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Track Listings
| 1. 633 Squadron |
| 2. Coronation Scot |
| 3. Westminster Waltz |
| 4. London Suite - Knightsbridge March |
| 5. London Suite - Covent Garden |
| 6. Nights of Gladness |
| 7. Mexican Hat Dance |
| 8. Sailing By |
| 9. "The Horseguards, Whitehall" |
| 10. Elizabethan Serenade |
| 11. Little Suite - March |
| 12. Jamaican Rumba |
| 13. Concert Jig |
| 14. By The Sleepy Lagoon |
| 15. Puffin' Billy |
| 16. Vanity Fair |
| 17. Jumping Bean |
| 18. Grasshoppers' Dance |
| 19. Barwick Green |
| 20. Dam Busters March |
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
This is a collection of 20 light classical music items by British composers, each lasting approximately 3 to 4 minutes. There are many favourites such as 'The Dambusters March, 'Coronation Scot', 'Sailing By', 'Jamaican Rumba' and 'Barwick Green'. Most have been used as theme tunes for radio programmes and in my younger days would be heard often on Radio 2's predecessor, The Light Programme (wonderful name). I always think it a shame that we don't get these short classical items, with great tunes, the work of craftsmen like Eric Coates, Haydn Wood, and Robert Farnon, broadcast on children's radio programmes these days. They are a wonderful way of entering the world of classical music.
The BBC Concert Orchestra is on fine form here. Handley sets a spanking pace for '633 Squadron' and 'The Dambusters March', which open and close the disc. Highlights include a wonderful sultry 'By the Sleepy Lagoon', in which you can almost hear the hammocks swaying by the gentle wash of the tide; 'Covent Garden' from another Eric coates masterpiece, The London Suite,; 'Nights of Gladness' by Charles Ancliffe; 'Mexican hat Dance' - irrepressibly played, in an arrangement by Philip Hope with a fabulous slow section; and 'The Horse Guards, Whitehall' by Haydn Wood, which I learnt was used for Down Your Way. All terrific stuff, the orchestra sounding like they are really enjoying themselves under Handley. The recording dates from 1997 and I don't remember its original release; maybe it was overshadowed by the fine series of similar CDs being released by Hyperion.
If I have a minor criticism it is that in a few items the orchestra's string section sounds a little thin, and the brass dominate. But these pieces were not written for orchestras with huge string sections, and the sheer pleasure in the music comes over terrifically. There are no sleeve notes, just a track listing with composers, and the radio programmes some of the pieces were used to introduce. There is a fine cover taken from an old L.N.E.R. railway poster. The recording quality is fine.
68 minutes of pure pleasure. I listened straight through at one go.
Highly recommended and amazing value.
The BBC Concert Orchestra is on fine form here. Handley sets a spanking pace for '633 Squadron' and 'The Dambusters March', which open and close the disc. Highlights include a wonderful sultry 'By the Sleepy Lagoon', in which you can almost hear the hammocks swaying by the gentle wash of the tide; 'Covent Garden' from another Eric coates masterpiece, The London Suite,; 'Nights of Gladness' by Charles Ancliffe; 'Mexican hat Dance' - irrepressibly played, in an arrangement by Philip Hope with a fabulous slow section; and 'The Horse Guards, Whitehall' by Haydn Wood, which I learnt was used for Down Your Way. All terrific stuff, the orchestra sounding like they are really enjoying themselves under Handley. The recording dates from 1997 and I don't remember its original release; maybe it was overshadowed by the fine series of similar CDs being released by Hyperion.
If I have a minor criticism it is that in a few items the orchestra's string section sounds a little thin, and the brass dominate. But these pieces were not written for orchestras with huge string sections, and the sheer pleasure in the music comes over terrifically. There are no sleeve notes, just a track listing with composers, and the radio programmes some of the pieces were used to introduce. There is a fine cover taken from an old L.N.E.R. railway poster. The recording quality is fine.
68 minutes of pure pleasure. I listened straight through at one go.
Highly recommended and amazing value.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
I bought this album in the certain knowledge that music performed by Vernon Handley and the BBC Concert Orchestra would be good; and it is. A minor criticism is that some of the tracks are, for me, spoiled by over emphasis of the base kettle drum which I found disturbing especially listening, as I most frequently do, through headphones.
Familiar as I am with most of this music, thanks to this album I am now able to put names to a few more familiar pieces. It is familiarity with, and ownership of, the originals of some of the pieces on the album that perhaps colours my point of view. Comparisons, it is said, are odious but how do you know how good something is unless you have something with which to compare it? Having owned many of the original versions of these tracks, in various forms, over the last 50-odd years I have found many of them again in the form of downloads from Amazon. In that way I can now pick and choose which pieces I want, making up my own "album". In one album this CD has so many of those that I would choose to add, or have already added, to my collection.
Overall I enjoyed the CD and, at the price I paid through Amazon, it represents really good value. I wholeheartedly recommend it, especially to anyone wishing to take a first step along the path toward enjoyment of light music. This is an excellent album with which to start.
Familiar as I am with most of this music, thanks to this album I am now able to put names to a few more familiar pieces. It is familiarity with, and ownership of, the originals of some of the pieces on the album that perhaps colours my point of view. Comparisons, it is said, are odious but how do you know how good something is unless you have something with which to compare it? Having owned many of the original versions of these tracks, in various forms, over the last 50-odd years I have found many of them again in the form of downloads from Amazon. In that way I can now pick and choose which pieces I want, making up my own "album". In one album this CD has so many of those that I would choose to add, or have already added, to my collection.
Overall I enjoyed the CD and, at the price I paid through Amazon, it represents really good value. I wholeheartedly recommend it, especially to anyone wishing to take a first step along the path toward enjoyment of light music. This is an excellent album with which to start.
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