1.
Leeds
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Leeds /liːdz/ is a city in West Yorkshire, England. Historically in Yorkshires West Riding, the history of Leeds can be traced to the 5th century when the name referred to an area of the Kingdom of Elmet. The name has applied to many administrative entities over the centuries. It changed from being the appellation of a small borough in the 13th century, through several incarnations. In the 17th and 18th centuries Leeds became a centre for the production. During the Industrial Revolution, Leeds developed into a mill town, wool was the dominant industry but flax, engineering, iron foundries, printing. From being a market town in the valley of the River Aire in the 16th century Leeds expanded and absorbed the surrounding villages to become a populous urban centre by the mid-20th century. The city has the third largest jobs total by local authority area with 480,000 in employment and self-employment at the beginning of 2015. Leeds is also ranked as a world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. Leeds is served by four universities, and has the fourth largest student population in the country and has the fourth largest urban economy. After London, Leeds is the largest legal and financial centre in the UK, with over 30 national and international banks located in the city. Leeds is also the UKs third largest manufacturing centre with around 1,800 firms and 39,000 employees, the largest sub-sectors are engineering, printing and publishing, food and drink, chemicals and medical technology. Outside of London, Leeds has the third busiest railway station, Public transport, rail and road communications networks in the region are focused on Leeds and there are a number of twinning arrangements with towns and cities in other countries. The name Leeds derives from the old Brythonic word Ladenses meaning people of the fast-flowing river and this name originally referred to the forested area covering most of the Brythonic kingdom of Elmet, which existed during the 5th century into the early 7th century. An inhabitant of Leeds is locally known as a Loiner, a word of uncertain origin, the term Leodensian is also used, from the citys Latin name. Leeds developed as a town in the Middle Ages as part of the local agricultural economy. Before the Industrial Revolution it became a centre for the manufacture of woollen cloth. Leeds handled one sixth of Englands export trade in 1770, growth, initially in textiles, was accelerated by the building of the Aire and Calder Navigation in 1699 and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal in 1816
2.
West Riding of Yorkshire
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The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, the lieutenancy at that time included the City of York and as such was named West Riding of the County of York and the County of the City of York. The West Riding encompasses 1,771,562 acres from Sheffield in the south to Sedbergh in the north and from Dunsop Bridge in the west to Adlingfleet in the east. Unlike most English counties that were divided into hundreds, Yorkshire, being so large, was divided first into thrithjungar, each riding was then divided into wapentakes, a division comparable to the hundreds of Southern England and the wards of Englands four northern-most historic counties. The wapentakes of the West Riding were Agbrigg and Morley, Barkston Ash, Ewcross, Claro, Osgoldcross, Skyrack, Staincliffe, Staincross, Strafforth, major centres elsewhere in the riding included Harrogate and Ripon. Outside the industrial region were Goole, Ilkley, Knaresborough and Selby, the West Riding also contained a large rural area to the north including part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. Initially there were five in number, Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield, Halifax, the City of York was included in the county for census and lieutenancy purposes. The number of county boroughs increased over the years, Rotherham gained this status in 1902, Barnsley and Dewsbury in 1913, Wakefield in 1915, the boundaries of existing county boroughs were also widened. Beginning in 1898, the West Riding County Council was based at the County Hall in Wakefield, the Local Government Act 1888 included the entirety of Todmorden with the West Riding administrative county, and also in its lieutenancy area. Other boundary changes in the county included the expansion of the county borough of Sheffield southward in areas historically in Derbyshire such as Dore, fingerposts erected in the West Riding until the mid-1960s had a distinctive style. At the top of the post was a roundel in the form of a circle with a horizontal line across the middle, displaying Yorks W. R. the name of the fingerposts location. Other counties, apart from Dorset, did not display a grid reference, from 1964, many fingerposts were replaced by ones in the modern style, but some of the old style still survive within the West Riding boundaries. By 19711,924,853 people lived in the administrative county, within the West Riding of Yorkshire there were ten wapentakes in total, four of which were split into two divisions, those were— Claro, Skyrack, Strafforth and Tickhill and Staincliffe. The wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley was created two divisions but was later split into two separate wapentakes
3.
Scottsdale, Arizona
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Scottsdale is a city in the eastern part of Maricopa County, Arizona, adjacent to the Greater Phoenix Area. The New York Times described downtown Scottsdale as a version of Miamis South Beach and as having plenty of late night partying. Its slogan is The Wests Most Western Town, Scottsdale,31 miles long and 11.4 miles wide at its widest point, shares boundaries with many other municipalities and entities. On the west, Scottsdale is bordered by Phoenix, Paradise Valley, carefree is located along the western boundary, as well as sharing Scottsdales northern boundary with the Tonto National Forest. To the south Scottsdale is bordered by Tempe, the area which would include what would become Scottsdale was originally inhabited by the Hohokam, from approximately 300 BC to 1450 AD. This ancient civilization farmed the area and developed a network of canals for irrigation which was unsurpassed in pre-Columbian North America. At its peak, the canals stretched over 250 miles, many of which remains extant today, some having been renovated. Under still-mysterious circumstances, the Hohokam disappeared around 1450 or 1500, the areas later occupants, the Pima and Oodham, are thought to be the direct descendants of the Hohokam people. Before European settlement, Scottsdale was a Pima village known as Vaṣai S-vaṣonĭ, some Pima remained in their original homes well into the 20th century. For example, until the late 1960s, there was a traditional dwelling on the southeast corner of Indian Bend Road. Currently, those Pima who live within Scottsdale reside in homes rather than traditional dwellings. Many Pima and Maricopa people continue to reside on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, in the early to mid 1880s, U. S. Army Chaplain Winfield Scott visited the Salt River Valley and was impressed with the region and its potential for agriculture. Returning in 1888 with his wife, Helen, he purchased 640 acres for $3.50 an acre for a stretch of land where downtown Scottsdale is now located. Many of the original settlers, recruited by Scott from the East and Midwest, were educated and had an appreciation for cultural activities. The towns name was changed to Scottsdale in 1894, after its founder, while not in its original building, Cavallieres has been in continuance operation since that time. Between 1908 and 1933, due to the construction of the Granite Reef and Roosevelt dams, Scottsdales population experienced a boom, Scottsdale became a small market town providing services for families involved in the agricultural industry. Although cotton is grown in southern Arizona, Scottsdales cotton boom ended with the loss of government contracts at the end of the war. In 1920, a resort was opened on 12 acres of the property owned by the artist Jessie Benton Evans
4.
20th-century classical music
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This era was without a dominant style and composers have created highly diverse kinds of music. Modernism, impressionism, post-romanticism, neoclassicism, expressionism, and, later, atonality, serialism, musique concrète and electronic music were all developed during this period. Jazz was an important influence on composers in this period. At the turn of the century, music was characteristically late Romantic in style, composers such as Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss and Jean Sibelius were pushing the bounds of Post-Romantic Symphonic writing. At the same time, the Impressionist movement, spearheaded by Claude Debussy, was being developed in France, maurice Ravels music, also often labelled as impressionist, explores music in many styles not always related to it. Many composers reacted to the Post-Romantic and Impressionist styles and moved in different directions. From this sprang an unprecedented linguistic plurality of styles, techniques, in Vienna, Arnold Schoenberg developed atonality, out of the expressionism that arose in the early part of the 20th century. He later developed the technique which was developed further by his disciples Alban Berg and Anton Webern. Stravinsky explored twelve-tone technique, too, as did many other composers, indeed, even Scott Bradley used the technique in his scores for the Tom, after the First World War, many composers started returning to the past for inspiration and wrote works that draw elements from it. This type of music thus became labelled neoclassicism, igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Ravel and Paul Hindemith all produced neoclassical works. Italian composers such as Francesco Balilla Pratella and Luigi Russolo developed musical Futurism and this style often tried to recreate everyday sounds and place them in a Futurist context. The Machine Music of George Antheil and Alexander Mosolov developed out of this, in the 1940s and 50s composers, notably Pierre Schaeffer, started to explore the application of technology to music in musique concrète. The term electroacoustic music was coined to include all forms of music involving magnetic tape, computers, synthesizers, multimedia. Live electronic music uses live electronic sounds within a performance, Cages Cartridge Music being an early example, spectral music is a further development of electroacoustic music that uses analyses of sound spectra to create music. Cage, Berio, Boulez, Milton Babbitt, Luigi Nono, from the early 1950s onwards, Cage introduced elements of chance into his music. Process music explores a particular process which is laid bare in the work. The term experimental music was coined by Cage to describe works that produce unpredictable results, important cultural trends often informed music of this period, romantic, modernist, neoclassical, postmodernist or otherwise. Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev were particularly drawn to primitivism in their careers, as explored in works such as The Rite of Spring
5.
