglais and flute/
piccolo. This has always required
the creation of special
arrangements, a task chiefly
undertaken by Adam, although in
earlier days former flautist Roy
Bell also contributed to the
ensemble's now extensive
repertoire.
Almost all the
items were given an 'airing' for
the first time by the ADRO and we
were treated to an interesting
selection of pieces by composers
hailing from several different
parts of the world.
Traditionally,
Palm Court orchestras were
regularly hired to provide
entertainment before the advent
of sound recording. They played
the popular music of the period,
together with reduced
arrangements of great orchestral
works, which often didn't make
for a great deal of authenticity
!
There was no
particular 'theme' to this
concert, but there were several
recurring subjects –
animals, love, dance and
nostalgia being the main ones.
The diverse programme included
Jaime Texidor's Amparito
Rocca, Duke Ellington's Creole
Love Call, the Donkey
Serenade by Rudolf Friml, Pony
by Josef Rixner, two relatively
modern titles, Beachcomber
by Clive Richardson and Sydney
Del Monte's Heather On The
Pampas, and the traditional
tune Eriskay Love Lilt.
A few songs were
included, performed by
mezzo-sopranos Camilla Cutts and
Liz Menezes, who is also the lead
violinist. Amongst others, Liz
sang Walter Hirsch's novelty
song, Horsey ! Keep Your Tail
Up. Liz mentioned that her
grandmother used to sing this to
her – as did my grandmother
to me ! Camilla gave a wonderful
rendition of the Habenera
from George Bizet’s Carmen.
The final
scheduled item was the song Keep
The Home Fires Burning, by
Ivor Novello, expressing a
sentiment which is very
appropriate for these troubled
times.
As always, the
Orchestra performed with great
style and enthusiasm, and it is
no exaggeration to say that a
thoroughly enjoyable afternoon
was had by all; it is hoped that
we will be treated to 'more of
the same' next year.
WHEN
CINEMA LET IN THE LIGHT
BY MARTIN CLEAVE
SATURDAY 3 JULY AT 5:30PM
Light orchestral
music formed a significant part
of 20th Century popular culture,
so unsurprisingly it found its
way into the cinema-going
experience of the pre-Beatles
era. Through historic recordings
and vintage broadcasts, this
presentation will feature the
orchestras of the Commodore
Hammersmith and Troxy Stepney,
among others, accompanied by
images of the cinemas they
performed in. It will also
feature compositions by theatre
organists including Sidney Torch
and Louis Mordish. Also, hear how
the Pearl & Dean theme
sounded after the pillars faded
and all about Joan Sims' 'larky
goings-on in the two-and-threes'.
Martin Cleave has
a lifelong interest in music. He
began learning to play the piano
at the age of 7 and is currently
Pianist and Music Manager at the
Royal Academy of Dance. In his
spare time he is conductor for
the 'Eltham Park Pleasant Sunday
Afternoon Orchestra'. Martin is
also a long-time member of the
CTA and the Light Music Society.
Please note that
this is an illustrated talk with
music accompaniment examples. To
fully enjoy the music within the
talk, it is recommended that you
listen with either external
speakers or headphones.
Tickets
BOOKING FOR THIS EVENT IS NOW
OPEN!
CTA TALKS AND PRESENTATIONS ARE
OPEN TO MEMBERS AND NON-MEMBERS.
BOOK ON-LINE USING TICKETSOURCE HERE
TICKETS ARE £3
FOR CTA MEMBERS AND £5 FOR
NON-MEMBERS
BOOKING CLOSES AT
4.30PM ON THE DAY
IMPORTANT: PLEASE
ENSURE THAT YOU COMPLETE THE
REGISTRATION LINK THAT
ACCOMPANIES YOUR TICKETSOURCE
CONFIRMATION.
May 2021
Vintage
Wireless and Television Museum
Music Afternoon – Saturday
July 24th 2021
We are delighted
to announce that we are planning
to hold the first music afternoon
since the start of the Covid-19
Lockdown in March 2020.
Over many years,
these events have been a regular
and popular feature of the
Museum’s activities. They
were originally hosted by the
late Gerry Wells, and more
recently have been organised and
introduced by Tony Clayden, along
with guest presenters.
Our programme will
– as is customary –
include a mix of Easy Listening
and traditional Light Music and
this time will include some
‘Big Band’ jazz as
well.
We look forward to
welcoming friends old and new,
and we hope that you will be able
to support us on Saturday July
24th. Admission is £10 'on the
door' – however, it
is essential to book in advance,
see below*. The event,
which will include a buffet lunch
and refreshments, will take place
outside, although an open-sided
tent will be available in case of
inclement weather.
The Museum
galleries will be open only for
attendees to the music event. The
doors will open at 12 mid-day and
the music will commence at 1 pm.
*Because
of space limitations and to
assist with catering
requirements, please notify
Eileen Laffey [on 020-8670 3667]
that you wish to attend.
Please
note that the Museum will
naturally comply with all
Government regulations in force
at the time, and the event could
therefore be subject to
cancellation if required by
subsequent legislation.
April 2021
A plea for
research documentation - old
catalogues
Our supporter,
Alex Gleason, is trying to find
old catalogues of Francis Day and
Hunter, DeWolfe -2100 series,
Phil Green Photoplay / Capitol
Hi- Q, and EMI EP/EPX catalogues.
