Main: The Light Programme: Music in a Classical Vein

Today's programme of Light Music focuses on the "light classical" end of the spectrum.

We can think of light music as filling a gap between out-and-out classical music, and the exceptional quality music production library and film music of the 1940s-50s - the latter featuring from time to time on The Light Programme. It's a continuum with perhaps Sullivan at one end (and we'll hear some of his Overtures today) and maybe Coates at the other – though it's difficult to define boundaries. In between are composers like Addinsell, Alwyn, Ketelbey, Tomlinson, Binge and others, and it's their music that we'll be featuring today. What these pieces and composers have in common, is a "classical" approach to melodic music. Their work is full of great tunes, and it utilises orchestral forces with as much aplomb as any classical composer. But in general (though not always), the music is a little lighter in tone and feel.

This part of the Light Music spectrum also includes some wonderful discoveries, including settings of classical or other pieces. I'll mention two examples here, both by the composer Ernest Tomlinson (b. 1924).

The first is his suite of orchestral arrangements of harpsichord pieces by Dr Thomas Arne, which Tomlinson called his Georgian Suite and originally wrote for Boosey & Hawkes' music library. Commercial recordings only reveal one of these pieces, the Gavotte – though there is an available Arne-inspired piece by Tomlinson written immediately after it called A Georgian Miniature – and we'll hear both today. There is one other arrangement of a harpsichord piece by Arne that is not a part of the set, and that is a setting of the Allegro from Thomas Arne’s G Major Sonata for Harpsichord, sometimes referred to as Finale To A Dance Suite and that was used by British Independent Television in the 1960s between Schools broadcasts. We still do not know who arranged it!

The other pieces I would mention by Tomlinson that are included in today's programme are the six orchestral settings of English folk dances documented in John Playford's English Dancing Master (1651) that constitute Tomlinson's First English Folk Dance Suite. The dances appear in beautifully lyrical form, with enhanced subtlety and delightful light and shade. This discovery I felt likely to be of so much interest to gullar sahir listeners that I've added them to the Main Stream.

I should note, incidentally, that the title "The Light Programme", in addition to referencing the BBC radio service of the same name (which was renamed in 1967), also pays homage to Brian Kay's programme with the same title that ran on BBC Radio 3 until 2007. Brian Kay is one of the key people (along with Gavin Sutherland, Ernest Tomlinson and friends) who has been responsible for the immense resurgence of interest in Light Music in the 21st century and the rediscovery of these marvellous pieces of music. And if you are a lover of Light Music, please do consider joining the Light Music Society.

Today's programme is presented by Elrik Merlin and produced by gullar sahir in conjunction with our friends at the Alexandrian Free Library Consortium of Second Life. You can listen to the programme in-world now at http://main.radioriel.org, or simply click here to start your player, if your browser is configured to do so. Listeners in the United States are encouraged to tune in using this link: http://loudcity.com/stations/radio-riel/tune_inFor more information on the Alexandrian Free Library, current exhibits and the work of Consortium members in general, please visit the Alexandrian Free Library website, or one of their branches in-world.


Photo: Brendan Townsend conducting the Laredo Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert at the Martinez Fine Arts Center, Laredo Community College

Main: Music from the Palm Court

"And now we take you, once again, to the Palm Court of the Grand Hotel..." 

Today on gullar sahir's main stream, we take on another journey back in time to the dance-halls of the early  20th Century, characterised by the long-running BBC radio series, Grand Hotel. We'll also be hearing some classic big-band recordings - and much more.

Broadcasts of light classical music on the BBC started in 1925 from The Grand Hotel in Eastbourne and featured, to quote the Radio Times of the era, 'Music of the Palm Court Orchestra'. The Lounge Hall of the Grand was used - the hotel did not actually have a Palm Court. The programme's signature tune was the "big tune" from Strauss's Roses from the South.

Today, we'll feature several modern-day Palm Court Orchestras, including the Palm Court Orchestra of the Stockholm Philharmonic. Much of the music you'll hear today is instrumental, but there are some vocal numbers; and the recordings are a mixture of authentic 1920s-40s dance-band recordings from the Charleston era and later, and modern light classical dance tunes and other pieces.

Then join us at 11am and 7pm Pacific Time (19:00 and 03:00 in the UK) for the latest instalments in our ZBS Radio Hour adventures. This week, we conclude the Jack Flanders adventure, Mystery of Jaguar Reef, and we continue the Ruby 7 adventure, Dream Weaver, Dream Deceiver. 