Jazz
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Jazz is a music genre that originated amongst African Americans in New Orleans, United States, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and developed from roots in Blues and Ragtime. Since the 1920s jazz age, jazz has become recognized as a form of musical expression. Jazz is characterized by swing and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms, Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African-American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. Although the foundation of jazz is deeply rooted within the Black experience of the United States, different cultures have contributed their own experience, intellectuals around the world have hailed jazz as one of Americas original art forms. As jazz spread around the world, it drew on different national, regional, and local musical cultures, New Orleans jazz began in the early 1910s, combining earlier brass-band marches, French quadrilles, biguine, ragtime and blues with collective polyphonic improvisation. In the 1930s, heavily arranged dance-oriented swing big bands, Kansas City jazz, bebop emerged in the 1940s, shifting jazz from danceable popular music toward a more challenging musicians music which was played at faster tempos and used more chord-based improvisation. Cool jazz developed in the end of the 1940s, introducing calmer, smoother sounds and long, modal jazz developed in the late 1950s, using the mode, or musical scale, as the basis of musical structure and improvisation. Jazz-rock fusion appeared in the late 1960s and early 1970s, combining jazz improvisation with rock rhythms, electric instruments. In the early 1980s, a form of jazz fusion called smooth jazz became successful. Other styles and genres abound in the 2000s, such as Latin, the question of the origin of the word jazz has resulted in considerable research, and its history is well documented. It is believed to be related to jasm, a term dating back to 1860 meaning pep. The use of the word in a context was documented as early as 1915 in the Chicago Daily Tribune. Its first documented use in a context in New Orleans was in a November 14,1916 Times-Picayune article about jas bands. In an interview with NPR, musician Eubie Blake offered his recollections of the slang connotations of the term, saying, When Broadway picked it up. That was dirty, and if you knew what it was, the American Dialect Society named it the Word of the Twentieth Century. Jazz has proved to be difficult to define, since it encompasses such a wide range of music spanning a period of over 100 years. Attempts have been made to define jazz from the perspective of other musical traditions, in the opinion of Robert Christgau, most of us would say that inventing meaning while letting loose is the essence and promise of jazz. As Duke Ellington, one of jazzs most famous figures, said, although jazz is considered highly difficult to define, at least in part because it contains so many varied subgenres, improvisation is consistently regarded as being one of its key elements
6.
Big band
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A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with playing jazz music and which became popular during the Swing Era from the early 1930s until the late 1940s. Big Bands evolved with the times and continue to this day, a big band typically consists of approximately 12 to 25 musicians and contains saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. The terms jazz band, jazz ensemble, stage band, jazz orchestra and this does not, however, mean that each one of these names is technically correct for naming a big band specifically. The music is traditionally called charts, improvised solos may be played only when called for by the arranger. There are two periods in the history of popular bands. Beginning in the mid-1920s, big bands, then consisting of 10–25 pieces. At that time they played a form of jazz that involved very little improvisation, which included a string section with violins. A few bands also had violas and cellos, usually one or two along with them, the dance form of jazz was characterized by a sweet and romantic melody. Orchestras tended to stick to the melody as it was written and vocals would be sung, many of these artists changed styles or retired after the introduction of swing music. Although unashamedly commercial, these bands often featured front-rank jazz musicians - for example Paul Whiteman employed Bix Beiderbecke, there were also all-girl bands such as Helen Lewis and Her All-Girl Jazz Syncopators. Towards the end of the 1920s, a new form of Big Band emerged which was more authentically jazz and this form of music never gained the popularity of the sweet dance form of jazz. The few recordings made in form of jazz were labelled race records and were intended for a limited urban audience. Few white musicians were familiar with music, Johnny Mercer. The three major centres in this development were New York City, Chicago and Kansas City, some big ensembles, like the Joe King Oliver outfit played a kind of half arranged, half improvised jazz, often relying on head arrangements. Other great bands, like the one of Luis Russell became a vehicle for star instrumentalists, there the whole arrangement had to promote all the possibilities of the star, although they often contained very good musicians, like Henry Red Allen, J. C. Earl Hines became the star of Chicago with his Grand Terrace Cafe band, meanwhile, in Kansas City and across the Southwest, an earthier, bluesier style was developed by such bandleaders as Benny Moten and, later, by Jay McShann and Jesse Stone. Radio was a factor in gaining notice and fame for Benny Goodman. Soon, others challenged him, and the battles of the bands became a staple at theater performances featuring many groups on one bill
7.
Alto saxophone
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The alto saxophone, also referred to as alto sax, is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s, and patented in 1846. It is pitched in E♭, and is smaller than the tenor, the alto sax is the most common saxophone and is commonly used in classical music, military bands, marching bands, and jazz. The alto saxophone was also commonplace in music from the 1980s. The saxophone fingerings are all universal, so a player can play any type of saxophone. The range of the saxophone is from concert A♭3 to concert A♭5. As with most types of saxophones, the standard range is B♭3 to F6. Above that, the altissimo register begins at F♯6 and extends upwards, the saxophones altissimo register is more difficult to control than that of other woodwinds and is usually only expected from advanced players. By covering or partially covering the bell of the saxophone when playing B♭3, also of note is Kadri Gopalnath, a pioneer of Carnatic music, plays a modified alto saxophone. Some companies that currently produce saxophones are Buffet Crampon, KHS/Jupiter, Conn-Selmer, Selmer Paris, Yamaha, Leblanc/Vito, Keilwerth, Cannonball, new alto saxophones range in price between €250 for lower quality student models to over €6000 for professional models. The alto saxophone has a classical solo repertoire that includes solos with orchestra, piano. Two of the most well-known solo compositions are Jacques Iberts Concertino da Camera, also, the alto saxophone is part of the standard instrumentation of concert bands and saxophone quartets. The alto saxophone is also used in orchestral compositions. Several orchestral examples are listed below, georges Bizet features it in the Minuet from the second suite of music from LArlésienne. He also includes it in his Suite No.1 and Suite No.2, maurice Ravel uses the saxophone prominently in his orchestration of Modest Moussorgskys Pictures at an Exhibition, most notably as the soloist in Il vecchio castello. Alban Berg uses the saxophone in his orchestral works, most notably Der Wein, Lulu. Sergei Rachmaninoff uses the saxophone in his Symphonic Dances as a soloist in the first movement, george Gershwin includes it in a few pieces, such as Rhapsody in Blue and An American in Paris. Pierre Boulez wrote for 2 alto saxes in his composition Pli selon pli, benjamin Britten calls for an alto in his Sinfonia da Requiem and The Prince of the Pagodas. Leonard Bernstein includes an alto sax in his Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, vincent dIndy enlists two altos in his opera Fervaal
8.
Flute
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The flute is a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening, according to the instrument classification of Hornbostel–Sachs, flutes are categorized as edge-blown aerophones. A musician who plays the flute can be referred to as a player, flautist, flutist or, less commonly. Flutes are the earliest extant musical instruments, as paleolithic instruments with hand-bored holes have been found, a number of flutes dating to about 43,000 to 35,000 years ago have been found in the Swabian Jura region of present-day Germany. These flutes demonstrate that a musical tradition existed from the earliest period of modern human presence in Europe. Flutes, including the famous Bansuri, have been a part of Indian classical music since 1500 BC. A major deity of Hinduism, Krishna, has been associated with the flute, the English verb flout has the same linguistic root, and the modern Dutch verb fluiten still shares the two meanings. Attempts to trace the word back to the Latin flare have been pronounced phonologically impossible or inadmissable, the first known use of the word flute was in the 14th century. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this was in Geoffrey Chaucers The Hous of Fame, today, a musician who plays any instrument in the flute family can be called a flutist, or flautist, or simply a flute player. Flutist dates back to at least 1603, the earliest quote cited by the Oxford English Dictionary, flautist was used in 1860 by Nathaniel Hawthorne in The Marble Faun, after being adopted during the 18th century from Italy, like many musical terms in England since the Italian Renaissance. Other English terms, now obsolete, are fluter and flutenist. The oldest flute ever discovered may be a fragment of the femur of a cave bear. In 2008 another flute dated back to at least 35,000 years ago was discovered in Hohle Fels cave near Ulm, the five-holed flute has a V-shaped mouthpiece and is made from a vulture wing bone. The researchers involved in the officially published their findings in the journal Nature. The flute, one of several found, was found in the Hohle Fels cavern next to the Venus of Hohle Fels, on announcing the discovery, scientists suggested that the finds demonstrate the presence of a well-established musical tradition at the time when modern humans colonized Europe. Scientists have also suggested that the discovery of the flute may help to explain the probable behavioural and cognitive gulf between Neanderthals and early modern human. A three-holed flute,18.7 cm long, made from a mammoth tusk was discovered in 2004, the earliest extant Chinese transverse flute is a chi flute discovered in the Tomb of Marquis Yi of Zeng at the Suizhou site, Hubei province, China. It dates from 433 BC, of the later Zhou Dynasty and it is fashioned of lacquered bamboo with closed ends and has five stops that are at the flutes side instead of the top
9.
Clarinet
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The clarinet is a musical-instrument family belonging to the group known as the woodwind instruments. It has a mouthpiece, a straight cylindrical tube with an almost cylindrical bore. A person who plays a clarinet is called a clarinetist, the word clarinet may have entered the English language via the French clarinette, or from Provençal clarin, oboe. It would seem however that its roots are to be found amongst some of the various names for trumpets used around the renaissance. Clarion, clarin and the Italian clarino are all derived from the medieval term claro which referred to a form of trumpet. This is probably the origin of the Italian clarinetto, itself a diminutive of clarino, according to Johann Gottfried Walther, writing in 1732, the reason for the name is that it sounded from far off not unlike a trumpet. The English form clarinet is found as early as 1733, while the similarity in sound between the earliest clarinets and the trumpet may hold a clue to its name, other factors may have been involved. The trumpet parts that required this speciality were known by the term clarino, Johann Christoph Denner is generally believed to have invented the clarinet in Germany around the year 1700 by adding a register key to the earlier chalumeau. Over time, additional keywork and airtight pads were added to improve the tone and these days the most popular clarinet is the B♭ clarinet. However, the clarinet in A, just a lower, is commonly used in orchestral music. Since the middle of the 19th century the clarinet has become an essential addition to the orchestra. The clarinet family ranges from the BBB♭ octo-contrabass to the A♭ piccolo clarinet, the clarinet has proved to be an exceptionally flexible instrument, equally at home in the classical repertoire as in concert bands, military bands, marching bands, klezmer, and jazz. The cylindrical bore is primarily responsible for the clarinets distinctive timbre, the tone quality can vary greatly with the musician, the music, the instrument, the mouthpiece, and the reed. The most prominent were the German/Viennese traditions and the French school, the latter was centered on the clarinetists of the Conservatoire de Paris. The proliferation of recorded music has made examples of different styles of clarinet playing available, the modern clarinetist has a diverse palette of acceptable tone qualities to choose from. The A clarinet and B♭ clarinet have nearly the same bore, orchestral players using the A and B♭ instruments in the same concert could use the same mouthpiece for both. The A and the B♭ instruments have nearly identical tonal quality, the tone of the E♭ clarinet is brighter than that of the lower clarinets and can be heard even through loud orchestral or concert band textures. The bass clarinet has a deep, mellow sound, while the alto clarinet is similar in tone to the bass
10.
