Don was more a man of the countryside than the crowded city. Cue Eric Coates…
He was also frugal and pragmatic; a hard-worker, too – he retired and immediately got another job. Eric Coates again…
In no particular order…
A World War II favourite song that meant much to Don… played at his funeral, many thanks to Tony Faulkner for compiling a CD for the ceremony and dropping it off in the middle of the night when a chat and a cup of tea in the kitchen seemed somewhat surreal…
A bit too young to serve in that campaign, he did his National Service in the RAF (at ground level!)…
Music by Sir Henry Walford Davies.
Nice and easy…
A love of steam trains and old films…
Old films…
Don was a big (if not uncritical) fan of comedian-actor Will Hay. With the following film, Oh, Mr Porter!, I grew up knowing the script before ever seeing the movie given Don had the soundtrack on tape, which he used to play regularly on a large reel-to-reel machine…
Of American piano Rags, Strauss-Family Waltzes, dance and marching bands…
… ou…
Marche Lorraine composed by Louis Ganne. Second recording: “Musique Principale Des Troupes Der Marine/C.Sorlin”.
Laurel & Hardy, Round the Horne, Hancock
Nature programmes
‘Classical Music’ (I brought my father on board!)
One Sunday lunchtime Don (with me) met a happy-to-chat Vernon Handley at a Guildford Philharmonic rehearsal for that afternoon’s concert: William Mathias’s Anniversary Dances; Delius’s Double Concerto for Violin and Cello (Hugh Bean & Lionel Handy), and a masterly account of Elgar’s Second Symphony.
Below is what turned out to be Tod’s final London concert (which I missed) as audience-recorded (sonic allowance needs to be made). Vernon Handley died three days after my dad, on September 10, 2008…
Don also met Leonard Slatkin, at The Anvil, Basingstoke (Mahler Five & Mozart; Philharmonia Orchestra) – by chance we were on the same train. Convivial conversation. Leonard’s Kinah, which he introduces on the following video, is appropriate here, although I make no comparisons between Don and Leonard’s father, Felix, neither their respective qualities nor their leave-taking: they were who they were and did what they did. Anyway, Kinah is a strong, timeless piece…
Don never met Colin Davis, but he came to several of his concerts (as he did Bernstein and Boult), and really liked the final movement of Sibelius’s Fifth (also played at my father’s funeral, thanks to Tony, as above, the engineer for this Davis version), a good way for me to sign off this stroll down in memoriam lane…
If you have got this far, thank-you.
How lucky we both were, Col, to be shaped by a parent with such a range of cultural sympathies. As Melvyn Bragg used to say in his ‘South Bank Show’ days: ‘cover the ground’. Both my parents were avid concert-goers, but also relished (among countless others) Hancock, Round the Horne, Haydn Wood, Frank Sinatra, Eartha Kitt, etc. etc. I played my 7″ singles of Russ Conway, and Herb Alpert until they were grey. Likewise a 78rpm green label Columbia of Cliff Richard blasting his way through ‘Dynamite’ and Travellin’ Light’. Dad introduced me, age 9, to Elgar with a 7″ EP of Lawrance Collingwood conducting the first two Bavarian Dances and the first two movements of the Serenade for Strings. I held his hand as he died in hospital, moving in and out of consciousness. ‘Thanks for introducing me to Elgar’, I said. His barely audible reply, ‘That’s good to know’, stays vividly with me.
Ah Andrew, thanks for this. My dad also died in hospital with me at his side (at roughly the same time as Ingo Metzmacher was about to conduct Messiaen’s St Francis at the Proms). Funny how we remember things like that!
And, as you say, there’s Haydn Wood…
https://www.colinscolumn.com/haydn-woods-the-horse-guards-whitehall-from-london-landmarks-sidney-torch-conducting-the-queens-hall-light-orchestra/…
so glad you have my dad’s 78 of Horseguards.
Dear Colin. I had quite a few conversations with your father, probably more than you realise, although we rarely spoke about music, it was difficult to get past his interest in the railway, which, as you know, I shared. Strangely I do not remember too many conversations about music or we might have talked about Eric Coates, as a piece from his London Suite was the theme music for a BBC Radio programme entitled “in Town Tonight” – think it was the Knightsbridge Suite. Don’t remember talking about his time in the RAF either. Incidentally a friend on mine in Norfolk turned 100 last August, he was also RAF Ground Crew during the war, and a fan of classical music, mainly Johann Strauss (younger).
Don was always a joy to talk to, knowledgeable, polite, friendly.
It’s easy to understand why you miss his company so much.
Regards
Alan
Many thanks Alan for your reminiscences, and coincidences. Colin
Dear Colin, I feel priviledged to share your memories of your father and his far ranging love of music and comedy, especially Round the Horne! He obviously had excellent taste and must have been an enlightened and interesting person to talk to. No wonder you miss him at this time.
Many thanks John for your eloquent summing up. Colin
Thank you for sharing such an eclectic range of delights. I was particularly happy to hear Hancock’s Half Hour, Round the Horn, Russ Conway. A walk down memory lane. And of course the Eric Coates and Elgar. Where did you find all these oldies?
Well, Elizabeth, all part of the wonderful world of YouTube – you just have to know what you are hoping to find; some of the above I wasn’t too hopeful about but it turned out rather well, to the extent of deciding what to leave out! Colin
Thank you for sharing you memories, Colin, and have a special day of remembrance. Sorry to be slow in commenting. Yesterday was a very heavy day of work for me – mental and physical – and I’m feeling my age!
May I add my thanks for this welcome trip down memory lane? Especially Russ Conway.s Side Saddle? – wonderfully original piece of genuine piano music – sums up 1959 so well for me, together with Bobby Darin’s ‘Dream Lover’: great singer. Some lovely visuals in your list, too; thanks again.