Today's programme is presented by Elrik Merlin and produced by gullar sahir in conjunction with our friends at the Alexandrian Free Library Consortium of Second Life. You can listen to the programme in-world now at http://main.radioriel.org, or simply click here to start your player, if your browser is configured to do so. Listeners in the United States are encouraged to tune in using this link: http://loudcity.com/stations/radio-riel/tune_in

For more information on the Alexandrian Free Library, current exhibits and the work of Consortium members in general, please visit the Alexandrian Free Library website, or one of their branches in-world.

The Light Programme: Gavin Sutherland & Friends

Today's Light Programme features the work of conductor, arranger and pianist Gavin Sutherland (b 1972), who is one of the small group of composers, conductors, producers and radio presenters who have almost single-handedly brought about the revival of Light Music in Britain over the past few years.

Born in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England, he studied conducting, piano and orchestration at Huddersfield University.

Sutherland was appointed as pianist and staff conductor for Northern Ballet Theatre from 1992 – 98. On the basis of his first CD, British Light Music Discoveries on ASV, Sutherland began working with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia on the concert platform and the orchestra of Birmingham Royal Ballet (involving both national and international tours). He has featured as Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal New Zealand Ballet, and has also guest conducted frequently for English National Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, New Adventures and South African Ballet Theatre. In June 2008 he was appointed Music Director of English National Ballet.

He has made over seventy recordings all over the world, predominantly with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia and the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. He has played a significant part in the current revival of British Light Music through several popular series of discs and his appearances on the BBC's Friday Night is Music Night, although he has recorded works as wide-ranging as Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, the chart-topping Carry On Album and the single release of the Radio 4 UK Theme – the latter is included in today's programme.

Today's programme features primarily Sutherland's light music recordings, but also a number of other pieces of light music from composers such as Robert Binge, and film music by William Alwyn and Richard Addinsell. Sutherland has a particular interest in the pieces of music used by British television companies to start the broadcast day (in the years before 24-hour TV) which were often written by leading light music composers of the time, and several of these "start-up themes" will be heard today.

For more on Gavin Sutherland, see the full Wikipedia article from which some of the above was derived. Several of Sutherland's recordings are available from Naxos – click here for details.

The Light Programme is gullar sahir's regular programme of light music, presented every month by Elrik Merlin and produced by gullar sahir in conjunction with the Alexandrian Free Library Consortium of Second Life. You can listen to the programme now at http://loudcity.com/stations/radio-riel/tune_in; outside the US, tune to http://main.radioriel.org in-world, or simply click here if your browser is configured to launch a player automatically.

For more information on the Alexandrian Free Library, current exhibits and the work of Consortium members in general, please visit the Alexandrian Free Library website, or one of their branches in-world.

From the Library: Grand Hotel

"And now we take you to the Palm Court of the Grand Hotel..." as the announcer used to say, introducing a programme of fine light classical and dance music from the Grand Hotel in Eastbourne, on Britain's South Coast.

Today on gullar sahir's main stream, we take you back to the dance-halls of the early to middle 20th Century, from around the mid-20s to the 50s, characterised by the BBC radio series, Grand Hotel. We'll also be hearing some classic big-band recordings and much more.

Broadcasts of light classical music on the BBC started in 1925 from The Grand Hotel in Eastbourne and featured, to quote the Radio Times of the era, 'Music of the Palm Court Orchestra'. The Lounge Hall of the Grand was used - the hotel did not actually have a Palm Court.

We'll be featuring the modern-day Palm Court Orchestra - in fact several different ones, including the Palm Court Orchestra of the Stockholm Philharmonic! Much of the music you'll hear today is instrumental, but there are some vocal numbers; similarly, the recordings are a mixture of authentic 1920s-40s dance-band recordings from the Charleston era and later, and modern light classical dance tunes and other pieces.

The Grand Hotel programme itself ran on Sundays from 1943 to 1973 and was generally broadcast live, usually from the Concert Hall at Broadcasting House but occasionally on location. It was hosted by violinist Albert Sandler until early in 1948 when he was taken ill and left the programme being replaced by Tom Jenkins. Both had previously been musical directors of the Grand Hotel Eastbourne  (Sandler 1924-28 and Jenkins 1938-40). However other hotels were also used, notably the Royal Bath, Bournemouth and these programmes were not called 'Grand Hotel'.