Piano
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The piano is an acoustic, stringed musical instrument invented around the year 1700, in which the strings are struck by hammers. It is played using a keyboard, which is a row of keys that the performer presses down or strikes with the fingers and thumbs of both hands to cause the hammers to strike the strings. The word piano is a form of pianoforte, the Italian term for the early 1700s versions of the instrument. The first fortepianos in the 1700s had a sound and smaller dynamic range. An acoustic piano usually has a wooden case surrounding the soundboard and metal strings. Pressing one or more keys on the keyboard causes a padded hammer to strike the strings. The hammer rebounds from the strings, and the continue to vibrate at their resonant frequency. These vibrations are transmitted through a bridge to a soundboard that amplifies by more efficiently coupling the acoustic energy to the air, when the key is released, a damper stops the strings vibration, ending the sound. Notes can be sustained, even when the keys are released by the fingers and thumbs and this means that the piano can play 88 different pitches, going from the deepest bass range to the highest treble. The black keys are for the accidentals, which are needed to play in all twelve keys, more rarely, some pianos have additional keys. Most notes have three strings, except for the bass that graduates from one to two, the strings are sounded when keys are pressed or struck, and silenced by dampers when the hands are lifted from the keyboard. There are two types of piano, the grand piano and the upright piano. The grand piano is used for Classical solos, chamber music and art song and it is used in jazz. The upright piano, which is compact, is the most popular type, as they are a better size for use in private homes for domestic music-making. During the nineteenth century, music publishers produced many works in arrangements for piano, so that music lovers could play. The piano is widely employed in classical, jazz, traditional and popular music for solo and ensemble performances, accompaniment, with technological advances, amplified electric pianos, electronic pianos, and digital pianos have also been developed. The electric piano became an instrument in the 1960s and 1970s genres of jazz fusion, funk music. The piano was founded on earlier technological innovations in keyboard instruments, pipe organs have been used since Antiquity, and as such, the development of pipe organs enabled instrument builders to learn about creating keyboard mechanisms for sounding pitches
11.
Light music
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Light music is a generic term applied to a mainly British musical style of light orchestral music, which originated in the 19th century and continues until the present day. Its heyday occurred during the mid‑20th century, the form was especially popular during the formative years of radio broadcasting, with stations such as the BBC Light Programme featuring a playlist largely consisting of light compositions. Occasionally known as music or concert music, light music is often grouped with the easy listening genre. The Straussian waltz became a light music composition. These influenced the foundation of a tradition of classical music in the 19th. The light-music genre as it is currently recognised probably has its origin in the orchestras that flourished in Britain during the 19th. These played a repertoire of music, from classical music to arrangements of popular songs. From this tradition came many specially written shorter orchestral pieces designed to appeal to a wider audience. Notably, even serious composers such as Sir Edward Elgar wrote a number of works in this medium, such as the Salut dAmour, the Nursery Suite. Influenced by the promenade concerts held in London pleasure gardens. However, in the late 1920s with the introduction of broadcasting by the BBC 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, the halcyon days of the genre date from this period until the early 1960s. The light composer Ernest Tomlinson has been quoted as saying that the distinction of light music is its emphasis on melody. David Ades suggests that it is agreed that it occupies a position between classical and popular music, yet its boundaries are often blurred. He goes on to cite broadcaster Denis Norden who said that music was not just tuneful round the outside. Often, the represent a mood, place, person or object. The genres other popular title mood music is a reference to such as Charles Williams A Quiet Stroll. Light music pieces are presented individually or as movements within a suite
12.
Julie Andrews
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Dame Julia Elizabeth Julie Andrews, DBE is an English actress, singer, author, theatre director and dancer. Andrews, an actress and singer, appeared on the West End in 1948. She rose to prominence starring in Broadway musicals such as My Fair Lady, playing Eliza Doolittle, in 1957, Andrews starred in the premiere of Rodgers and Hammersteins written-for-television musical Cinderella, a live network broadcast seen by over 100 million viewers. Andrews made her film debut in Mary Poppins, and won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the title role. She starred in The Sound of Music, playing Maria, between 1964 and 1986, she starred in The Americanization of Emily, Hawaii, Torn Curtain, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Star. The Tamarind Seed,10, Victor/Victoria, Thats Life. in 2000, Andrews was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II for services to the performing arts. In 2002, she was ranked #59 in the BBCs poll of the 100 Greatest Britons, in 2003, she revisited her first Broadway success, this time as a stage director, with a revival of The Boy Friend. From 2001 to 2004, Andrews starred in The Princess Diaries, The Princess Diaries 2, from 2004 to 2010, she lent her voice to the Shrek animated films, and Despicable Me. She is an author of books and has published her autobiography, Home. Julia Elizabeth Wells was born on 1 October 1935 in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey and her mother, Barbara Ward Wells was born in Chertsey and married Edward Charles Ted Wells, a teacher of metalwork and woodwork in 1932. However, Andrews was conceived as a result of an affair her mother had with a family friend. Andrews discovered her true parentage from her mother in 1950, although it was not publicly disclosed until her 2008 autobiography, with the outbreak of World War II, Barbara and Ted Wells went their separate ways and were soon divorced. Ted Wells assisted with evacuating children to Surrey during the Blitz, Andrews lived briefly with Ted Wells and her brother John in Surrey. In 1940, Ted Wells sent young Julia to live with her mother and stepfather, who, the Andrews family was very poor and we lived in a bad slum area of London, Andrews recalled, adding, That was a very black period in my life. According to Andrews, her stepfather was violent and an alcoholic, Ted Andrews twice, while drunk, tried to get into bed with his stepdaughter, resulting in Andrews fitting a lock on her door. The Andrews family took up residence at the Old Meuse, in West Grove, Hersham and she had an enormous influence on me, Andrews said of Stiles-Allen, adding, She was my third mother – Ive got more mothers and fathers than anyone in the world. In her memoir Julie Andrews – My Star Pupil, Stiles-Allen records, The range, accuracy and she had possessed the rare gift of absolute pitch. According to Andrews, Madame was sure that I could do Mozart and Rossini, of her own voice, she says I had a very pure, white, thin voice, a four-octave range – dogs would come for miles around
13.
Dynasty (1981 TV series)
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Dynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12,1981 to May 11,1989. The series, created by Richard and Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, revolves around the Carringtons, Dynasty stars John Forsythe as oil magnate Blake Carrington, Linda Evans as his new wife Krystle, and later Joan Collins as his former wife Alexis. Dynasty was conceived as ABCs competitor to CBSs prime time series Dallas, ratings for the shows first season were unimpressive, but a revamp for the second season that included the arrival of Collins as scheming Alexis saw ratings enter the top 20. By the fall of 1982, it was a top 10 show, the series declined considerably in popularity during its final two seasons, and it was ultimately cancelled in the spring of 1989 after nine seasons and 220 episodes. A two-part miniseries, Dynasty, The Reunion, aired in October 1991, Dynasty was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best TV Drama Series every year from 1981 to 1986, winning in 1984. The series spawned a line of fashion and luxury products. Esther Shapiro claimed that an inspiration for the show was I, Claudius, the working title for Dynasty was Oil, and the starring role originally went to George Peppard. Peppard, who had difficulties dealing with the somewhat unsympathetic role of patriarch Blake Carrington, was replaced with John Forsythe. Dynasty finally premiered on ABC as an event on January 12,1981. As Dynasty begins on January 12,1981, powerful oil tycoon Blake Carrington is about to marry the younger Krystle Jennings, though devoted to Krystle, Blake himself is too preoccupied with his company, Denver-Carrington, and blind to Krystles predicament. Meanwhile, Fallon, better suited to follow in Blakes footsteps, is underestimated by and she channels her energies into toying with various male suitors, including the Carrington chauffeur Michael Culhane. At the end of the premiere episode Oil, Steven finally confronts his father, criticizing Blakes capitalistic values. Blake explodes, revealing the secret of which Steven thought his father was unaware, Blake is disgusted by Stevens homosexuality, in counterpoint to the Carringtons are the Blaisdels, Denver-Carrington geologist Matthew — unhappily married to the emotionally fragile Claudia — is Krystles ex-lover. Blake is further enraged when Steven goes to work for longtime friend Matthew, though previously in a relationship with another man, Steven finds himself drawn to Claudia, who is putting her life back together after spending time in a psychiatric hospital. Fallon makes a business deal with Blakes old friend and more-powerful business rival Cecil Colby. Blake is arrested and charged with murder, and an angry Steven testifies that Teds death had been the result of malicious intent. A veiled surprise witness for the prosecution appears in the season finale The Testimony, in the first episode of the second season, titled Enter Alexis, the mysterious witness removes her sunglasses to reveal British actress Joan Collins as a new arrival to the series. Alexiss testimony notwithstanding, Krystle is immediately put off by the former Mrs, the season finale sees Blake left for dead on a mountain after a fight with Nick
14.
