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Track(s) taken from CDA66868

Calling all workers

composer
1940; signature tune for Music while you work

New London Orchestra, Ronald Corp (conductor)
Recording details: December 1995
St Jude-on-the-Hill, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London, United Kingdom
Produced by Oliver Rivers
Engineered by Tony Faulkner
Release date: May 1996
Total duration: 3 minutes 20 seconds

Cover artwork: The City Atlas (1889). Sidney Starr (1857-1925)
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Gift of the Massey Collection of English Painting, 1946
 

Reviews

‘For light music specialist and general music lover alike, this collection should prove pure delight’ (Gramophone)

‘Music that will make older readers revel in nostalgia and younger listeners discover an abundance of charming tunes that will spin around in their heads for days … an entrancing collection packaged in warm, ravishing sound’ (BBC Music Magazine)

‘The noble but under-rated tradition of British light music played to the manner born by Corp and his band who, if anything, improve on the original recordings’ (Classic CD)

'Espléndido disco' (CD Compact, Spain)
Eric Coates (1886–1957) was the work of the undisputed king of British light music, A native of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, he began as an orchestral violist before beginning to make his name with well-crafted songs and some most elegant and tuneful orchestral suites and other pieces of light music. Many of these gained familiarity as signature tunes during the heyday of radio, as was the case with the war­time march Calling All Workers (1940) which was for many years the signature tune of the radio programme Music While You Work. The tune was chosen very carefully from many among others for its tempo. The idea was not only to cheer people up in the war factories but also to pace their work—they worked faster because of the speed of the music.

from notes by Andrew Lamb © 1996

Le roi incontesté de la musique légère britannique, et natif de Hucknall (Nottinghamshire), Eric Coates (1886-1957) devint altiste d’orchestre avant de commencer à se faire un nom à travers des chansons bien écrites, auxquelles s’ajoutèrent quelques-unes des suites orchestrales les plus élégantes et les plus mélodieuses, entre autres morceaux de musique légère. Nombre d’entre elles servirent d’indicatifs durant les beaux jours de la radio. Tel fut le cas de Calling All Workers (1940), une marche composée en temps de guerre qui fut, pendant des années, l’indicatif du programme radiophonique Music While You Work. Cette mélodie fut choisie avec un soin extrême, parmi quantité d’autres, à cause de son tempo. L’idée était non seulement de remonter le moral des ouvriers dans les usines de guerre mais aussi de régler leur rythme – la rapidité de la musique induisant la leur.

extrait des notes rédigées par Andrew Lamb © 1996
Français: Hypérion

Die Musik des unbestrittenen Königs der britischen Unterhaltungsmusik Eric Coates (1886-1957) war dagegen weitaus britischer. Geboren in Huchnall in Nottinghamshire begann er seine Karriere als Orchesterorganist, ehe er sich mit wohlgesetzten Liedern und melodischen orchestralen Suiten und anderen Stücken von Unterhaltungsmusik einen Namen schuf. Viele dieser Werke wurden als Kennmelodien in der Glanzzeit des Radios berühmt, was auch bei dem zu Kriegszeiten komponierten Marsch Calling All Workers (1940) (Aufruf an alle Arbeiter) der Fall war, der jahrelang als Kennmelodie des Radioprogramms Music While You Work (Musik während du arbeitest) zu hören war. Die Melodie war unter vielen anderen wegen ihres Tempos sorgfältig ausgewählt worden. Es bestand die Absicht, die Arbeiter in den Kriegsfabriken nicht nur aufzumuntern, sondern deren Arbeitsleistung zu erhöhen – sie arbeiteten auf Grund des musikalischen Tempos schneller.

aus dem Begleittext von Andrew Lamb © 1996
Deutsch: Ute Mansfeldt

Other albums featuring this work

British Light Music Classics
CDS44261/44CDs Boxed set (at a special price) — Download only
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