Guild Light GL5194
Nature’s Realm – The Golden Age of Light Music
Initially this collection of light music was intended to reflect the scenic beauty of our world, but it soon became apparent that composers often took a different view, the opening track – Thunder and Lightning Polka – being a good example! Sometimes the word ‘nature’ means anything about our planet which is non-human, so this automatically encompasses the animal world, in all its myriad forms. Taken together, this offers opportunities for composers to give their creative impulses full rein, which certainly explains why Nature’s Realm is much more varied, and hopefully exciting, than the sequence of serene melodies which the album’s title originally suggested. Familiar names such as Sidney Torch, Morton Gould, Frank Chacksfield, Dolf van der Linden, Ron Goodwin, Percy Faith, and George Melachrino, joined by Frederick Fennell, Cedric Dumont, Gerard Calvia, and Felix Slatkin, among others, ensure a wealth of varied orchestral colours.
"...the arrangements on this album are all first-class...As usual, the sound quality of these restored tracks is excellent, bearing in mind that they have been re-mastered (by Alan Bunting) from old 78 r.p.m. and vinyl records. The accompanying notes are helpful, giving an insight into both the composers and the orchestras...This is the 94th release in the Golden Age of Light Music series: it shows no sign of being the last. It never ceases to amaze me how many numbers in this genre there is. If I were honest I would have imagined that after all these CDs they would be scraping the bottom of the barrel. The opposite would appear to be the case: each new release presents surprises and delights that the listener can barely imagine. Long may the series continue! " John France - MusicWeb-International.com - 17 August 2012