Dallas (1978 TV series)
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Dallas is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2,1978, to May 3,1991. The series revolves around a wealthy and feuding Texan family, the Ewings, who own the independent oil company Ewing Oil, the series originally focused on the marriage of Bobby Ewing and Pamela Barnes, whose families were sworn enemies with each other. As the series progressed, oil tycoon J. R. Ewing grew to be the main character, whose schemes. When the show ended in May 1991, J. R. was the character to have appeared in every episode. The show was famous for its cliffhangers, including the Who shot J. R. mystery, the 1980 episode Who Done It remains the second highest rated prime-time telecast ever. The show also featured a Dream Season, in which the entirety of the season was revealed to have been a dream of Pam Ewing. After 14 seasons, the series finale Conundrum aired in 1991, the show had a relatively ensemble cast. The series won four Emmy Awards, including a 1980 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series win for Bel Geddes. With its 357 episodes, Dallas remains one of the longest lasting full-hour primetime dramas in American TV history, behind Law & Order, Special Victims Unit, Bonanza, Law & Order, in 2007 Dallas was included in TIME magazines list of 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME. Dallas also spawned the spin-off series Knots Landing in 1979 which also lasted 14 seasons, in 2010, TNT announced it had ordered a new, updated continuation of Dallas. The revival series, continuing the story of the Ewing family, premiered on TNT on June 13,2012, Dallas debuted on April 2,1978, as a five-part miniseries on the CBS network. The first five episodes, originally considered a miniseries, are now referred to as season one—making fourteen seasons in total, the show is known for its portrayal of wealth, sex, intrigue, and power struggles. Ellies family were—in contrast to Jock—ranchers, with love for the land. Following the marriage of Ellie and Jock, the Southworth family ranch, Southfork, became the Ewings home, where Jock and Miss Ellie raised three sons, J. R. Gary and Bobby. Middle son Gary was Ellies favorite as he displayed Southworth traits, however, while still young, Gary had married waitress Valene Clements, who produced the first heir, the petite and saucy Lucy. Years prior to the beginning, J. R. had driven Gary and Valene off Southfork. During the first episodes of the series, the teenaged Lucy is seen sleeping with ranch foreman Ray Krebbs. Later, in four, Ray would be revealed as Lucys uncle
15.
The Little Prince (1974 film)
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The Little Prince is a 1974 British-American fantasy-musical film with screenplay and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe. The film and its music were unsuccessful at the box office but became popular after its theatrical run. The original Little Prince novella was first published in 1943, and is the most famous work of the French aristocrat, writer, poet and pioneering aviator Count Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It is a poetic tale self-illustrated in watercolours in which a pilot stranded in the meets a young prince fallen to Earth from a tiny asteroid. The story is philosophical and includes societal criticism, remarking on the strangeness of the adult world, though ostensibly a childrens book, The Little Prince makes several profound and idealistic observations about life and human nature. For example, Saint-Exupéry tells of a fox meeting the young prince during his travels on Earth, the storys essence is contained in the lines uttered by the fox to the little prince, On ne voit bien quavec le cœur. Lessentiel est invisible pour les yeux, the Foxs messages are arguably the most famous because of their nature of dealing with relationships. It would be first published in early 1943 in both English and French, but only in the U. S and it would later appear in his native homeland of France posthumously, after the liberation of Paris, as all of Saint-Exupérys works had been banned in Nazi-occupied France. Since first being published the novella has been adapted to various media over the decades, including recordings, stage, ballet. The fantasy-musical film adaptation of The Little Prince was directed and produced by Stanley Donen, and stars Steven Warner in the title role, with Richard Kiley as the aviator, titled as The Pilot. Additional cast members included Bob Fosse as The Snake, Gene Wilder as The Fox, Donna McKechnie as the petulant, vain Rose, Joss Ackland as The King, the films desert sequences were shot on location in Tunisia. The production was Lerner and Loewes final musical, the musics creative team were dissatisfied with the films Hollywood treatment, with Loewe refusing to visit London to supervise the arrangement and recording of the score. Based in the 1943 classic book of the name by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. There he is befriended by a boy, the Little Prince. In the days that follow, The Pilot hears about his past, as he travels through space, the Little Prince encounters several strange grown-ups on different planetoids, all with a skewed or curious way of looking at life. But it is not until he finally reaches Earth, that the Little Prince learns his most important life lessons of all, mainly from The Fox, before the Little Prince dies, he shares those lessons with The Pilot. Soon The Pilot is able to start his plane and flies away but hears the laughter of the Little Prince in the starry night, burton had had a huge success on Broadway with Lerner and Loewes musical production Camelot, but turned down the role in Little Prince. In 1973, Lerner and Loewe recorded the score at the Palm Springs Desert Museum, with Lerner on vocals and it included Matters of Consequence, which was cut from the film
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Alan Jay Lerner
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Alan Jay Lerner was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, and later Burton Lane, he created some of the worlds most popular and he won three Tony Awards and three Academy Awards, among other honors. Born in New York City, he was the son of Edith Adelson Lerner and Joseph Jay Lerner, whose brother, Samuel Alexander Lerner, was founder and owner of the Lerner Stores, one of Lerners cousins was the radio comedian/television game show panelist Henry Morgan. Lerner was educated at Bedales School in England, The Choate School in Wallingford, Connecticut and he attended both Camp Androscoggin and Camp Greylock. At both Choate and Harvard, Lerner was a classmate of John F. Kennedy, at Choate they had worked together on the yearbook staff. Like Cole Porter at Yale and Richard Rodgers at Columbia, his career in theater began with his collegiate contributions. During the summers of 1936 and 1937, Lerner studied music composition at Juilliard, while attending Harvard, he lost his sight in his left eye due to an accident in the boxing ring. In 1957, Lerner and Leonard Bernstein, another of Lerners college classmates, collaborated on Lonely Men of Harvard, due to his injury, Lerner could not serve in World War II. Instead he wrote scripts, including Your Hit Parade, until he was introduced to Austrian composer Frederick Loewe. While at the Lambs, he also met Lorenz Hart, with whom he would also collaborate, Lerner and Loewes first collaboration was a musical adaptation of Barry Connerss farce The Patsy called Life of the Party for a Detroit stock company. The lyrics were written by Earle Crooker, but he had left the project. It enjoyed a run and encouraged the duo to join forces with Arthur Pierson for Whats Up. which opened on Broadway in 1943. It ran for 63 performances and was followed two years later by The Day Before Spring and their first hit was Brigadoon, a romantic fantasy set in a mystical Scottish village, directed by Robert Lewis. It was followed in 1951 by the Gold Rush story Paint Your Wagon, while the show ran for nearly a year and included songs that later became pop standards, it was less successful that Lerners previous work. He later said of Paint Your Wagon, it was a success, Lerner worked with Kurt Weill on the stage musical Love Life and Burton Lane on the movie musical Royal Wedding. In that same year Lerner also wrote the Oscar-winning original screenplay for An American in Paris and this was the same team who would later join with Lerner and Loewe to create Gigi. In 1956, Lerner and Loewe unveiled My Fair Lady, before finishing the musical, Lerner was eager to write while My Fair Lady was taking so long to complete. Burton Lane and Lerner were working on a musical about Lil Abner, gabriel Pascal owned the rights to Pygmalion, which had been unsuccessful with other composers who tried to adapt it into a musical
17.
Frederick Loewe
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Frederick Loewe, was an Austrian-American composer. He collaborated with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner on a series of Broadway musicals, including My Fair Lady and Camelot, Loewe was born in Berlin, Germany, to Viennese parents Edmond and Rosa Loewe. His father was a noted Jewish operetta star who performed throughout Europe and in North and South America, frederick Loewe grew up in Berlin and attended a Prussian cadet school from the age of five until he was thirteen. At an early age Loewe learned to play piano by ear and helped his father rehearse and he eventually attended a music conservatory in Berlin, one year behind virtuoso Claudio Arrau, and studied with Ferruccio Busoni and Eugene dAlbert. He won the coveted Hollander Medal awarded by the school and gave performances as a concert pianist while still in Germany, at 13, he was the youngest piano soloist ever to appear with the Berlin Philharmonic. In 1924, his father received an offer to appear in New York City and this proved to be difficult, and he took other odd jobs, including cattle punching, gold mining and prize fighting. He eventually found work playing piano in German clubs in Yorkville, Loewe began to visit the Lambs Club, a hangout for theater performers, producers, managers, and directors. He credited The Lambs for keeping him working until his career expanded and their first collaboration was a musical adaptation of Barry Connors farce The Patsy, called Life of the Party, after a Detroit stock company. It enjoyed a run and encouraged the duo to join forces with Arthur Pierson for Whats Up. which opened on Broadway in 1943. It ran for 63 performances and was followed two years later by The Day Before Spring and their first hit was Brigadoon, a romantic fantasy set in a mystical Scottish village, directed by Robert Lewis. It was followed in 1951 by the less successful Gold Rush story Paint Your Wagon, in 1956, Lerner and Loewes My Fair Lady first appeared. The partnership won the Tony Award for Best Musical, MGM took notice and commissioned them to write the film musical Gigi, which won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Their next Broadway production was Camelot, the production starred Richard Burton, Julie Andrews and Robert Goulet. The trio appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and sang a few numbers from the musical, along with an appearance by Lerner and Loewe. The following morning the box office was swamped with requests, the following year they collaborated on a musical film version of The Little Prince, based on the classic childrens tale by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. This film was a critical and box office failure, but the soundtrack recording, Loewe was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. He remained in Palm Springs, California until his death, and had a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars dedicated to him in 1995 and he was buried in the Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California
18.