If anyone is willing to dispose
of any unwanted catalogues,
please contact Alex by emailing alexgleason@londonlightmusic.org.uk
Could I ask if
anyone has old publishers
catalogues they no longer need,
could they get in touch, as I am
frankly getting desperate now. I
am in the closing stages of a
very substantial music reseach
project, and am stymied through
lack of information on some of
the great libraries of the last
century!
Amazingly I don't
have a complete Francis Day and
Hunter catalogue, and despite
having a useful 70s DeWolfe
catalogue, and a photocopy of
their 50s catalogue, kindly
provided by a member of the
Meetings group - I have no 30s or
40s DeWolfe information (and
neither do DeWolfes!!)
Likewise the EMI
EP and EPX series boasted
marvellous compositons by
Melachrino, Leslie Bridgewater
and Leighton Lucas - they MUST
have produced a catalogue at some
point (the custodian of the EMI
Archive had never even HEARD of
the series) but I've never been
fortunate enough to find one.
I won't go on,
obviously there are many other
libraries, like Southern, Berry
and Impress, that are moderately
well covered online, but if
anyone is doing a clearout PLEASE
DON'T BIN THESE
Let me know, I
badly need help!!
Thanks
April 2021
The Mark
Fitz-Gerald Orchestra in lockdown
The light music
classic "Puffin' Billy"
by Edward White performed by
members of the Mark Fitz-Gerald
Orchestra in lockdown to provide
a little joy for The British
Home, which the orchestra would
usually perform at each year.
Arranged and produced by John
Holland.
March 2021
News from
The Aspidistra Drawing Room
Orchestra
Listen to
us on Spotify
Some years ago we
signed up to make our music
available on Spotify. The process
has taken a long time but we are
pleased to report that from now
on you can download our
recordings from Spotify as well
as from several other streaming
platforms.
Not all our CDs
are available as yet but it is
likely to be only a matter of
days before over 80 tracks will
be accessible this way. So watch this
space.
If you prefer to
listen to actual CDs, we still
have plenty of copies of 'Happy
Frog and Hot Canary' and 'Beguine
and Bugatti Step' and we are
happy to sell these to subscribers of our
newsletter for half price.
Unfortunately, we had to cancel
our plans to record another CD
last year because of the pandemic
but we hope to realise these
plans later this year.
We have not yet
been able to meet up as a group
but have recorded another piece
of music in our individual homes.
This time we choose 'Die Lustige
Fiedel' by Rudi Rischbeck. It was
assembled by Ana, our flautist,
together with a clip of Charlie
Chaplin's 1916 film 'The
Vagabond' for our YouTube
channel.
We hope you enjoy
the video; Please press 'like' if
you do. You might also like to
subscribe to our YouTube channel
which links all our videos and
many of our recordings. We need 100 subscribers
for us to continue the YouTube
channel for free. It doesn't cost
anything to subscribe - all you
need to do is follow this link and then click on
'Subscribe' in the right hand
corner in the text below the
video.
Here is a
selection of some of the
playlists available on the
channel:
'World of Light
Music'
'The Story of Light Music'
BBC 'My Music'
'Melody Time'
'The Andre Kostelanetz Show'
BBC 'Sing Something Simple'
'Bands and their Music'
'On Parade'
'My Kind of Music'
and there are a
lot more including over 40 BBC
'My Word' programmes!
February 2021
Another
new 'Lockdown' video from
The Aspidistra Drawing Room
Orchestra
Hard
Hearted Hannah, the Vamp
of Savannah by Jack Yellen, Bob
Bigelow and Charlie Bates.
Performed by the Aspidistra
Drawing Room Orchestra in
lockdown. Published in June 1924
by Tin Pan Alley, this popular
song tells the story of a femme
fatale of Savannah. Included in
this recording is the first film
to feature Stan Laurel and Oliver
Hardy together (The Lucky Dog,
1921), although here we only see
Stan.
February 2021
Sunday
Bandstand
For those of you
who like Brass Bands, Chris Helme
produces a two hour weekly
programme of Brass Band music
which you can stream online here
20/05/2021
FRENCH DUETS
PAUL LEWIS / STEVEN OSBORNE
7/05/2021
DUTILLEUX
Le Loup
Sinfonia of London / John Wilson
27/04/2021
PHOENIX
JANUSZ WAWROWSKI, violin
RÓZYCKI | TCHAIKOVSKY VIOLIN
CONCERTOS
ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
GRZEGORZ NOWAK, conductor
The London
Light Music Meetings Group was
formed in 2014 to continue to hold the
meetings which were formerly organised by
the Robert Farnon Society.
Each of these takes the
form of a Sunday afternoon event during
which recorded musical items are
presented and discussed; they are held in
May and October of each year.
The range of music genres
is broadly as before embracing Light
Orchestral, Film, TV and Theatre -
related, Big Band and similar material.
The previous successful
format is retained with a central
feature/guest speaker and includes live
performances from time to time.
We
have now expanded this website to include
news items, details of other musical
events, CD and book reviews, and
obituaries.
We
welcome contributions in respect of any
of the above, also comments and articles.
