I’m not going to strong-arm anyone into liking Armstrong. It’s easy enough to fall in love with the easy charm and seductive melodies of Armstrong Gibbs.
Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889-1960) is mostly known for his songs. He studied composition with Ralph Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music. Nevertheless, he is often dismissed for gravitating toward musical forms that could easily be described as “slight.”
He did contribute his share of British Light Music, to be sure, but he also wrote symphonies. The second of these, the “Odysseus Symphony,” for soloists, chorus, and orchestra, is clearly cut from the same cloth as Vaughan Williams’ “A Sea Symphony.”
It was Princess Elizabeth – the current Queen Elizabeth II – who requested of Armstrong a piece for her eighteenth birthday. The result was this gorgeous miniature, called “Dusk,” which became one of Gibb’s best-known works.
For anyone sober enough to actually ponder the text, “Auld Lang Syne” must be the most melancholy song on the planet. And for everyone else to be singing it on New Year’s Eve – good Lord, which way is the nearest bridge?
If New Year’s is not a difficult time for you, take a moment today to count your blessings. For the rest of us, it is my hope that the playlist this afternoon will operate on two levels: not only as a festive celebration of the turn of the year, but also a reminder of the consolation and hope that music can provide.
I’ll be keeping it light with a potpourri of nimble dances, euphonious British Light Music, and rib-tickling selections from music-oriented comedy albums, with perhaps just a few highlights from the world of operetta, provided that sentiment won’t weigh too heavily on the heart.
I can’t promise that the New Year holiday will be a happy one, but I will do my best to serve up some great musical hors d’oeuvres. We’ll be laughing on the outside, crying on the inside, this Monday from 4 to 7 p.m. EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
Remember: Your year-end contribution will still count toward 2018 through 11:59 tonight! If you appreciate all that we do at The Classical Network, and the music is an indispensable part of your life, please consider visiting our website now and clicking on “donate.” Thank you for your continued support of The Classical Network! And for what it’s worth, Happy New Year.
On this date in 1886, two noteworthy figures in English music were born.
Rebecca Clarke entered London’s Royal College of Music at a time when female students were still considered anomalies. Her teacher, Sir Charles Villiers Stanford, persuaded her to switch from violin to viola, since from that vantage she would be better able to absorb the mechanics of the orchestra. Also, thanks to musicians like Lionel Tertis, the viola was just beginning to be viewed as a viable instrument in itself.
Clarke played in the Queen’s Hall Orchestra, under Sir Henry Wood. Then in 1916, she packed up and moved to America. Critics tended to praise her works which were listed in concert programs under male pseudonyms, while those identified as her own were often dismissed.
The notable exception of her career was her Viola Sonata, which tied for first place in a competition sponsored by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge with a work of Ernest Bloch. Even so, there were some who grumbled that the work couldn’t possibly have been composed by a woman, and that perhaps Bloch himself had even written it.
Clarke married James Friskin, a founding member of the Juilliard School faculty, in 1944, and although he was supportive of her endeavors, lack of recognition and struggles with depression resulted in her ultimately giving up on composing. She died in 1979, at the age of 93. Today, her sonata is considered one of the great works written for the viola.
Here’s Rebecca Clarke’s “Morpheus”:
By contrast, Eric Coates enjoyed enormous popularity as a master of British Light Music. Ironically, Coates had taken viola lessons with Tertis at the Royal Academy of Music.
Among his best-known works are his “London Suite,” and this one, the perfect Coates confection for a late summer day:
I hope you’ll join me this afternoon for works by Clarke and Coates. They’ll be among my featured composers between 4 and 7 p.m. EDT, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
“Here’s a fat leather purse –
How the fellow did curse
When I told him to “Stand and deliver!”
Yes, that partly explains
Why I blew out his brains
And then threw his remains in the river!”
That’s just the kind of romance you’ll experience this Sunday morning on WPRB, when you join me for Harold Fraser-Simson’s “The Maid of the Mountains.” This tale of love among the brigands was one of London’s greatest stage hits during the First World War.
You’ll be able to enjoy it as part of a morning devoted to British Light Music, this Sunday from 7 to 10 EST, on WPRB 103.3 FM and wprb.com. I’ll be doing the heavy lifting in order to keep it light, on Classic Ross Amico.
Today marks the anniversary of the birth of Montague Phillips (1885-1969). Phillips composed in many different genres, but he is probably best known for the light music classics he wrote between the wars. They’re the perfect antidote to an arduous beginning of the work week. Enjoy some of it as part of an hour of British Light Music, this Monday evening at 6:00.
We’ll also observe the birthdays of American composer George Whitefield Chadwick (1854-1931) and Finnish composer Joonas Kokkonen (1921-1996). We’ll sample from their music and much more this afternoon, beginning at 4:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.