The Slipper and the Rose
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The Slipper and the Rose is a 1976 British musical film retelling the classic fairy tale of Cinderella. This film was chosen as the Royal Command Performance motion picture selection for 1976, Prince Edward of Euphrania returns home after being sent to meet the princess Selena, whom his parents have arranged for him to marry. However, The Prince reveals he did not propose to the princess he was visiting, Edward decides to tell his parents that he wants to marry for love. They, however, are interested in the political side. They fail to sway the prince, however, Cinderella finds some comfort in remembering happier times. Whilst putting flowers by her parents grave, she stumbles upon the prince, and his friend and bodyguard John. The Prince sardonically talks about his ancestors, with whom he will one day be buried. Back at the castle, the King of Euphrania is advised that a marriage between Edward and a Princess from one of Euphranias neighboring countries would help prevent war, a ball is seen as the perfect way to help Edward choose his bride. The Prince hates the idea, though his cousin Montague is delighted, when news arrives that the home country of the princess Edward refused to marry intends to make war on Euphrania, Edward has no choice but to accept. However, fewer than half the princesses accept the invitation, so the local nobility, including Cinderellas stepmother, the stepmother and stepsisters demand that Cinderella sew all three of them elegant gowns for the ball from the fabric of their old dresses. Cinderella has no idea what to do, as luck would have it a fairy godmother, who has a talent for sensing the wishes of those who are pure in heart, arrives and creates three beautiful gowns while Cinderella rests. That night, the stepmother and stepsisters depart for the ball leaving Cinderella alone, Cinderellas fairy godmother returns and informs Cinderella that she too can go to the ball. She transforms Cinderellas shabby dress into a gown, arranges her hair in the period fashion. Cinderella is sent off to the ball with a warning that the magic can only last until midnight and it is love at first sight when Cinderella and Edward meet at the ball. As the clock strikes midnight, Cinderella races away, leaving only behind her glass slipper, Edward sends his servants out far and wide in search of the woman who fits the glass slipper. Edward builds a monument for the slipper and hopes one day his lost love will turn up. John is also suffering as a result of love, he is in love with a noblewoman and he Knights John, so John can pursue his romance with Lady Caroline. Cinderella and Edward are reunited and greeted by her stepmother and stepsisters, Edward asks the permission of the stepmother to marry Cinderella and she gives full permission, if only to get Cinderella off her hands
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Richard M. Sherman
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Richard Morton Sherman is an American songwriter who specialized in musical films with his brother Robert Bernard Sherman. Their most well known work, however, remains the theme park song Its a Small World, according to Time. com, this song is the most performed song of all time. Richard Morton Sherman was born in New York City to Russian Jewish immigrants, Rosa, Together with his older brother Robert, The Sherman Brothers eventually followed in their songwriting fathers footsteps to form a long-lasting songwriting partnership. Following seven years of frequent cross-country moves, the Sherman family finally settled down in Beverly Hills, during Richards years at Beverly Hills High School, he became fascinated with music and studied several instruments, including the flute, piccolo, and piano. At his 1946 graduation from Beverly Hills High School, Sherman and classmate André Previn played a duet with Previn on piano. Coincidentally, in 1965 both composers won Oscars in music categories for different films, in 1953 Sherman was drafted into United States Army, being assigned to the Army Band and glee club. Serving as musical conductor for both groups from 1953 until his discharge in 1955, he was stationed solely in the United States during his time in the service. During this time, his brother Robert worked with other songwriters, as a student at Bard College, Sherman majored in music, writing numerous sonatas and art songs. His ambition to write the great american symphony eventually led him to write songs, within two years of graduating, Sherman and his brother began writing songs together, answering a challenge from their father. Within two years, Sherman and his brother Robert began writing together on a challenge from their father, Al Sherman. In 1958, Sherman founded the publishing company, Music World Corporation. That same year, the Sherman Brothers had their first Top Ten hit with Tall Paul, the success of this song yielded the attention of Walt Disney who eventually hired the Sherman Brothers as Staff Songwriters for Walt Disney Studios. While at Disney, the Sherman Brothers wrote what is perhaps their most recognized song, since Mary Poppins premiere, Robert B. Sherman subsequently earned 9 Academy Award nominations,2 Grammy Awards,4 Grammy Award nominations and 23 gold and platinum albums. Robert and Richard Sherman worked directly for Walt Disney until Disneys death in 1966, after leaving the company, the brothers worked freelance as songwriters on scores of motion pictures, television shows, theme park exhibits and stage musicals. Their first non-Disney assignment came with Albert R. Broccolis motion picture production Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 1968 which garnered the brothers their third Academy Award Nomination. In 1973, the Sherman Brothers made history by becoming the only Americans ever to win First Prize at the Moscow Film Festival for Tom Sawyer for which they also authored the screenplay. The Slipper and the Rose was picked to be the Royal Command Performance of the year and was attended by Queen Elizabeth, a modern musical adaptation of the classic Cinderella story, Slipper also features both song-score and screenplay by the Sherman Brothers. That same year the Sherman Brothers received their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame directly across from Graumans Chinese Theater, outside the motion picture realm, their Tony-nominated Over Here
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Robert B. Sherman
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Robert Bernard Sherman was an American songwriter who specialized in musical films with his brother Richard Morton Sherman. Their most well known work, however, remains the theme park song Its a Small World, according to Time. com, this song is the most performed song of all time. Robert Bernard Sherman was born on December 19,1925, in New York City, to Russian Jewish immigrants, Rosa, Al Sherman, a songwriter, paid for Roberts hospital delivery costs with a royalty check that had arrived that day for the song Save Your Sorrow. His brother and later songwriting partner, Richard, was born in 1928, Shermans father later became a well known Tin Pan Alley songwriter. As a youth, Robert Sherman excelled in intellectual pursuits, taking up the violin and piano, following seven years of frequent cross-country moves, the Shermans finally settled down in Beverly Hills, California. Some of the primary schools Robert attended in Manhattan included PS241 and the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, in California, throughout his years at Beverly Hills High School, he wrote and produced radio and stage programs for which he won much acclaim. The play yielded thousands of dollars for War Bonds and earned a special citation from the War Department, in 1943, Sherman obtained permission from his parents to join the army a year early, at age 17. On April 12,1945, Sherman was shot in the knee, for being wounded during battle, Sherman was awarded the Purple Heart medal. While recuperating from his injury in Taunton and Bournemouth in England, Sherman first became curious about British culture. Once back on his feet, Sherman met and became friends with many British citizens, attaining first-hand knowledge of the United Kingdom, its customs and people. Years later, Sherman credited this time in his life as the origin of his fascination with England, many of his best-known works center around English stories, authors and subject matter. On his return to the United States, Sherman attended Bard College in upstate New York where he majored in English Literature, Sherman also served as the editor-in-chief of The Bardian which is the campus newspaper. At Bard, Sherman completed his first two novels, The Best Estate and Music, Candy and Painted Eggs and he graduated in the class of 1949. On May 12,1990, Sherman received a doctorate from Lincoln College. Within two years, Sherman and his brother Richard began writing together on a challenge from their father, Al Sherman. In 1958, Sherman founded the publishing company, Music World Corporation. That same year, the Sherman Brothers had their first Top Ten hit with Tall Paul, the success of this song yielded the attention of Walt Disney who eventually hired the Sherman Brothers as Staff Songwriters for Walt Disney Studios. While at Disney, the Sherman Brothers wrote what is perhaps their most recognized song, since Mary Poppins premiere, Robert B. Sherman subsequently earned 9 Academy Award nominations,2 Grammy Awards,4 Grammy Award nominations and 23 gold and platinum albums
21.
Hancock's Half Hour
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Hancocks Half Hour was a BBC radio comedy, and later television comedy series, broadcast from 1954 to 1961 and written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The series starred Tony Hancock, with Sidney James, the version also co-starred, at various times, Moira Lister, Andrée Melly, Hattie Jacques, Bill Kerr. The final television series, renamed simply Hancock, starred Hancock alone, the series was influential in the development of the situation comedy, with its move away from radio variety towards a focus on character development. The radio version was produced by Dennis Main Wilson for most of its run, after Main Wilson departed for his television career, his role was taken by Tom Ronald. The television series was produced by Duncan Wood, the distinctive tuba-based theme tune was composed by Angela Morley, then known by her original name, Wally Stott. The radio series broke with the variety tradition which was dominant in British radio comedy, highlighting a new genre. Instead of the traditional variety mix of sketches, guest stars and musical interludes, the comedy gradually shifted to observation, with a less strong emphasis on a narrative. Hancocks character had various addresses, but by the radio series he had arrived at 23 Railway Cuttings. Sometimes this was portrayed as a house, but occasionally there was a private landlord. In a few early episodes Hancock owned the house, and later became the norm. In others she came round each day, presumably from her own domicile, Railway Cuttings and East Cheam were fictitious, but Cheam is a real town, once in Surrey, today part of Greater London. In those days recordings of the shows were not commercially available. Commissioning of series in the UK were then closer to the American practice with extensive runs not unknown, continuity in the idiom was yet to develop, and details changed to suit each episode. With the notable exception of Drop the Dead Donkey decades later, the comedy actor Sidney James played Sid, a criminally inclined confidant of Hancock, who usually succeeded in conning him each week. Bill Kerr appeared as Hancocks Australian lodger, a character who became noticeably dim-witted in the later shows, Kenneth Williams, taking his first job in comedy, provided the funny voices for all the minor characters in the show each week. Williams left after the first recording session for the sixth series, Moira Lister appeared in the first series, before being replaced by Andrée Melly for the next two, both women played love interest for Hancocks character, in essentially straight roles. In the fourth and fifth series Hattie Jacques provided comedy in the role as the harridan Griselda Pugh. By this time, Hancocks difficulties with women had become part of the characterisation, among the well-known actors who appeared in the series were Hugh Lloyd, Dick Emery, Warren Mitchell, John Le Mesurier and Richard Wattis
22.
