Light Music - Origins

Origins

Before Late Romantic orchestral trends of length and scope separated the trajectory of lighter orchestral works from the Western Classical canon, classical composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Joseph Haydn were as noted for writing lighter pieces such as Eine Kleine Nachtmusik or the Toy Symphony as their symphonies and operas. Later examples of early European light music include the operettas of composers such as Franz von Suppé or Sir Arthur Sullivan, the Continental salon and parlour music genres and the waltzes and marches of Johann Strauss II and his family. The Straussian waltz became a common light music composition (Charles Ancliffe's "Nights of Gladness" or Felix Godin's "Valse Septembre" being two examples). These influenced the foundation of a "lighter" tradition of classical music in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The light music genre as it is currently recognised probably has its origin in the seaside orchestras that flourished in Britain during the 19th and early 20th century. These played a wide repertoire of music, from classical music to arrangements of popular songs and ballads of the time. From this tradition came many specially written shorter orchestral pieces designed to appeal to a wider audience. Notably, even serious composers such as Sir Edward Elgar wrote a number of popular works in this medium, such as the "Salut d'Amour", the Nursery Suite, and Chanson de Matin. The conductor Sir Thomas Beecham was famous for concluding his otherwise serious orchestral concerts with what he termed "lollipops", meaning less serious, short or amusing works chosen as a crowd-pleasing encore. Influenced by the earlier "promenade concerts" held in London pleasure gardens, a similar spirit embued many of Henry Wood's early Queen's Hall Proms concerts, especially the "Last Night".

However, it was in the late 1920s with the introduction of radio broadcasting by the BBC that the style found an ideal outlet. This increased after the launch of the BBC Light Programme in 1945, featuring programmes such as Friday Night is Music Night and Music While You Work. The halcyon days of the genre can be said to date from this period until the early 1960s.