The Light Music While You Work title of this disc is not generic but refers to a much-loved BBC radio program and to a series of 78 rpm releases on the Decca label that was started in order to capitalize on the program's success. The radio program was inaugurated in 1940, over the protests of BBC traditionalists, as a way of raising morale in the factories of beleaguered Great Britain by airing music of the favorite light orchestras of the day instead of symphonic fare, and it proved such a hit that it survived in one form or another until the mid-'90s. Included on this disc are not transcripts of the show but recordings from the Decca series. Many of the performers have appeared on other releases in the Guild label's fine retrospective of British light music, but these recordings are distinctive. They do not really, except for the opening Calling All Workers, have much of a connection with the theme of work, but they are temporally unified: all except one track, Harry Fryer's Fascinatin' Manikin, were recorded during the war, between 1943 and 1945. As a result, they present a nice snapshot of British popular taste at the time. The main stylistic sources for the music are the American society bands and sweet swing orchestras of the interwar period, but all kinds of music shows up in these compact little pieces. Some are based on classical themes; an especially clever example is In an 18th Century Drawing Room by
Raymond Scott (later of Looney Tunes fame), fancifully based on the Piano Sonata in C major, K. 545, of
Mozart. But the range of influences is wide. From the American Western film comes
Fred Rose's "Be Honest with Me," popularized by
Gene Autry. Ethnic-flavored pieces include an unexpected (for 1944) Kwang Hsu -- Japanese Intermezzo composed by
Paul Lincke and performed by the most popular ensemble on the disc, Harry Fryer and his
Orchestra. Another familiar name here is that of
Mantovani, represented by performances from earlier in his career than those for which he is usually known; they shed light on the degree to which the style that later became known as easy listening in the U.S. was actually the creation of the Italian-British orchestra leader. The arrangements throughout are a delight -- for just one example, hear the transitions between the subtly different meters in the medley-like White Horse Inn, track 4. Entirely enjoyable, this is one of the strongest entries yet in Guild's series.