The Goon Show
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The Goon Show was a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The shows chief creator and main writer was Spike Milligan, the scripts mixed ludicrous plots with surreal humour, puns, catchphrases and an array of bizarre sound effects. Some of the episodes feature electronic effects devised by the fledgling BBC Radiophonic Workshop. The show was released internationally through the BBC Transcription Services and it was heard regularly from the 1950s in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, India and Canada, although these TS versions were frequently edited to avoid controversial subjects. NBC began broadcasting the programme on its network from the mid-1950s. The programme exercised an influence on the development of British and American comedy. It was cited as an influence by The Beatles and the American comedy team The Firesign Theatre as well as Monty Python. Milligan and Harry Secombe became friends while serving in the Royal Artillery during the Second World War, there was considerable confusion, and in the middle of it all the flap of the truck was pushed open and a young, helmeted idiot asked Anybody see a gun. Secombes answer to question was What colour was it. Milligan met Peter Sellers after the war at the Hackney Empire, where Secombe was performing, the group first formed at Jimmy Graftons London public house called Graftons in the late 1940s. It was always a relief to get away from the theatre and join in the revels at Graftons on a Sunday night and they took to calling themselves The Goons and started recording their pub goings-on with a tape recorder. The BBC producer, Pat Dixon heard a tape and took interest in the group and he pressed the BBC for a long term contract for the gang, knowing that it would secure Sellers for more than just seasonal work, something for which the BBC had been aiming. The BBC acquiesced and ordered a series, though without much enthusiasm. The series had its premiere in May 1951 and audience figures grew rapidly, no recordings of any episode of this series are known to have survived. The BBC commissioned a series and a number of other changes occurred. The musical interludes were shortened, and Max Geldray joined the lineup, Peter Eton, from the BBCs drama department, replaced Dennis Main Wilson as producer. Eton brought stricter discipline to the shows production and he was also an expert at sound effects and microphone technique, ensuring that the show became a far more dynamic listening experience. However, a few episodes into the series Milligan suffered a nervous breakdown
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Associated Television
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This service started on Saturday,24 September 1955 and was extended until Sunday,28 July 1968. ATV was also awarded the franchise to provide the weekdays Independent Television service for the Midlands region and this service started on Friday,17 February 1956 and was extended until Monday,29 July 1968. Both companies had applied for a contract to one of the new ITV stations. By the time of the merger ABDC were well advanced with their plans whilst ITPC planned to operate as an independent producer selling their shows to the new network contractors. When financial problems hit ABDC, the Independent Television Authority, the body of ITV, invited Grade. This provided the required and put Littler and Grade in control of the new company. After ABC had been operating for three weeks the name was changed to Associated TeleVision Ltd, the logo, designed for ABC and tweaked for ATV, was a shadowed eye inspired by the CBS logo and reputedly designed by Lew Grade on a transatlantic flight back from the US. The logo is one of the most recognisable in broadcasting, ABC began broadcasting in its own right on Saturday 24 September 1955, after jointly presenting the networks opening night on Thursday 22 September. The name ATV was first seen in London on Saturday 8 October 1955, the company won two contracts, the weekend contract for London and the Monday–Friday contract for the Midlands. The latter service opened on 17 February 1956, with ABC providing the weekend programmes, the company ran into financial difficulty due to the staggering losses of the first two years of ITV and start-up costs. The London weekday contractor Associated-Rediffusion shouldered some of ATVs losses and further funding was achieved by selling shares to the Daily Mirror newspaper. The company structure was changed several times until 1966, when ATV and this marked the point where Lew Grade advanced from being the greatest influence over the company to taking control. ATVs main impact was in variety and light entertainment, at this point the company was renamed ATV Network Limited. During the 1970s, ATV received much criticism over its lack of programming, particularly for the east of its region. ATV Midlands Limited, a company created by ACC solely for the franchise process. ATV ceased broadcasting at 12. 34am on Friday 1 January 1982, the final closedown was marked by a brief tribute to ATV from original announcer Shaw Taylor before duty announcer Mike Prince signed off with the playing of the National Anthem. The newly reformed company, Central Independent Television plc, began broadcasting with a promo at 9. 25am that morning. Central inherited the studios at ATV Centre, Birmingham and ATV Elstree along with land that ATV Midlands had purchased for their new Nottingham studio centre
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Philips Records
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Not to be confused with Phillips International Records. Philips Records is a label that was founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. In 1946 Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Deccas Dutch outlet in Amsterdam, the record label was started by Philips Phonographische Industrie in June 1950 when it began issuing classical recordings. Recordings were also made with artists of various nationalities and with classical artists from Germany, France. Launched under the slogan Records of the Century, the first releases in Britain appeared at the beginning of January 1953 on 1078 rpm discs, Philips also distributed recordings made by the Columbia Records in the UK and on the European continent. After the separation of the English Columbia label and American Columbia, the first single on the label to chart was Frankie Laines I Believe, which reached the No.1 chart position in the UK that April. Many of the first British recordings on the label were produced by Norman Newell until John Franz was appointed artists, in 1958 Philips created a subsidiary label, Fontana Records, which meant that American-Columbia recordings were being issued on both the Philips and Fontana labels. This arrangement lasted until April 1962 when, under pressure from Columbia in America, Philips then created a label for them. In late 1964, under the stewardship of U. S. President of Columbia Records Goddard Lieberson, CBS Records formed its own international operations, CBS Records set up their UK operation in Theobalds Road in Holborn. Singles and albums on the Philips and Fontana labels by Columbia-owned product were subsequently withdrawn, in 1962, Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon formed the Grammophon-Philips Group joint venture, which later became PolyGram in 1972. UK pressings were manufactured at the large factory based at Walthamstow in N. E. In 1961, after Philips lost its North American distribution deal with Columbia Records, a year later, Philips US affiliate Consolidated Electronics Industries Corp. bought Mercury and its subsidiary labels, such as Smash. Philips classical, jazz and pop records were marketed by Mercury in the US under the Philips label, the Mercury Living Presence team also made classical recordings for Philips, in July 1961. 69 for cello and piano by Richter and Rostropovich, classical groups that Philips heavily recorded included the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Beaux Arts Trio, and the Quartetto Italiano. Violinist Arthur Grumiaux and the pianist Claudio Arrau were under contract to Philips, symphony orchestras under contract, including the LSO, were under the command of prestigious young conductors such as Colin Davis and Bernard Haitink. From 1961 until the late 1980s, Philips Records issued many classical titles in US-specific packaging, the records were pressed at Mercurys plant in Richmond, Indiana, and mastered in New York by George Piros at Fine Recording, using 2-track and mono master tapes provided by Philips. These releases were the PHS900 xxx series for stereo and the 500 xxx series for mono, clair Van Ausdal in Mercurys New York office oversaw the Philips classical US releases through the mid-1960s. These records were made through Mercurys existing jazz operations and produced by Jack Tracy, in addition to jazz and classical music, Philips also became a major player in the world of rock and pop music in the late 1950s till late 1970s
25.
Shirley Bassey
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In January 1959, Bassey became the first Welsh person to gain a No.1 single. In 2000, Bassey was made a Dame for services to the performing arts, in 1977 she received the Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist in the previous 25 years. Bassey has been called one of the most popular vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century. Shirley Veronica Bassey was the sixth and youngest child of Henry Bassey and Eliza Jane Start and she grew up in the adjacent community of Splott. At the time, Tiger Bay was one of the largest ports in the world and was very multi-ethnic and her father was Nigerian, and her mother was English, from Teesside. Two of her mothers four children from previous relationships lived in the Bassey household, Eliza and Henrys second child died in infancy, so Shirley was born into a household of three sisters, two half-sisters, and one brother. Teachers and students alike at Moorland Road School noticed Basseys strong voice, even in the school choir the teacher kept telling me to back off till I was singing in the corridor. A classmate recalled her singing the refrain Cant help lovin that man of mine from Show Boat with such feeling that she made their teacher uncomfortable. After leaving Splott Secondary Modern School at age 14, Bassey found employment at a factory while singing in public houses and clubs in the evenings and on weekends. In 1953, Bassey signed her first professional contract, to sing in the variety show Memories of Jolson. She next took up an engagement in Hot from Harlem. Pregnant at 16 with her first child and unwilling to reveal the name of the childs father, in 1955, Bassey toured various theatres until she was noticed by the impresario Jack Hylton. He invited her to feature in Al Reads Such Is Life at the Adelphi Theatre in Londons West End, during the shows run, Philips record producer Johnny Franz spotted her on television, was impressed, and offered her a recording deal. Bassey recorded her first single, Burn My Candle, released in February 1956, owing to the suggestive lyrics, the BBC banned it, but it sold well enough nonetheless, backed with her powerful rendition of Stormy Weather. More singles followed, and in February 1957, Bassey had her first hit with The Banana Boat Song and she then made her American stage début in Las Vegas at El Rancho Vegas. In mid-1958, she recorded two singles that would become classics in the Bassey catalogue. As I Love You was released as the B-side of another ballad, Hands Across the Sea, it did not sell well at first, but after an appearance at the London Palladium sales began to pick up. In January 1959, As I Love You reached No.1 and stayed there for four weeks, it was the first No.1 single by a Welsh artist
26.
Dusty Springfield
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Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette OBrien, OBE, better known as Dusty Springfield, was an English pop singer and record producer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s. She is a member of the US Rock and Roll and UK Music Halls of Fame, international polls have named Springfield among the best female rock artists of all time. Her image, supported by a peroxide blonde bouffant hairstyle, evening gowns, born in West Hampstead to a family that enjoyed music, Springfield learned to sing at home. In 1958 she joined her first professional group, The Lana Sisters and her solo career began in 1963 with the upbeat pop hit, I Only Want to Be with You. Among the hits that followed were Wishin and Hopin , I Just Dont Know What to Do with Myself, You Dont Have to Say You Love Me, and Son of a Preacher Man. Although she was never considered a Northern Soul artist in her own right and she was the first UK singer to top the New Musical Express readers poll for Female Singer. To boost her credibility as a soul artist, Springfield went to Memphis, Tennessee, to record Dusty in Memphis, an album of pop and soul music with the Atlantic Records main production team. Released in 1969, it has ranked among the greatest albums of all time by the US magazine Rolling Stone and in polls by VH1 artists, New Musical Express readers. The album was awarded a spot in the Grammy Hall of Fame. Despite its current recognition, the album did not sell well and after its release, however, in collaboration with Pet Shop Boys, she returned to the Top 10 of the UK and US charts in 1987 with What Have I Done to Deserve This. Two years later, she had two other UK hits on her own with Nothing Has Been Proved and In Private, subsequently, in the mid-1990s, owing to the inclusion of Son of a Preacher Man on the Pulp Fiction soundtrack, interest in her early output was revived. Springfield was born Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette OBrien on 16 April 1939 in West Hampstead and her older brother, Dionysius P. A. OBrien, was later known as Tom Springfield. Springfields father, who had raised in British India, worked as a tax accountant and consultant. Her mother came from an Irish family, originally from Tralee, County Kerry, Springfield was brought up in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire until the early 1950s, and later lived in Ealing. She attended St Annes Convent School, Northfields, a traditional all-girl school, Springfield and her brother were both prone to food-throwing as adults. She was given the nickname Dusty for playing football with boys in the street, Springfield was raised in a music-loving family. Her father would tap out rhythms on the back of her hand and she listened to a wide range of music, including George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Glenn Miller. A fan of American jazz and the vocalists Peggy Lee and Jo Stafford, at the age of twelve, she made a recording of herself performing the Irving Berlin song When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabam at a local record shop in Ealing
27.
