Light music
Light music is a less-serious form of Western classical music, which originated in the 18th and 19th centuries and continues today. Its heyday was in the mid‑20th century.[1][2] The style is through-composed, usually shorter orchestral pieces and suites designed to appeal to a wider context and audience than more sophisticated forms such as the concerto, the symphony and the opera.
For the form of bagpipe music, see Ceòl beag.Light music
Light music was especially popular during the formative years of radio broadcasting, with stations such as the BBC Light Programme (1945–1967) playing almost exclusively "light" compositions.
Occasionally also known as mood music and concert music, light music is often grouped with the easy listening genre.[3] Light music was popular in the United Kingdom, the United States and in continental Europe, and many compositions in the genre remain familiar through their use as themes in film, radio and television series.
Origins[edit]
Before Late Romantic orchestral trends of length and scope separated the trajectory of lighter orchestral works from the Western Classical canon, classical composers such as Mozart and Haydn won as much fame for writing lighter pieces such as Eine Kleine Nachtmusik as for their symphonies and operas. Later examples of early European light music include the operettas of composers such as Franz von Suppé or Sir Arthur Sullivan; the Continental salon and parlour music genres; and the waltzes and marches of Johann Strauss II and his family.[4] The Straussian waltz became a common light music composition (note for example Charles Ancliffe's "Nights of Gladness" or Felix Godin's "Valse Septembre"). These influenced the foundation of a "lighter" tradition of classical music in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
In the UK, the light-music genre has its origin in the seaside and theatrical orchestras that flourished in Britain during the 19th and early 20th century.[5][6] These played a wide repertoire of music, from classical music to arrangements of popular songs and ballads of the time. From this tradition came many specially written shorter orchestral pieces designed to appeal to a wider audience.
Composers such as Sir Edward Elgar wrote a number of popular works in this medium, such as the "Salut d'Amour", the Nursery Suite, and Chanson de Matin.[5] The conductor Sir Thomas Beecham became famous for concluding his otherwise serious orchestral concerts with what he termed "lollipops", meaning less serious, short or amusing works chosen as a crowd-pleasing encore.[7] Influenced by the earlier "promenade concerts" held in London pleasure gardens, a similar spirit embued many of Henry Wood's early Queen's Hall Proms concerts, especially the "Last Night of the Proms".[8]
With the introduction of radio broadcasting by the BBC in the 1920s the style found an ideal outlet. This increased after the launch of the BBC Light Programme in 1945, featuring programmes such as Friday Night is Music Night and Music While You Work.[9]
In the United States, "pop orchestras" such as the Boston Pops began to emerge in the 19th century. The Boston Pops was founded in 1885 as a second, popular identity of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO), founded four years earlier. They commissioned light pieces by composers such as Leroy Anderson, Ferde Grofé, and George Gershwin to write original works, along with theatre music, film music and arrangements of popular music and show tunes.
As film, radio and television themes[edit]
In the 1950s and 1960s many light composers wrote Production Library music for use in film, radio and television, and as a result, many light music compositions are familiar as theme music, an example being Trevor Duncan's March from a Little Suite, used by the BBC as the theme to Dr. Finlay's Casebook in the 1960s, or Edward White's "Puffin' Billy" being the theme to both the BBC radio series Children's Favourites and the CBS children's programme Captain Kangaroo.
Eric Coates' marches in particular were popular choices as theme music. The "Dambusters March", possibly his most famous work, was used as the title theme to the 1954 film and has become synonymous with the film and the mission itself.[20] Other Coates works used as theme music include "Calling All Workers" for Music While You Work, "Knightsbridge" for In Town Tonight and "Halcyon Days" as the theme to The Forsyte Saga.
Coates was also commissioned to write original marches for television stations including the "BBC Television March", ATV's "Sound and Vision March" and Associated Rediffusion's "Music Everywhere". Other noteworthy television startup themes include William Walton's Granada Preludes, Call Signs and End Music for Granada Television, Robert Farnon's Derby Day for Radiotelevisão Portuguesa, Richard Addinsell's Southern Rhapsody for Southern Television, Ron Goodwin's Westward Ho! for Westward Television and John Dankworth's Widespread World for Rediffusion London.[21]
Several pieces of light music are used on BBC Radio 4 to the present day, with Eric Coates's "By the Sleepy Lagoon" being the theme of Desert Island Discs, Arthur Wood's "Barwick Green" the theme of The Archers and Ronald Binge's "Sailing By" preceding the late-night shipping forecast.