The programme lapsed for a couple of years before returning for its final series in 1951 when it was pre-recorded and introduced by Tom Jenkins with the Palm Court Orchestra and guest baritone Alfred Swain. Max Jaffa took over in 1956, succeeding Jean Pougnet, and stayed to the end. Reginald Leopold directed the Palm Court orchestra for 17 years, until 1973.

The programme's signature tune was the "big tune" from Strauss's Roses from the South.

Text based on the entry for Grand Hotel in Whirligig, http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/radio/musicprog.htm The picture shows Reginald Leopold and his Orchestra rehearsing for Grand Hotel

Today's programme is presented by Elrik Merlin and produced by gullar sahir in conjunction with our friends at the Alexandrian Free Library Consortium of Second Life. You can listen to the programme in-world now at http://main.radioriel.org, or simply click here to start your player, if your browser is configured to do so. Listeners in the United States are encouraged to tune in using this link: http://loudcity.com/stations/radio-riel/tune_in

For more information on the Alexandrian Free Library, current exhibits and the work of Consortium members in general, please visit the Alexandrian Free Library website, or one of their branches in-world.

Main: The International Lounge

It's cheesy... it's corny...  it's the International Lounge!

Today's programme brings you a selection of primarily instrumental music, and primarily from the 1960s as we present a comfortable sojourn in ... the International Lounge.

You'll hear instrumental - and other - arrangements of well-known tunes of the period, along with the best of popular production music and themes from the 60s. Most of the material is from the United Kingdom, the United States and occasionally mainland Europe: so at least it somewhat deserves the label "international".

It's completely unfair to call this music "elevator music" - it was often played, composed and arranged by some of the best musicians of the time. Yes, some of it is corny, but some is really quite amazing. And it's guaranteed to cause a wave of nostalgia to flow over you.

Today, of course, "lounge music" is terribly fashionably retro, and no longer consigned to the old vinyl bin in the charity shop under the heading "Easy Listening". Instead, the old masters are being dusted off as we speak and reissued on compilation albums. In the US there is an enormous series of them, and you'll hear some today; in the UK, we rely more on out-of-print production music library albums, although the remix artists are busy rediscovering things like the fab KPM "100 Series". So tune in, sit back, let the bar-tender bring you a gin and tonic with ice and lemon, and enjoy your stay in the International Lounge.

Today's programme is presented by Elrik Merlin and produced by gullar sahir in conjunction with our friends at the Alexandrian Free Library Consortium of Second Life. You can listen to the programme in-world now at http://main.radioriel.org, or simply click here to start your player, if your browser is configured to do so. Listeners in the United States are encouraged to tune in using this link:http://loudcity.com/stations/radio-riel/tune_in
For more information on the Alexandrian Free Library, current exhibits and the work of Consortium members in general, please visit theAlexandrian Free Library website, or one of their branches in-world.

Image courtesy of Hojusaram.

From the Library: The Light Programme

Today we're going to regale you with the nostalgic sounds of some of the best dance bands in the land (of the UK at least) from the 30s to the 50s, including Ambrose And His Orchestra, shown above, Ted Heath, the Queen's Hall Light Orchestra and a good many more. In addition we'll hear modern recordings of a selection of Light Music discoveries - largely in a light classical vein. Some of these you may recognise (especially if you're in the UK); many you may not. Most are instrumental, but not all. 

So sink into your favourite armchair, close your eyes, and imagine turning the big, heavy dial on that radio next to you, as you bask in the warm glow of its dial. The pointer passes over those names from the past as it turns, and sounds emerge from the loudspeaker, faintly at first, but growing stronger: Schenectady... Athlone... Normandy... Luxembourg... until you tune in to the relaxing sound of The Light Programme, on gullar sahir's Main Stream. Enjoy.

The ZBS Radio Hour

Then join us at 11am and 7pm Pacific Time, that's 19:00 and 03:00 GMT, for the latest installments in our ZBS Radio Hour adventure series. At the top of the hour, it's Jack Flanders in the final episode of Dreams of India; and at the half-hour, the latest adventures of Ruby, the Galactic Gumshoe, in the last part of The Turban of El Morya.

Today's programme is presented by Elrik Merlin and produced by gullar sahir in conjunction with our friends at the Alexandrian Free Library Consortium of Second Life. You can listen to the programme in-world now at http://main.radioriel.org, or simply click here to start your player, if your browser is configured to do so. Listeners in the United States are encouraged to tune in using this link: http://loudcity.com/stations/radio-riel/tune_in

For more information on the Alexandrian Free Library, current exhibits and the work of Consortium members in general, please visit the Alexandrian Free Library website, or one of their branches in-world.