Eurovision Song Contest
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The competition was based upon the existing Sanremo Music Festival held in Italy since 1951. The contest has been broadcast every year for sixty years, since its inauguration in 1956 and it is also one of the most watched non-sporting events in the world, with audience figures having been quoted in recent years as anything between 100 million and 600 million internationally. Eurovision has also been broadcast outside Europe to several countries that do not compete, such as the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and China. An exception was made in 2015, when Australia was allowed to compete as a guest entrant as part of the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the event. In November 2015, the EBU announced that Australia was invited back as a participant in the 2016 contest after their success in 2015, following their success again in 2016, Australia will compete again in 2017. Since 2000, the contest has also been broadcast over the Internet via the Eurovision website, winning the Eurovision Song Contest provides a short-term boost to the winning artists career, but rarely results in long-term success. Notable exceptions are ABBA, Bucks Fizz and Céline Dion, all of whom launched successful careers after their wins. Ireland holds the record for the highest number of wins, having won the contest seven times—including four times in five years in 1992,1993,1994 and 1996. Under the current voting system, the highest scoring winner is Jamala of Ukraine who won the 2016 contest in Stockholm, under the previous system, in place from 1975 to 2015, the highest scoring winner is Alexander Rybak of Norway with 387 points in 2009. Satellite television did not exist, and the Eurovision Network comprised a terrestrial microwave network, the name Eurovision was first used in relation to the EBUs network by British journalist George Campey in the London Evening Standard in 1951. The first contest was held in the town of Lugano, Switzerland, seven countries participated—each submitting two songs, for a total of 14. This was the only contest in more than one song per country was performed, since 1957. The 1956 contest was won by the host nation, Switzerland, the programme was first known as the Eurovision Grand Prix. This Grand Prix name was adopted by Denmark, Norway and the Francophone countries, the Grand Prix has since been dropped and replaced with Concours in French, but not in Danish or Norwegian. The Eurovision network is used to carry news and sports programmes internationally. However, in the minds of the public, the name Eurovision is most closely associated with the Song Contest, a country as a participant is represented by one television broadcaster from that country, typically, but not always, that countrys national public broadcasting organisation. The programme is hosted by one of the participant countries, during this programme, after all the songs have been performed, the countries then proceed to cast votes for the other countries songs, nations are not allowed to vote for their own song. At the end of the programme, the song with the most points is declared as the winner, the programme is invariably opened by one or more presenters, welcoming viewers to the show
28.
Ronnie Carroll
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Ronnie Carroll was a Northern Irish singer, entertainer and political candidate. Carroll was born Ronald Cleghorn in Roslyn Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1934 and he scored his first hit in 1956 with Walk Hand in Hand on the Philips label. He is the singer to have represented the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest two years in succession. This success was followed by two Top 10 hits during 1962 and 1963, but a lack of material meant that he could not sustain a chart presence. Carroll subsequently worked on ships, including the QE2, with John Marcangelo who was the drummer with the Ronnie Carroll Orchestra. He played a pop musician named Ronnie in the 1965 film Man in the Dark, in 2005, he released a comeback album, Back on Song. Carroll contested his home Hampstead and Highgate constituency seat in the 1997 UK General Election, and he stood as a candidate for the 2015 general election, in the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency. Nominations had closed on 9 April 2015, just four days before his death and he was standing as an independent so the poll continued, if he had won the election, the ballot would have been re-run at a later date. In the event he polled 113 votes to finish out of seven candidates. Through work in variety theatre he met his first wife, Millicent Martin and his second wife was the Olympic runner June Paul with whom he ran an unsuccessful nightclub in Grenada. He was declared bankrupt in 1974 and his marriage ended. Carroll later married and divorced a third wife, South African-born Glenda Kentridge and he latterly lived in Hampstead, north London, and was a regular caller to phone-in shows on BBC London 94.9. He died in London on 13 April 2015, at age 80 and he was survived by two sons with June and a daughter and son, his children with Glenda
29.
Luxembourg
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Luxembourg /ˈlʌksəmbɜːrɡ/, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east and its culture, people and languages are highly intertwined with its neighbours, making it essentially a mixture of French and Germanic cultures. It comprises two regions, the Oesling in the north as part of the Ardennes massif. With an area of 2,586 square kilometres, it is one of the smallest sovereign states in Europe, Luxembourg had a population of 524,853 in October 2012, ranking it the 8th least-populous country in Europe. As a representative democracy with a monarch, it is headed by a Grand Duke, Henri, Grand Duke of Luxembourg. Luxembourg is a country, with an advanced economy and the worlds highest GDP per capita. Luxembourg is a member of the European Union, OECD, United Nations, NATO, and Benelux, reflecting its political consensus in favour of economic, political. The city of Luxembourg, which is the capital and largest city, is the seat of several institutions. Luxembourg served on the United Nations Security Council for the years 2013 and 2014, around this fort, a town gradually developed, which became the centre of a state of great strategic value. In the 14th and early 15th centuries, three members of the House of Luxembourg reigned as Holy Roman Emperors, in the following centuries, Luxembourgs fortress was steadily enlarged and strengthened by its successive occupants, the Bourbons, Habsburgs, Hohenzollerns and the French. After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, Luxembourg was disputed between Prussia and the Netherlands and this arrangement was revised by the 1839 First Treaty of London, from which date Luxembourgs full independence is reckoned. In 1842 Luxembourg joined the German Customs Union, the King of the Netherlands remained Head of State as Grand Duke of Luxembourg, maintaining a personal union between the two countries until 1890. At the death of William III, the throne of the Netherlands passed to his daughter Wilhelmina and this allowed Germany the military advantage of controlling and expanding the railways there. In August 1914, Imperial Germany violated Luxembourgs neutrality in the war by invading it in the war against France and this allowed Germany to use the railway lines, while at the same time denying them to France. Nevertheless, despite the German occupation, Luxembourg was allowed to maintain much of its independence, in 1940, after the outbreak of World War II, Luxembourgs neutrality was again violated when the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany entered the country, entirely without justification. A government in exile based in London supported the Allies, sending a group of volunteers who participated in the Normandy invasion. Luxembourg was liberated in September 1944, and became a member of the United Nations in 1945. Luxembourgs neutral status under the constitution formally ended in 1948, in 2005, a referendum on the EU treaty establishing a constitution for Europe was held
30.
Lady Godiva
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The name Peeping Tom for a voyeur originates from later versions of this legend in which a man named Tom watched her ride and was struck blind or dead. Godiva was the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia and they had one known son, Aelfgar. The modern era Kingsbury family have claimed descent from Lady Godiva, Godivas name occurs in charters and the Domesday survey, though the spelling varies. The Old English name Godgifu or Godgyfu meant gift of God, since the name was a popular one, there are contemporaries of the same name. If she is the same Godiva who appears in the history of Ely Abbey, both Leofric and Godiva were generous benefactors to religious houses. In 1043 Leofric founded and endowed a Benedictine monastery at Coventry on the site of a nunnery destroyed by the Danes in 1016, writing in the 12th century, Roger of Wendover credits Godiva as the persuasive force behind this act. In the 1050s, her name is coupled with that of her husband on a grant of land to the monastery of St. Mary, Worcester and she and her husband are commemorated as benefactors of other monasteries at Leominster, Chester, Much Wenlock, and Evesham. She gave Coventry a number of works in metal by the famous goldsmith Mannig. The church there has a 20th-century stained glass window representing them and her signature, Ego Godiva Comitissa diu istud desideravi, appears on a charter purportedly given by Thorold of Bucknall to the Benedictine monastery of Spalding. However, this charter is considered spurious by many historians, even so, it is possible that Thorold, who appears in the Domesday Book as sheriff of Lincolnshire, was her brother. After Leofrics death in 1057, his widow lived on until sometime between the Norman Conquest of 1066 and 1086 and she is mentioned in the Domesday survey as one of the few Anglo-Saxons and the only woman to remain a major landholder shortly after the conquest. By the time of this survey in 1086, Godiva had died. Thus, Godiva apparently died between 1066 and 1086, the place where Godiva was buried has been a matter of debate. According to the Chronicon Abbatiae de Evesham, or Evesham Chronicle, she was buried at the Church of the Blessed Trinity at Evesham, William Dugdale says that a window with representations of Leofric and Godiva was placed in Trinity Church, Coventry, about the time of Richard II. According to the version of the story, Lady Godiva took pity on the people of Coventry. Lady Godiva appealed again and again to her husband, who refused to remit the tolls. At last, weary of her entreaties, he said he would grant her request if she would strip naked and ride on a horse through the streets of the town. Lady Godiva took him at his word, and after issuing a proclamation that all persons should stay indoors and shut their windows, she rode through the town, clothed only in her long hair
31.
