No subject

formidable scarlet of the Military Police, George Melachrino has now =
risen
to the dizzy position of Regimental Sergeant Major. Last year, when the
services combined their resources to produce a tip-top recorded version =
of
the " Cinderella " pantomime, George Melachrino did an excellent job of
arranging the music and conducting the orchestra. . . . This year the
Services have just recorded " Dick Whittington," to be broadcast =
overseas on
Christmas Day, and with a cast of civilian stars that included Tommy
Handley, Lupino Lane, Dorothy Carless, Gabrielle Brune, Eddie Gray and
Dennis Noble, the musical settings have again been brilliantly arranged =
by
the R.S.M.=20
Those nimble piano duettists, Arthur Young and Reginald Foresythe, are =
also
in the services: Young is a driver in the Royal Army Service Corps while
Foresythe is an R.A.F. officer. Harry Jacobson, Gordon Little and Ronnie
Hill are naval officers. Trumpet virtuoso Nat Gonella is serving with =
the
Pioneer Corps overseas, though while in England he contributed to the
scheme.=20
One branch of Overseas Broadcasting is called the Services Library. This
consists of a large and continually extending collection of musical =
items
from which the local station officials can build their own programmes,
according to whatever time they may have at their disposal. This offers
plenty of scope to serving organists like Captain Sydney Gustard, =
Captain
Phil Park, Pilot Officer Sidney Torch and Pte. Donald Thorne. Needless =
to
say, there are regular broadcasts of all the established Guards bands - =
the
Coldstrearns, the Grenadiers, the Welsh Guards and so forth, and Service
dance bands like the R.A.F. Squadronnaires and the Royal Army Ordnance =
Corps
"Blue Rockets" figure prominently in the schedule.=20
The Overseas Recorded Broadcasting Scheme grows daily=A1=AAas good =
musicians and
artists are drafted into the Services, as the number of re-diffusion
stations throughout the battle areas increases. And, of course as Allied
progress continues. Very soon after the Axis forces had been rounded up =
in
the Tunisian tip, "Services Calling" programmes were being transmitted =
from
Algiers, Tunis and Constantine, and there is little doubt that, by the =
time
this article is published, British and American forces in Sicily and
Southern Italy will be tuning into the Overseas Recorded Broadcasting
Service.=20
One series of rather special interest is the "Services Concert Hall" =
which,
in a sense, evokes memories of the B.B.C.=20
"Caf=A8=A6 Colette" in that listeners can never be quite sure whether =
such a
place really exists. To be sure, the effect is convincing enough, but
actually the "Services Concert Hall" is the large orchestral studio at
H.M.V., completely bereft of all service personnel besides the =
musicians.
Applause and crowd noises are ingeniously dubbed from effects records =
before
and after each item which is generally of the popular symphonic type,
informally introduced by "your friend in the audience", Major =
Christopher
Stone, D.S.O., M.C. The platform is occupied in turn by the Band of the
Royal Marines (Portsmouth Division) conducted by Captain Vivian Dunn, =
the
Orchestra in Khaki and the R.A.F. Symphony Orchestra.
A word too must be said of "Music While You Work." Besides producing =
this
programme for the B.B.C., Mr. Wynford Reynolds occupies himself largely =
at
the Decca Studios where he records orchestral music solely for =
re-diffusion
in factories. For, let it be remembered, "Music While You Work" is not
merely an attempt to present light music under a fancy title, but a =
means of
speeding up production which enjoys the serious approval of industrial
psychologists.
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