Post by Ms. Kathy on Jun 21, 2004 7:10:58 GMT -6
Photo and article excerpts from The Remington Site at www.soundfountain.com
Alec Templeton (1910-1963)
Some musiclovers know the name Alec Templeton as the composer of "Bach Goes To Town". And if their knowledge goes a bit further they also may recall "Mozart Matriculates" and even "Scarlatti Stoops to Conga". Templeton was known as the radio and tv celebrity who in the nineteen forties and fifties regularly appeared on shows hosted by Bing Crosby, and who later had his own show called "It's Alec Templeton Time" (6/3 - 8/26/1955).
The more serious collector will probably recall that blind Alec Templeton recorded Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" with Andre Kostelanetz for Columbia in the nineteen forties. The recording was issued on 2 12" shellac discs (CX-190) and on vinyl (ML-4455) and was listed in Columbia's catalog next to the famous recording of Oscar Levant with the Philadelphia Orchestra and conductor Eugene Ormandy.
Although Levant mastered both the "Rhapsody" and the "Concerto in F" with insight and skill as hardly anybody else, Templeton - also being a talented improvisor - had a good rythmic feeling for Gershwin's syncopated music, although the Rhapsody in Blue clearly shows that his technical skill was rather limited.
Alec Templeton was born in Cardiff, Wales (UK) and was blessed with absolute pitch. He began his musical studies at an early age in his hometown and later studied at the London Academy of Music. At 18 he composed "Trio for flute, oboe and piano" for which he was complimented by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Jack Hylton, British bandleader, brought Alec Templeton to the United States when Hylton was to broadcast a series of radioprograms for the Standard Oil Company. The liner notes of R-199-158 state that 'Templeton soon established himself as an incomparable and sincere artist.' In addition to his imaginative modernizing of the classical masters Alec Templeton composed serious works for the piano, orchestra, string quartet, and voice. Templeton: "Good music need not be ponderous to be good. It can be everything from Bach to jazz." His style is close to the idiom of British folksongs.
A Man with New Radio
Alec Templeton: Bach goes to Town: Prelude & Fugue in Swing (Piano solo version)
Alec Templeton (1910-1963)
Some musiclovers know the name Alec Templeton as the composer of "Bach Goes To Town". And if their knowledge goes a bit further they also may recall "Mozart Matriculates" and even "Scarlatti Stoops to Conga". Templeton was known as the radio and tv celebrity who in the nineteen forties and fifties regularly appeared on shows hosted by Bing Crosby, and who later had his own show called "It's Alec Templeton Time" (6/3 - 8/26/1955).
The more serious collector will probably recall that blind Alec Templeton recorded Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue" with Andre Kostelanetz for Columbia in the nineteen forties. The recording was issued on 2 12" shellac discs (CX-190) and on vinyl (ML-4455) and was listed in Columbia's catalog next to the famous recording of Oscar Levant with the Philadelphia Orchestra and conductor Eugene Ormandy.
Although Levant mastered both the "Rhapsody" and the "Concerto in F" with insight and skill as hardly anybody else, Templeton - also being a talented improvisor - had a good rythmic feeling for Gershwin's syncopated music, although the Rhapsody in Blue clearly shows that his technical skill was rather limited.
Alec Templeton was born in Cardiff, Wales (UK) and was blessed with absolute pitch. He began his musical studies at an early age in his hometown and later studied at the London Academy of Music. At 18 he composed "Trio for flute, oboe and piano" for which he was complimented by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Jack Hylton, British bandleader, brought Alec Templeton to the United States when Hylton was to broadcast a series of radioprograms for the Standard Oil Company. The liner notes of R-199-158 state that 'Templeton soon established himself as an incomparable and sincere artist.' In addition to his imaginative modernizing of the classical masters Alec Templeton composed serious works for the piano, orchestra, string quartet, and voice. Templeton: "Good music need not be ponderous to be good. It can be everything from Bach to jazz." His style is close to the idiom of British folksongs.
A Man with New Radio
Alec Templeton: Bach goes to Town: Prelude & Fugue in Swing (Piano solo version)