Norman Luboff
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Norman Luboff was an American music arranger, music publisher, and choir director. Norman Luboff was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1917 and he studied piano as a child and participated in his high school chorus. Luboff studied at the University of Chicago and Central College in Chicago, following this, he did graduate work with the composer Leo Sowerby while singing and writing for radio programs in Chicago. In the mid-1940s, Luboff moved to New York City, Luboff served in the U. S. Armys Signal Corps. He also recorded artists such as Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford, Frankie Laine. In 1950, he established Walton Music Corporation, to publish his music, Luboff provided a vehicle for composers in Sweden to have their works available in the United States, including Egil Hovland and Waldemar Åhlén. Walton Music exists today as a choral music publisher under the guidance of Luboffs widow, Gunilla Marcus-Luboff. Luboff was the founder and conductor of the Norman Luboff Choir, the choral group toured yearly from 1963 to 1987, and recorded more than seventy-five albums. The holiday albums Songs of Christmas and Christmas with the Norman Luboff Choir were perennial bestsellers for years, Luboff and his choir won the 1961 Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Chorus. Luboff was a guest conductor at many choirs in the United States, Norman Luboff died of lung cancer at his home in Bynum, North Carolina in 1987 at the age of 70. The Norman Luboff Collection was donated to the Music Division of the United States Library of Congress in 1993 by his widow, Norman Luboff at the Internet Movie Database Walton Music website Link to a Noman Luboff Choir Discography, http, //www. harbel. one/luboff/index. htm
32.
RCA Records
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RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc. It is one of SMEs three flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records and Epic Records. The label has released multiple genres of music, including pop, rock, hip hop, R&B, blues, jazz, the companys name is derived from the initials of the labels former parent company, the Radio Corporation of America. It is the second oldest recording company in US history, after sister label Columbia Records, RCAs Canadian unit is Sonys oldest label in Canada. It was one of only two Canadian record companies to survive the Great Depression, kelly, Enrique Iglesias, Foo Fighters, Kings of Leon, Kesha, Miley Cyrus, Giorgio Moroder, Jennifer Hudson, DAngelo, Pink, Tinashe, G-Eazy, Pitbull, Zayn and Wizkid. In 1929, the Radio Corporation of America purchased the Victor Talking Machine Company, then the worlds largest manufacturer of phonographs and phonograph records. The company then became RCA Victor but retained use of the Victor Records name on their labels until the beginning of 1946 when the labels were finally switched over to RCA Victor. With Victor, RCA acquired New World rights to the famous Nipper His Masters Voice trademark, in Shanghai, China, in 1931, RCA Victors British affiliate the Gramophone Company merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company to form EMI. This gave RCA head David Sarnoff a seat on the EMI board, in September 1931, RCA Victor introduced the first 33⅓ rpm records sold to the public, calling them Program Transcriptions. In the depths of the Great Depression, the format was a commercial failure, during the early part of the depression, RCA made a number of attempts to produce a successful cheap label to compete with the dime store labels. The first was the short-lived Timely Tunes label in 1931 sold at Montgomery Ward, in 1932, Bluebird Records was created as a sub-label of RCA Victor. It was originally an 8-inch record with a blue label. In 1933, RCA reintroduced Bluebird and Electradisk as a standard 10-inch label, another cheap label, Sunrise, was produced. The same musical couplings were issued on all three labels and Bluebird Records still survives eight decades after Electradisk and Sunrise were discontinued, RCA also produced records for Montgomery Ward label during the 1930s. Besides manufacturing records for themselves, RCA Victor operated RCA Custom which was the leading record manufacturer for independent record labels, RCA Custom also pressed record compilations for The Readers Digest Association. RCA sold its interest in EMI in 1935, but EMI continued to distribute RCA recordings in the UK, RCA also manufactured and distributed HMV classical recordings on the RCA and HMV labels in North America. During World War II, ties between RCA and its Japanese affiliate JVC were severed, the Japanese record company is today called Victor Entertainment and is still a JVC subsidiary. From 1942 to 1944, RCA Victor was seriously impacted by the American Federation of Musicians recording ban, virtually all union musicians could not make recordings during that period
33.
Leopold Stokowski
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Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British conductor of Polish and Irish descent. One of the conductors of the early and mid-20th Century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He was especially noted for his conducting style that spurned the traditional baton. He was also the founder of the All-American Youth Orchestra, the New York City Symphony, the Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra, there is some mystery surrounding his early life. For example, he spoke with an unusual, non-British accent, though he was born and raised in London. On occasion, Stokowski gave his year of birth as 1887 instead of 1882, as in a letter to the Hugo Riemann Musiklexicon in 1950, in Germany there was a corresponding rumour that his original name was simply Stock. However, Stokowskis birth certificate gives his birth on 18 April 1882, at 13 Upper Marylebone Street, Stokowski was named after his Polish-born grandfather Leopold, who died in the English county of Surrey on 13 January 1879, at the age of 49. Samaroff, born Lucy Mary Agnes Hickenlooper, was from Galveston, Texas, for professional and career reasons, she urged him to emphasize only the Polish part of his background once he became a resident of the United States. He studied at the Royal College of Music, where he first enrolled in 1896 at the age of thirteen, in his later life in the US, Stokowski would perform six of the nine symphonies composed by his fellow organ student Ralph Vaughan Williams. Stokowski sang in the choir of the St Marylebone Parish Church, by age 16, Stokowski was elected to a membership in the Royal College of Organists. In 1900, he formed the choir of St. Marys Church, Charing Cross Road, in 1902, he was appointed the organist and choir director of St. Jamess Church, Piccadilly. He also attended The Queens College, Oxford, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in 1903, in 1905, Stokowski began work in New York City as the organist and choir director of St. Bartholomews Church. He was very popular among the parishioners, who included members of the Vanderbilt family, Stokowski moved to Paris for additional study in conducting. There he heard that the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra would be needing a new conductor when it returned from a long sabbatical, Stokowski was selected over the other applicants, and took up his conducting duties in late 1909. Stokowskis conducting debut in London took place the week on 18 May with the New Symphony Orchestra at Queens Hall. His engagement as new permanent conductor in Cincinnati was a great success and he introduced the concept of pops concerts and, starting with his first season, he began championing the work of living composers. His concerts included performances of music by Richard Strauss, Sibelius, Rachmaninoff, Debussy, Glazunov, Saint-Saëns and he conducted the American premieres of new works by such composers as Elgar, whose 2nd Symphony was first presented there on 24 November 1911. He was to maintain his advocacy of music to the end of his career
34.
Deep River (song)
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Deep River is an anonymous spiritual of African American origin. The song was first mentioned in print in 1876, when it was published in the first edition of “The Story of the Jubilee Singers, With Their Songs”, by J. B. T. By 1917, when Henry T. Burleigh completed the last of his several influential arrangements and it has been called perhaps the best known and best-loved spiritual. It has been sung in films, including the 1929 film version of Show Boat. The melody was adapted into the popular song Dear Old Southland. Actor and singer Paul Robeson performed Deep River accompanied by a male chorus in the 1940 movie The Proud Valley. Deep River is one of the five included in the oratorio A Child of Our Time, first performed in 1944. Marian Anderson recorded a version in 1938, released on Red Seal, adelaide Hall and Kenneth Cantril recorded a version of Deep River for their boxed set of Spirituals released in 1949 on London Records. Deep River Boys Featuring Harry Douglas with Pete Browns Orchestra, odetta recorded a version for her 1957 album At the Gate of Horn. The Roger Wagner Chorale recorded Roger Wagners arrangement, first released on the album The Negro Spiritual for Capitol Records in 1964, Lorraine Hunt Liebersons rendition was captured on the album Lorraine Hunt Lieberson at Ravinia. The song was a frequent encore in recital concerts by the operatic mezzo-soprano, bobby Womack recorded a version for his 2012 album The Bravest Man in the Universe. Barbra Streisand 27th studio album, Higher Ground, recorded November 11,1997, johnny Mathis third album, Good Night, Dear Lord, released 1958 USA. The band of the BSAP recorded a version for the album Kum A Kye, the Wings Over Jordan Choir Deep River, My home is over Jordan. I want to cross over into campground, River, Lord, I want to cross over into campground. Oh, dont you want to go, To the Gospel feast, That Promised Land, oh, deep River, Lord, I want to cross over into campground
35.
Ombra mai fu
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Ombra mai fu is the opening aria from the 1738 opera Serse by George Frideric Handel. The opera was a failure, lasting only five performances in London after its premiere. In the 19th century, however, this aria was rediscovered, Handel adapted the aria from the setting by Giovanni Bononcini who, in turn, adapted it from the setting by Francesco Cavalli. All three composers had produced settings of the opera libretto by Nicolò Minato. In the opera, the aria is preceded by a short recitativo accompagnato of nine bars, the aria itself is also short, it consists of 52 bars and typically lasts 3 to 4 minutes. The instrumentation is for a section, first and second violins, viola. The key signature is F major, the signature is 3/4 time. The vocal range covers C4 to F5 with a tessitura from F4 to F5, the title translates from the Italian as Never was a shade. It is sung by the character, Xerxes I of Persia. Performances of this aria are included in several movies, the piece is also featured in Dangerous Liaisons, in the original Italian, and Pride and Prejudice, which used English-language lyrics. The aria therefore was the first piece of music to be broadcast on radio, free scores of Ombra mai fu in the Choral Public Domain Library Ombra mai fu, Scores at the International Music Score Library Project Ombra mai fu at The Aria Database
36.
Vocalise (Rachmaninoff)
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14, is a song by Sergei Rachmaninoff, composed and published in 1915 as the last of his Fourteen Songs, Op.34. Written for high voice with accompaniment, it contains no words. It was dedicated to soprano Antonina Nezhdanova, although the original publication stipulates that the song may be sung by either soprano or tenor voice, it is usually performed by a soprano. The Pet Shop Boys song Happiness Is An Option incorporates a portion of the Vocalise melody in each verse. Vocalise has been arranged for different instrument combinations
