English composer Ernest Tomlinson (1924-2015) was noted as a composer of light music, and with the rise of pop music, found that organisations all over Britain, from the BBC to theatre, were discarding their Light Music collections. Appalled, he started to collect and save this repertoire and founded the Library of Light Orchestral Music.

Ernest Tomlinson

What is light music? It was a genre of classical music that came to the fore in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, lasting until the mid-20^th century. These were (generally) through-composed pieces or suites that appealed to an audience that wanted classical music but didn’t want to sit through a concerto, a symphony, or an opera. Although the genre has generally faded from sight, there’s an enormous body of it lurking on the edges of your perception.

The emphasis is on melody and distinctive musical textures. One writer summarised it as ‘original orchestral pieces’ consisting of ‘three or four minutes of music with an arresting main theme and a contrasting middle section’

Think of all the films where a little Johann Strauss II didn’t go amiss, or where you needed music for the seaside. The genre began in the 1920s, and in 1945, the BBC Light Programme came on the air. We can see a continuing love for the genre in the Proms Concerts, particularly during the Last Night of the Proms.

Ernest Tomlinson capped the genre with his Fantasia on Auld Lang Syne, written in 1976, the 19-minute work that encapsulates the idea of light music by combining over 120 pieces of music as a fantasy based on Auld Lang Syne.

It was commissioned by the French Instrument Buffet Crampon as a finale for the 5^th World Saxophone Congress in 1976. It was originally written for 16 saxophones. In Tomlinson’s words, his ‘brief was for a work enjoyable by the knowledgeable musicians who participated in the Congress and by … other interested parties…’. The ensemble performing the work consisted of the London Saxophone Quartet on the conductor’s right, The Peter Hughes Saxophone Quintet (a jazz group) on the conductor’s left, and in the centre, one each of all the members of the Saxophone family, from Sopranino to Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Baritone, Bass, and a seven-foot high Contrabass saxophone that was brought over from Paris just for the concert.

By the next year, it had been orchestrated, and there is also an arrangement for ‘two pianos and two turn-overs’ (presumably page turners). A final arrangement was made by the composer for concerto band.

The work is yet another example of a quodlibet, where multiple melodies are combined and intertwined. (We’ve seen earlier ones in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, for example).

The composer said he used 129 works in his Fantasia, but when it came time to create a list, we could only get up to 126.

It’s a remarkable overview of music, ranging all over Europe, Russia, North and South America, Australia, but, unfortunately, little from Asia. For listeners, it’s a challenge of naming that work that is just on the tip of your tongue!

Can you get them? First, here’s the work as recorded

Ernest Tomlinson (1924-2015) : Fantasia on Auld Lang Syne, for orchestra (1976)

