CD REVIEW
– Ron
GOODWIN
Drake
400 Suite
633 Squadron: Theme / New Zealand
Suite
New Zealand
Symphony Orchestra / Ron Goodwin
Naxos
8555193 [69:57]
'
This is No.11 in
the Naxos British Light Music
series formerly on the Marco Polo
label and the first where the
composer conducts his own music.
Ronald Alfred Goodwin (1925-2003)
was one of my heroes of our kind
of music. We exchanged letters,
referred to him as "Uncle
Ron" at home and soon after
I became a RFS member was
thrilled to meet such a true
gentleman.
He started his
working career in an insurance
office but, tiring of this,
answered the call of music and
became a copyist with a
music-publishers. He studied
arranging and played trumpet in
Harry Gold's Pieces of Eight. He
arranged for musical directors
Ted Heath, Geraldo, Stanley Black
and others, as well as singers
such as Petula Clark and Jimmy
Young – including the UK
No.1 hit Too young.
By 1951 he was
regularly broadcasting with his
Concert Orchestra and, contracted
to EMI, making recordings of his
own arrangements. He first scored
a couple of documentary films in
1958 and wrote more than 60
scores over the next 25 years.
This compilation
contains 11 works reflecting
Goodwin's varied output in his
individual and recognizable
style, and opens with probably
his most popular piece, Theme
from the war film '633
Squadron'. Then there are
two longer typically descriptive
compositions: 'Drake 400
Suite' – commissioned
for the 1980 Festival in
celebration of Sir Francis
Drake's return to Ron's home city
of Plymouth after his
round-the-world voyage –
with, for me, the March:
Plymouth Hoe a particularly
ear-catching track; and the
six-movement 'New Zealand
Suite' with The Earnslaw
Steam Theme and The A
& P Show (Agriculture
& Produce) stand-out pieces.
Prisoners of
War March (The Kriegie) was
written for the RAF Ex-Prisoners
of War Association also in 1980. Arabian
Celebration, another bespoke
work for the 50th anniversary of
the BBC Arabic Service first
performed in 1988.
Other tracks are
taken from various Goodwin albums
over the years: Puppet
Serenade, Venus Waltz,
Minuet in Blue, Theme
from the film 'The Trap'
(popular signature tune for the
London Marathon on TV), Girl
with a Dream, and Theme from
Lancelot and Guinevere
– a British film starring
Cornel Wilde.
Goodwin was a
frequent visitor to New Zealand
and the orchestra perform
excellently under his baton.
Perhaps this is explained by what
his assistant Ron Shillingford
wrote, that "Recording
sessions or concert rehearsals
were never hard work, as they
were scattered with Ron's sense
of humour, telling a funny story
or a quick remark that would have
the orchestra laughing".
Well-known to many
of us, the composer, arranger and
musicologist Philip Lane provides
interesting background notes for
each piece.
If this album is
not already in your collection,
it is a must have for anyone who
appreciates light music of the
highest quality from someone who
today would be called a great
guy.
© Peter
Burt 2022
Still available at
time of writing on ebay and
Amazon for around £11 is 'Two
Sides of Ron Goodwin' [EMI 7243 5
82550 2 7], a 2003 tribute
double-CD of 53 tracks compiled
by the late David Ades.
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