Music and film
Film music is popular with our member orchestras. We have a comprehensive collection in our library worth exploring.
Hubert Bath
Hubert Charles Bath (6 November 1883 – 24 April 1945) was an English film composer, music director, and conductor. His credits include the music to the Oscar-winning documentary Wings Over Everest (1934), as well as to the films Tudor Rose (1936), A Yank at Oxford (1938) and Love Story (1944).
Love Story features Cornish Rhapsody, a work we will be playing at our Orchestral Play Day in Bolton on Sunday 5th October. Do come long and listen.
Our library contains a number of works by Hubert Bath including Out of the Blue March used by the BBC to introduce the radio programme Sports Report. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo0MPPyVgL0
Contact our Library team for further information.
Women composers
We are exploring the many works in our catalogue by women composers and arrangers.
With over 100 women represented, there is plenty to discover.
Charlotte Baerenz
Charlotte Baerenz was a composer and lyricist active in Germany during the 1930s and 1940s. Her name appears on several recordings from that era, including:
- In meinen Gedanken (1936), performed by Will Glahé’s orchestra
- Songs recorded by Greta Keller and the Großes Tanzorchester Heinz Wehner, often credited as “Ch. Baerenz”
She contributed to the popular music scene, particularly in the realm of sentimental and romantic songs, and her work was released on labels like Telefunken and Polydor.
We have this work by Charlotte in our library:
Führ' nicht mein Herz in Versuchung (Don't Tempt My Heart)
Search our women composer listing - https://www.lightmusicsociety.com/services
Listen…
What makes your audiences smile?!
Here is a suggestion that would make a perfect programme filler or encore.
Joy Ride - Jack Coles
Repertoire ideas
Here are some works currently on loan from our library by member groups:
Running off the Rails - Richardson, Clive
Jealousy - Jacob Gade
Handel in the Strand - Percy Grainger
Pretty as a Pink - Hammond
Our Classical World
Our library is not just about light music. We have a significant collection of lighter opuses from the western classical tradition.
Here is a suggestion:
Gopak from The Fair of Sorotchintsi Mussorgsky
Composer Spotlight
Edward German
Sir Edward German (1862–1936) was a pivotal figure in British music, especially known for bridging the gap between Arthur Sullivan’s comic operas and the Edwardian musical theatre that followed.
Born German Edward Jones in Whitchurch, Shropshire, he later adopted the name Edward German professionally. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music, where he later taught. He also performed as a violinist and was knighted in 1928. He retired from composition in 1912 but continued conducting until the late 1920s.
German’s music is celebrated for its lyricism, pastoral charm, and distinctly English character. He composed incidental music for plays such as Shakespeare’s Henry VIII and Anthony Hope’s Nell Gwynn, which became concert staples. His Welsh Rhapsody (1904) remains one of his most enduring orchestral works.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38lFFAxXIds&list=RD38lFFAxXIds&start_radio=1
He completed Sullivan’s unfinished The Emerald Isle in 1901, launching his own career in comic opera. His best-known operas include:
- Merrie England (1902): a romantic tale set in Elizabethan times, still occasionally revived.
- Tom Jones (1907): based on Fielding’s novel, full of wit and melodic flair.
- Fallen Fairies (with a libretto by W.S. Gilbert).
Contact us on lmsliborders@gmail.com for more information about the music we have by this composer.
Looking ahead…
LMS Play Day Sunday 5th October, Victoria Hall, Bolton
We have limited places left for orchestral players, but there is plenty of room for audience in our Teatime Concert!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1tAWywSDJec22v-nuTjiWwrhZcry8dWVB/view?usp=drive_link
Light Music News
Former Light Music Society chairman Gavin Sutherland has released one of his own compositions via streaming platforms. Gairloch Variations for three clarinets and chamber orchestra can be accessed via Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube Music among other platforms. The soloists are Derek Hannigan and Paul Allen, while Gavin conducts the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.
Our stalwart trustee Howard Rogerson, one of our conductors for the upcoming Play Day has spearheaded this new CD recording of fantasias for clarinet. The central focus is the somewhat jocularly labelled "English Ring" - three light operas that achieved great popularity in the British Isles: The Bohemian Girl by Michael William Balfe; Maritana by William Vincent Wallace and The Lily of Killarney by Julius Benedict. The latter fantasia is arranged by Rogerson himself. The CD also includes charming suites for clarinet and piano as well as some stand-alone works including Canzonetta by Ernest Tomlinson. A detailed article about the recording is appearing in the autumn and winter edition of Light & Lyrical and a review will follow shortly.
Savings Available
Can your group benefit from ordering more orchestral sets from LMS?
Music groups can order multiple orchestral sets at a reduced rate. Here are the details.
Orchestral Music sets for sale
Is your music group looking to buy some orchestral music?
Check out our Sets for Sale section!
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