1. Auld Lang Syne
2. Old Folks at Home / Swanee River by Stephen Foster
3. Soldier’s Chorus from Faust by Charles Gounod
4. Prince of Denmark’s March, Trumpet Voluntary by Jeremiah Clarke
5. The British Grenadiers
6. Men of Harlech
7. Go In and Out The Window / So Early in the Morning
8. Overture to William Tell by Gioachino Rossini
9. Rakes of Mallow
10. She’ll Be Coming Around the Mountain
11. The Irish Washerwoman
12. Symphonic Variations by César Franck
13. Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor: III. Marche funèbre: Lento by Frédéric Chopin
14. Engima theme from Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar
15. Ode to Joy from Symphony No. 9 in D minor, “Choral”, by Ludwig van Beethoven
16. St. Anthony Chorale attributed to Joseph Haydn
17. The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra: Theme (Rondeau from Abdelazer by Henry Purcell) by Benjamin Britten
18. 24 Caprices, Op. 1, No. 24 in A Minor: Tema con Variazioni: Quasi presto by Niccolò Paganini
19. Piano Quintet in A major, D. 667, The Trout: IV. Andantino – Allegretto by Franz Schubert
20. Symphony No. 94 in G major, Surprise, II. Andante, by Joseph Haydn
21. Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring from Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147 by J.S. Bach
22. Londonderry Air (Danny Boy)
23. La Golondrina by Narciso Serradell Sevilla
24. Humoresque No. 7 by Antonín Dvořák
25. Beautiful Dreamer by Stephen Foster
26. Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Pathétique: III. Allegro molto vivace by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
27. A Life on the Ocean Wave by Henry Russell
28. Victory at Sea by Richard Rodgers, orchestrated by Richard Rodney Bennett
29. Spartacus Suite No. 2: I. Adagio of Spartacus and Phrigia by Aram Khachaturian
30. The Hebrides in D Major, Op. 26, Fingal’s Cave, by Felix Mendelssohn
31. Wintermärchen, Op. 366 (Hearts and Flowers) by Alphons Czibulka
32. Piano Sonata No. 16 in C major, K. 545: II. Allegro by W.A. Mozart
33. Solomon, HWV 67: Act III. Arrival of the Queen of Sheba by George Frideric Handel
34. Over the Hills and Far Away
35. Swan Lake: Danse des petits cygnes by Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky
36. The Well-Tempered Clavier: Fugue No. 2 in C minor, BWV 847, by J.S. Bach
37. The Keel Row
38. Phil the Fluter’s Ball by Percy French
39. Overture to Carmen by Georges Bizet
40. Tom, Tom, the Piper’s Son / Do You Know the Muffin Man
41. This Old Man
42. Alfred: Rule, Britannia! by Thomas Arne
43. The Floral Dance by Katie Moss
44. Frühlingsstimmen (The Voices of Spring) by Johann Strauss II
45. Les Patineurs (The Skater’s Waltz) by Émile Waldteufel
46. Kaiser-Walzer (Emperor Waltz) by Johann Strauss II
47. Künstlerleben (Artist’s Life) by Johann Strauss II
48. Home on the Range by Daniel E. Kelley
49. Swan Lake: Waltz by Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky
50. Morgenblätter (Morning Journals) by Johann Strauss II
51. Wein, Weib und Gesang (Wine, Women, and Song) by Johann Strauss II
52. Valses Sentimentales, Op. 50, No. 13, by Franz Schubert
53. Invitation to the Dance by Carl Maria von Weber
54. Roméo et Juliette: Act I: Ah! Je veux vivre dans ce rêve (Juliette’s Waltz) by Charles Gounod
55. Il Bacio (The Kiss) by Luigi Arditi
56. “Brüderlein, Brüderlein und Schwesterlein” (Waltz) from Die Fledermaus by Johann Strauss II
57. Tales from the Vienna Woods by Johann Strauss II
58. Dolores, Op. 170 by Émile Waldteufel
59. Waves of the Danube by Iosif Ivanovici
60. Waltz in B minor, Op. 69, No. 2, by Frédéric Chopin
61. Grande valse brilliante in E flat major by Frédéric Chopin
62. The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II
63. The Ash Grove
64. Oranges and Lemons
65. Mazurkas, Op. 7, No. 1 in B-flat major by Frédéric Chopin
66. Coppélia: Mazurka by Léo Delibes
67. Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op. 22: II. Tempo di Valse by Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky
68. Künstlerleben (Artist’s Life) by Johann Strauss II
69. The Bartered Bride: Act III. Skočná (Dance of the Comedians) by Bedřich Smetana
70. Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, No. 3, by Antonín Dvořák
71. Hungarian Dance No. 6 by Johannes Brahms
72. Overture to Light Cavalry by Franz von Suppé
73. For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow
74. Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture by Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky
75. Perpetuum Mobile by Johann Strauss II
76. Third Movement from Horn Concerto No. 4 in E-flat major by W. A. Mozart
77. Mignon: Act II: Me voici dans son boudoir, Gavotte by Ambroise Thomas
78. Girls and Boys Come Out To Play
79. Slavonic Dances, Op. 46, No. 2, by Antonín Dvořák
80. Wi’ a Hundred Pipers by Carolina Nairne
81. Overture to Rosamunde by Franz Schubert
82. Orpheus in the Underworld: Act II: Can Can (Galop Infernal) by Jacques Offenbach
83. 3 Marches militaires, Op. 51, D. 733: No. 1 in D Major by Franz Schubert
84. Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Johannes Brahms
85. Faust: Danse de Phryné by Charles Gounod
86. Les soirées musicales: No. 8. La danza, Tarantella napoletana by Gioachino Rossini
87. Sylvia: Act III: Divertissement: Pizzicati by Léo Delibes
88. La Vie Parisienne: Overture by Jacques Offenbach
89. Hungarian Rhapsody No 2 by Franz Liszt
90. Mysterioso Pizzicato (Villain’s Theme) by Jens Bodewalt Lampe
91. B-A-C-H motif
92. The Musical Offering: Ricercare a 6 by J.S. Bach
93. Dark Eyes by Florian Hermann
94. Post Horn Galop by Hermann Koenig
95. Overture to Semiramide by Gioachino Rossini
96. Jamaican Rumba by Arthur Benjamin
97. Gayane: Sabre Dance by Aram Khachaturian
98. Overture to The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini
99. Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila by Mikhail Glinka
100. Goodnight, Ladies by Edwin Pearce Christy
101. Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt
102. Comin’ Thro’ the Rye
103. Waltzing Matilda by Christina Macpherson
104. Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater
105. L’Arlesienne Suite No. 2: IV. Farandole by Georges Bizet
106. Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt
107. 1812 Overture by Pyotr Ilych Tchaikovsky
108. Cuckoo’s Call
109. Westminster Quarters by Joseph Jowett, John Randall or William Crotch
110. Come, All Ye Faithful (Adestes Fideles) by John Francis Wade
111. Jarabe Tapatio (Mexican Hat Dance) by Jesús González Rubio
112. The Marriage of Figaro: Act I: Aria – Non più andrai, farfallone amoroso by W. A. Mozart
113. The Barber of Seville: Act I: Largo al factotum by Gioachino Rossini
114. Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush
115. La Cucaracha
116. Lieder ohne Worte, Book 5, Op. 62: No. 30 in A Major, Op. 62, No. 6, Frühlingslied (Spring Song) by Felix Mendelssohn
117. Rigoletto: Act III. La donna è mobile by Giuseppe Verdi
118. The Girl I Left Behind
119. Symphony No. 4 in A major, Italian: I. Allegro vivace by Felix Mendelssohn
120. Yankee Doodle
121. Rigoletto: Act I. Questa o quella by Giuseppe Verdi
122. The Pirates of Penzance: Act I. Poor wand’ring one by Arthur Sullivan
123. Good King Wenceslas
124. The Sailor’s Hornpipe
125. Symphony No. 5 in C minor: I. Allegro con brio by Ludwig van Beethoven
126. Symphony No. 9 in E minor, From the New World: IV. Allegro con fuoco by Antonín Dvořák

Now, if you need to have it annotated, here’s an annotated version:

Ernest Tomlinson – Fantasia on Auld Lang Syne (Annotated with Quoted Melodies)

It’s an amazing tour de force by Tomlinson. If you’re thinking you didn’t do well because you didn’t get many of them, just think of how many you DID get and how much you know and how wide-ranging your musical knowledge really is! Tomlinson uses music from the 16^th to the 20^th century, and 500 years of music in 20 minutes is a lot!

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