[78-L] (Opinion Piece) The Strings of Salerno

[Malcolm Rockwell]

Note:
HEY! This is an OPINION piece - take it seriously, or not, at your own 
risk.....
it's YOUR blood pressure we're talking here!

There is a style of string arranging that was popular in the 1950s - 
that lush, syrupy, almost nostalgic (even if you're hearing it for the 
first time which is a pretty good trick) sound which I jokingly call 
"The Strings of Sicily." That's mostly because I envision out-of-work 
pick-up Italian musicians in the NYC musicians local hanging around the 
hall just waiting to be called into a session. If you've ever been in a 
musicians union hall in a major city in the 60s or 70s you know those of 
whom I speak. Those old farts who depend on us younger guys for their 
pensions. In 2014 that would be us.
Then there's the horn section counterpart which I've dubbed "The Horns 
of Palermo."
Anyhow, I decided to see if there were any well known Italian orchestra 
leaders, orchestrators or arrangers charting this kind of sound, just to 
justify and bolster my odd sense of humor.

Nope. Without the originator (Annunzio Mantovanni - and the "cascading 
strings" sound was actually invented by orchestrator Ronnie Binge!) 
there's not a one. I take that back, Don Costa was also Italian. I am 
less sure about various other orchestrator/arrangers.
Here's a list of what I found and some of the artists they backed up:

Mantovanni (did a LOT of instrumental themes - can't recollect if he 
actually backed any vocalists)
Andre Kostelanetz (the #2 to go to guy - used many arrangers - headed 
the "pops" orchestra for the New York Philharmonic)
Nelson Riddle (worked with just about everyone, including Nat Cole, 
Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Ella Fitzgerald)
Percy Faith (Tony Bennett, Doris Day, Johnny Mathis, Guy Mitchell)
Milton DeLugg (musical director at NBC - house bandleader for Johnny 
Carson - many TV themes - only marginally for this list)
Paul Weston (Jo Stafford, Dinah Shore - musical director at Capitol)
Axel Stordahl (Bing Crosby, Eddie Fisher, Dinah Shore - Frank Sinatra at 
Columbia - arranged for Tommy Dorsey)
Don Costa (A&R man at ABC/Paramount - Frank Sinatra, Steve Lawrence & 
Eydie Gorme, Lloyd Price, Paul Anka)
Ray Ellis (Johnny Mathis, Sarah Vaughan, The Four Lads - many "Easy 
Listening" records)
Ray Conniff (worked for Mitch Miller at CBS - Johnnie Ray, Johnny Mathis)
Mitch Miller (not really for this list but he was responsible for many 
of the leaders/arrangers at Columbia records)

I'm sure there are more, this is just off the top.

Now, just how did this style develop? Does it hook into the post WW2 
collapse of the Big Band sound in favor of smaller combos - lots of out 
of work union musicians? Further, does it hook into the classical 
musicians and/or the pit orchestra guys on Broadway? And what about the 
Hollywood guys?
Writing and arranging music for (Broadway) musicals is very specialized 
and may not fit into the flow of things here, at this point it's just a 
consideration.
Anyhow, it's always been easy for me to roll my eyes and think, "Aaah... 
the soothing sounds of the Strings of Sicily again" whenever I encounter 
this style, usually in the A&P or the far flung aisles of Safeway.
Now it's not so easy. Or funny.
Darn.
Malcolm