George Melachrino
George Melachrino(bornGeorge Miltiades;1 May 1909 – 18 June 1965)[1]was amusician,composer offilm music,andmusical directorwho wasEnglishborn ofGreekandItaliandescent. He was an accomplished player of the violin, viola, oboe, clarinet and saxophone.
Biography
[edit]George Melachrino was born inLondon,England.[2]As a young boy, he had a love ofmusic.At the age of five, he began composing and by the age of fourteen he enrolled in theTrinity College of Music.[2]In 1927, he began his career by singing and playing at theSavoy HillStudios in London.[2]For the next twelve years, he played in many different bands and orchestras. In the 1930s, Melachrino started working forbandsled byAmbrosesinging and playing saxophone with Carroll Gibbons at theSavoy HotelLondon, andBert Firman,and started playing on radio for theBBC.[2]In 1935, he was living at Ascot Court, Grove End Road, inSt John's Wood.[3]
By 1939, he had started his own band and secured a contract at the Café de Paris.[2]He joined theArmya year later, and received training at the Corps of Military Police where he became a P.T. Instructor. Melachrino also gained experience as a military musician at the Army Broadcasting Department, as Musical Director for the recording of entertainment for overseas forces, leading the British Band of theAllied Expeditionary Forcesand the Orchestra Khaki.[2]
After the war, in 1945, he formed the George Melachrino Orchestra, an orchestra that became synonymous with lush string arrangements.[2]From 1945 to 1947, he conducted forRichard Tauberin most of his Parlophone recordings andBBCbroadcasts. Beginning in the 1950s he specialized ineasy listeningarrangements of popular music standards. His ensemble recorded under the names, 'Melachrino Strings' and the 'Melachrino Strings and Orchestra.'
In 1956, his orchestra's track "Autumn Concerto" reached number 18 in theUK Singles Chart,and remained in thechartfor nine weeks.[1]His album,Immortal Ladies,recorded in late 1954 had sold over one million copies by 1956, and he was presented with agold discbyRCA Recordschief, George Marek, so becoming the first British orchestra leader to receive such an award.[4]
Melachrino frequently performed on BBC andAmerican Armed Forces Radio.
The "Starlight Roof Waltz", as performed by the George Melachrino Strings, was the signature tune of the radio programmeMoeders wil is wet(1949–1974), the Dutch equivalent ofHousewives' Choice.
His lead arranger during the British Band of the AEF and later with the Melachrino Strings was Bert Thompson, who also arranged "Little White Bull"and"The Young Ones".
Melachrino has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame.
Selected filmography
[edit]- Woman to Woman(1947)
- The Shop at Sly Corner(1947)
- No Orchids for Miss Blandish(1948)
- The Story of Shirley Yorke(1948)
- Dark Secret(1949)
- The Man from Yesterday(1949)
- Eight O'Clock Walk(1954)
- The Gamma People(1956)
Discography
[edit]TITLE | LABEL & NUMBER | YEAR |
---|---|---|
Music for Dining (10 ") | RCA VictorDLP-1000 | 1952 |
Music for Relaxation (10 ") | RCA Victor DLP-1001 | 1952 |
Music for Reading (10 ") | RCA Victor DLP-1002 | 1952 |
A Melachrino Concert (10 ") | RCA Victor LPM-1003 | 1952 |
A Melachrino Concert (EP) | RCA Victor EPB-1003 | 1952 |
Melachrino Magic Strings (10 ") | His Master's Voice DLP-1014 | 1953 |
Soft Lights and Sweet Music (10 ") | His Master's Voice DLP-1046 | 1953 |
My Lady Fair (10 ") | His Master's Voice DLP-1090 | 1953 |
Midnight on Park Avenue (10 ") | His Master's Voice DLP-1101 | 1953 |
Music for Dining | RCA Victor LPM-1000 | 1953 |
Music for Relaxation | RCA Victor LPM-1001 | 1953 |
Music for Reading | RCA Victor LPM-1002 | 1953 |
Music for Faith and Inner Calm | RCA Victor LPM-1004 | 1954 |
Serenade in the Night | His Master's Voice DLP-1127 | 1954 |
The Music Of The Melachrino Strings (EP) | RCA Victor – EPA 491 | 1954 |
