LIBRARY NEWS January 2026

Posted on 30th January, 2026

Music and film

Film music is popular with our member orchestras. We have a comprehensive collection in our library worth exploring.

Irving Berlin

Irving Berlin was one of the most influential and prolific American songwriters of the 20th century. His work helped define what many people now call the Great American Songbook. Born Israel Isidore Beilin on May 11, 1888, in what is now Belarus, to a Jewish family, they emigrated to New York City when he was a child to escape persecution. He grew up very poor and began working young—singing on the streets and later as a singing waiter.

Berlin wrote over 800 songs, including some of the most famous in American history. A few of his iconic works include:

White Christmas
God Bless America
Alexander’s Ragtime Band (his first big hit in 1911)

He also wrote music for 19 Broadway shows and 18 films, earning major awards including an Academy Award, Grammy, and Tony. Berlin lived to be 101 and is often described as a composer who embodied American music—his songs became woven into the cultural fabric of the United States.

We have many of his works in our library including "Change Partners" from the 1938 film Carefree starring Fred Astaire.

https://youtu.be/6ca9ZSfvstU

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.

Jeanne Bernard

French composer and pianist Jeanne Bernard was born in 1895 and died in 1965. As well as her own name, she used the pseudonym: Jeanne Cartesixte. She was a member of SACEM (the French composers’ and publishers’ society) and collaborated frequently with cellist Jacqueline Roussel, to whom she was also related. She was active in Parisian musical circles in the 1930s, performing on radio and in concert halls such as Salle Chopin. Le Moment Comique by Bernard is held in our library.

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.

Greenwich Witch Zez Confrey

Repertoire ideas

Here are works being borrowed from our library by member groups:

Snow Ride - Angela Morley

A Most Wonderful Christmas - Robert Sheldon (arr)

Radetzky March - Johann Strauss I

Embassy Waltz - Frederick Loewe

English Folk Song Suite - Ralph Vaughan Williams

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:

The Virtuous Wife: Song Tune - Henry Purcell

Composer Spotlight

Albert Ketèlbey

Born 9 August 1875, Aston, Birmingham, Albert William Ketèlbey was an English composer, conductor, and pianist celebrated for his hugely popular light orchestral music. His works were so widely performed in the early 20th century that he became one of Britain’s most financially successful composers of the era.

He studied at Trinity College of Music, London and excelled in piano, organ, composition, and clarinet. He went on to become Musical director of the Vaudeville Theatre in London, a composer and arranger for Chappell & Co. and Columbia Graphophone Company and a prolific writer of music for silent films, tea dances, and popular concerts.

He used several pseudonyms, including Raoul Clifford, Geoffrey Kaye, and Anton Vodorinski. As a child, he composed a piano sonata that impressed Edward Elgar and his music was so popular that he was once dubbed “Birmingham’s musical millionaire”. He died on 26 November 1959, on the Isle of Wight.

Here is Mayfair Cinderella, one of the many Ketèlbey works available from our library:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1ewzbLPiVg&list=RDU1ewzbLPiVg&start_radio=1

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.