Cascading Strings

Today in Music History: August 9, 1953

With so many variances in styles of music, on some days it is just a matter of choice as to which one to showcase. Decisions define the level (from soft to loud), change in the level of play, the direction or flow of play, the manner in which the music is played, and changes in speed from slow to fast or fast to slow. There are tunes and melodies with a beginning aspect of calm, smooth waters only to have presented themselves as a lead-in to a crescendo emanating crashing water of a waterfall on the craggy rocks below. Such is the case of orchestral music, which is under the spotlight today.

Mantovani and his Orchestra

Mantovani, was an Anglo-Italian conductor and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book British Hit Singles & Albums states that he was "Britain's most successful album act before The Beatles ... the first act to sell over one million stereo albums and had six albums simultaneously in the US Top 30 in 1959".

1953 Mantovani and his Orchestra were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with 'Song From The Moulin Rouge', (from the film of the same name). The first ever instrumental No.1 on the UK chart.

Mantovani was not limited to UK fame. Numerous recordings experienced success in the United States. His style and unique technique survived through an ever-changing variety of musical styles prompting Variety magazine to call him "the biggest musical phenomenon of the twentieth century."

Mantovani recorded for Decca until the mid-1950s, and then for London Records. He recorded in excess of 50 albums on that label, many of which were Top 40 hits. His single tracks included "The Song from The Moulin Rouge", which reached Number One in the UK Singles Chart in 1953; "Cara Mia" (with him and his orchestra backing David Whitfield) in 1954; "Around the World" in 1957; and "Main Theme from Exodus (Ari's Theme)" in 1960. In the United States, between 1955 and 1972, he released more than 40 albums with 27 reaching the "Top 40", and 11 in the "Top Ten". His biggest success came with the album Film Encores, which attained N0.1 in 1957.
Source: en.wikipedia.org

For your listening pleasure...

And the music goes on beating to the rhythm of the changing times...