Music for Courage and Confidence | RCA Victor LPM-1005 | 1954 |
The Melachrino Strings (EP) | His Master's Voice – 7EG 8002 | 1954 |
Music for Courage and Confidence (EP) | RCA Victor EPB-1005 | 1954 |
Music to Help You Sleep | RCA Victor LPM-1006 | 1954 |
Plays Medleys Show Tunes | RCA Victor LPM-1008 | 1954 |
Music for Two People Alone | RCA Victor LPM-1027 | 1954 |
Music for Daydreaming | RCA Victor LPM-1028 | 1954 |
Music to Work or Study By | RCA Victor LPM-1029 | 1954 |
Christmas In High Fidelity | RCA Victor LPM-1045 | 1954 |
Music for the Nostalgic Traveler | RCA Victor LPM-1053 | 1955 |
Autumn Leaves (EP) | RCA Victor – SPD 4 | 1955 |
Immortal Ladies | RCA Victor LPM-1110 | 1955 |
Melodie In Penombra | La Voce Del Padrone – QDLP 6023 | 1955 |
George Melachrino At San Remo 1956 (10 ") | OdeonURL7300EP | 1956 |
Masquerade | RCA Victor LPM-1184 | 1956 |
Stardust (EP) | RCA Victor – EPA-597 | 1956 |
Masquerade (2 X EP) | RCA Victor – EPB-1184-3 | 1956 |
Sounds of Paris | RCA Victor LPM-1261 | 1956 |
Melachrino on Broadway | RCA Victor LPM-1307 | 1956 |
I'll Walk Beside You | RCA Victor LPM-1329 | 1957 |
Magic In Music (EP) | His Master's Voice – 7EGM 8218 | 1957 |
Those Beautiful Strings | RCA Victor LPM-1330 | 1957 |
Moonlight Concerto | His Master's Voice DLP-1197 | 1958 |
Fascination (EP) | His Master's Voice – 7-EGS 77 | 1958 |
Under Western Skies | RCA Victor LSP-1676 | 1958 |
Strauss Waltzes | RCA Victor LSP-1757 | 1958 |
Lisbon at Twilight | RCA Victor LSP-1762 | 1958 |
Rendezvous In Rome | RCA Victor LSP-1955 | 1959 |
Christmas Joy | RCA Victor LSP-2044 | 1959 |
Music of Romberg | RCA Victor LSP-2106 | 1960 |
Music of Victor Herbert | RCA Victor LSP-2129 | 1960 |
Music from Frank Loesser's Greenwillow | RCA Victor LSP-2229 | 1960 |
The Magic Of Melachrino Strings (EP) | His Master's Voice – 7EG 8470 | 1961 |
More Music for Relaxation | RCA Victor LSP-2278 | 1961 |
Music from Bells Are Ringing | RCA Victor LSP-2279 | 1961 |
Music of Kern | RCA Victor LSP-2283 | 1961 |
More Music for Dining | RCA Victor LSP-2412 | 1961 |
Music of Rodgers | RCA Victor LSP-2513 | 1962 |
Waltzes of Berlin | RCA Victor LSP-2561 | 1962 |
Our Man in London | RCA Victor LSP-2608 | 1963 |
All the Hits from Oliver | RCA Victor LSP-2660 | 1963 |
April in Paris | RCA Victor LSP-2739 | 1963 |
Ballads of Berlin | RCA Victor LSP-2817 | 1964 |
You and the Night and the Music | RCA Victor LSP-2866 | 1964 |
Music for Romance | RCA Victor LSP-2979 | 1965 |
New Sound of Broadway | RCA Victor LSP-3323 | 1966 |
Something to Remember You By | RCA Victor LSP-3398 | 1966 |
Music to Write Letters By Vol 1 (2 sides) | RCA Victor PRM-247 | 1967 |
Love Walked In | Pickwick SPC-3234 | 1971 |
Play the Tom Jones Hits | Pickwick SPC-3242 | 1971 |
Love Story | Pickwick SPC-3263 | 1972 |
Velvet Voices - Velvet Strings | Columbia Musical Treasury P6S5532 - 6LPSet | 1975 |
L'Orchestra D'Archi Di George Melachrino | RCA – NL 45307 | 1982 |
Great Film and Show Tunes (1950-1952) | Living Era CDAJA 5469 | 2003 |
References
[edit]- ^abRoberts, David (2006).British Hit Singles & Albums(19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 359.ISBN1-904994-10-5.
- ^abcdefgColin Larkin,ed. (2002).The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music(Third ed.).Virgin Books.pp. 279/80.ISBN1-85227-937-0.
- ^London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; 1832-1965 [database on-line].
- ^Murrells, Joseph (1978).The Book of Golden Discs(2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. pp.[1].ISBN0-214-20512-6.
External links
[edit]- 1909 births
- 1965 deaths
- 20th-century English composers
- English people of Greek descent
- English music arrangers
- English people of Italian descent
- Easy listening musicians
- English light music composers
- Musicians from London
- Orchestra leaders
- British Army personnel of World War II
- Royal Military Police soldiers
- English film score composers
- English male film score composers