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

[Kristjan Saag]

The reason you don't find Italian orchestra leaders playing those lush 
sounds may be because popular music in Italy has always been song-based. 
The annual festival of Neapolitan Song was a competition between 
well-written songs, not between singers. And that festival mutated into 
the San Remo festival for popular songs, which still is a big musical 
event in Italy.
This tradition also meant that Italy was much more self-supporting as 
regards popular music than most other European countries after the war. 
Of course there were big orchestras accompanying pop stars in the 1950's 
-  Riz Ortolani, Carlo Savina and many others whose names you see on 
soundtracks from the 1950's did that - but the equivalent to Mantovani, 
Kostelanetz, Don Costa, Billy Vaughn and others copying hits with heavy 
string arrangements are the Italian studio orchestras and their versions 
of Neapolitan songs. I have dozens of instrumental albums with "O Sole 
Mio", "Torna a Surriento" and "Funiculi Funicula" played with strings 
and mandolins.
And, as noted, some of the best Italian orchestra leaders composed music 
for films, often very good music. Some of their efforts, though, own to 
the arranging styles of British and American orchestras at the time. And 
perhaps a little to Ottorini Respighi, whose "Fountains Of Rome" may 
compete with your "Strings Of Sicily".
Kristjan




On 2014-12-09 02:16, Malcolm Rockwell wrote:
>
> 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
>
> _______________________________________________
> 78-L mailing list
> 78-L at klickitat.78online.com
> http://klickitat.78online.com/mailman/listinfo/78-l
>


---
This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active.
http://www.avast.com