One of the most successful orchestra leaders of the 1950s and 60s was Canadian Percy Faith. I was astounded when I spoke with a talented young musician recently who had never heard of this musical genius. How quickly the music world forgets.
When Percy Faith was a child, he was a violinist and pianist. After a fire damaged his hands, he turned to conducting on the radio during its 1930s and 40s heyday. Later when albums became the rage, he put out a slew of instrumental orchestrations on LP for Columbia.
See the album "Brazil!" above? When I was a kid, my mom had this in her collection. I played the record over and over and apparently was so fascinated by the woman on the album (covered with confetti) that I took a magic marker and added to the artwork! (Unfortunately this work of art is no longer available for viewing after all these years).
Many of Percy Faith's albums were upbeat and lively, such as his Brazil and other Latin American tribute albums. His most famous song is "Theme From A Summer Place" which you can listen to and watch a rare video of Percy conducting his famous orchestra here. The song was record of the year in 1961.
His Christmas orchestrations sound like they could have come directly from heaven itself. Click here and see if you agree!
No need here to elaborate on what is already done better. A marvelous tribute to the man and his music is maintained at www.percyfaithpages.org, which I highly recommend. Click here to go there!
No comments:
Post a Comment