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Track(s) taken from CDA66868

The Old Clockmaker

composer
signature tune for 'Jennings at School'

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 12 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)
Charles Williams (1893–1978) was born in London and was a violinist in concert, theatre and cinema orchestras before becoming a musical director in theatres and cinemas. This film experience led to him composing and scoring for many Gaumont–British films, of which his Dream of Olwen for the 1947 film While I Live became a classic. He also composed and conducted a wealth of short ‘mood’ pieces for the Chappell Recording Library. Many of these gained wide familiarity through their use as radio and television signature tunes. The Old Clockmaker was used as the signature tune for Jennings at School.

from notes by Andrew Lamb © 1996

Charles Williams (1893-1978) naquit à Londres et fut violoniste dans des orchestres de concert, de théâtre et de cinéma avant de devenir directeur musical dans des théâtres et des cinémas. Cette dernière expérience le conduisit à écrire et à orchestrer des mélodies pour de nombreux films de la Gaumont-British. Son ‘Dream of Olwen’, destiné au film While I Live (1947), devint un classique. Il composa et dirigea aussi moult courts morceaux d’‘ambiance’ pour la Chappell Recording Library. Quantité acquirent une grande célébrité grâce à la radio et à la télévision, qui les utilisèrent comme indicatifs. Tel fut le cas de deux morceaux enregistrés ici: le Devil’s Galop, plutôt sinistre, et The Old Clockmaker, indicatifs respectifs du feuilleton radiophonique Dick Barton – Special Agent et de Jennings at School.

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

Charles Williams (1893-1978) war gebürtiger Londoner und als Violinist für Konzert-, Theater- und Kinomusik bekannt, ehe er musikalischer Theater- und Kinodirektor wurde. Die Erfahrung im Bereich der Filmmusik brachte ihn dazu, Partituren und Kompositionen für viele Filme der Gaument-British Film zu schreiben, von denen ‘Dream of Olwen’ (Träumen von Olwen) für den Film While I Live (Während ich lebe) von 1947 zu einem Klassiker wurde. Er komponierte und dirigierte auch eine Vielfalt kurzer ‘Stimmungs’-Stücke für die Chappell Recording Library. Viele dieser Stücke erreichten eine weitverbreitete Beliebtheit, da sie als Kennmelodien für Radio und Fernsehen benutzt wurden. So auch die beiden hier vorhandenen Stücke, die die passenden Titel Devil’s Galop (Teufelsgalopp) als Kennmelodie der Radioserie Dick Barton – Special Agent (Sonderagent Dick Barton) und The Old Clockmaker (Der alte Uhrmacher) für Jennings at School (Jennings in der Schule) tragen.

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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