Farnon: Melody Fair

Someone once said that the important thing which distinguished Light Music was the tune, rather than what you do with it. Listening to this collection he might have to change his mind, because the melodies on offer here would surely never sound so appealing without the magic woven in the glorious arrangements. Some are both arranged and composed by the same talented musician, such as the opening track Melody Fair, by that master of Light Music, Robert Farnon, and Mine At Last by the very talented, but lesser-known, Otto Cesana. Other memorable tunes have benefited from the attentions of brilliant arrangers Conrad Salinger, Paul Weston, Percy Faith, Bruce Campbell and others whose names are, sadly, unknown to us. The recordings come from the early 1940s to the late 1950s, a period when light music was subjected to many new influences, notably the emergence of new talents such as David Rose, Sidney Torch and the aforementioned Robert Farnon.