Frederic Curzon was born on the 4th September 1899 and died on 6th December 1973.

FREDERIC CURZON
4^thSeptember 1899 --- 6^thDecember 1973

Frederic Curzon was born on the 4th September 1899 and died on 6th December 1973. Although he was a generation, or at least a
half-generation, younger than such stalwarts of the English light music scene as Arthur Wood, Albert Ketelbey, Wilfrid Sanderson
Percy Fletcher, Alfred Reynolds and Eric Coates, Ernest Frederic Curzon, born in London on 4 September 1899, is to be reckoned
among their number as a most attractive purveyor of tuneful, beautifully scored light music, primarily for orchestra. As a boy he
studied violin, cello, piano and organ, his precocity being indicated by the fact that his settings of the Magnificat and Nunc
Dimittis were performed before he was twelve. At sixteen he was a pianist in a London theatre orchestra (what sources of talent
those orchestras were and at twenty he was conducting and composing accompaniments for silent films, then 1920 approaching
their heyday as providers of live music. Curzon was also Organist at Shepherds Bush Pavilion for many years and at other places
and conducted for a time during the War of 1939-45 at Llandudno Pier. Surprisingly, I know of no organ music by him. He became
President of the Light Music Society and died in Bournemouth as recently as December 1973.

As a composer he was encouraged both by Sir Dan Godfrey and by Ralph Hawkes of the music publishers Boosey and Hawkes
where Curzon was Head of the Light Music Department. Much of his output was for orchestra, but there were songs of the ballad
type like I Bring My Love,In a Little Lane and, published as late as 1951,Someone a Little Like You for piano, besides arrangements
of popular orchestral movements of his own, like The Boulevardier, the march Ceremonial Occasion written in 1953, Coronation
year the Overture Bouffe for an 18th Century Comedy, the scherzo Mischief (derived from a children's ballet suite Charm of Youth)
and the very popular March of the Bowmen, he published other piano movements like a Square Dance Set (1951) and two pieces
dating from 1948, Valse Impromptu and Prelude: By the Lyn, for which I have discovered no orchestral counterparts. Also from
1948 was a pleasant Elegiac Melody for cello and piano.

The most substantial items in Curzon's orchestral light music were the Spanish Suite, In Malaga, the Robin Hood Suite, which ends
with the rousing March of the Bowmen already mentioned and which was first performed on the 18 October 1937 by the BBCSO
the quarter-hour long Salon Suite, the third of whose six movements is a Period Piece in 18th Century Manner and the fifth is a
brilliant Clarinetto con Moto. Curzon's music has a characteristic sparkle, apparent especially in his overtures Vanguard, Chevalier
and Punchinello (which has been recorded in the LP era), all of which are most delightfully scored. One interesting feature of all
Curzon's orchestration is the presence of three (or sometimes two or even four) saxophones in many of his scores, apart from the
more usual woodwind instruments. Examples are the march, Bonaventure, from the once popular The Boulevardier, Busybodies
(described as a duet for two trumpets or two xylophones!) and orchestra, the waltz, Cascade, the Dance of an Ostracised Imp, very
frequently played at one time, Pasquinade, Serenade of a Clown, the serenade Simonetta, the march, Sons of the Soviet and Ring
-side, where the orchestra includes four saxes and a guitar.

Another interesting formation was in the Summer Souvenir of 1958, which had single woodwind, accordion, harp and strings, but
no brass. Few works were for strings alone but one may point to a Frolic for strings and the Berceuse of 1951 for harp and for
strings. His one concerted piece I know of, apart from the clarinet movement from the Salon Suite just mentioned, is Saltarello
for piano and orchestra published in 1952. Curzon appears to have been drawn frequently to the exotic rhythms of Spain and of
Hungary. One thinks of the Spanish caprice, Capriciati (yet another score with a trio of saxophones). The pasodobles Bravaha and
Sacramento, the Spanish serenade La Peinta (1954), later arranged for mixed chorus and orchestra by Ernest Tomlinson, the
czardas La Gitana and the Gipsy caprice, Zingaresca. I have memories of gentler pieces too, such as Valse Joyeuse, the valse
caprice, Water Nymph,   the Rustic Scherzo, Over the Hills and Far Away,   March of the Jesters, the serenade intermezzo
Norina and The Capricious Ballerina. Several of these date from the 1950s when Curzon was in his prime. As many of the following
titles show, he aimed at being witty as well as merely charming in his output and his success in this earned him a particular niche
in British light music. Let us not forget him.
I like to sincerely thank George Pollen for writting and donating the above bio.
Last Updated on 2017
By Steven Ritchie

And now for the Music

Thanks to George Pollen for the music below. Link to his Website on my Bookmark Page
(2377)"Dance of the Ostracized Imp". Sequenced by George Pollen

(2376)"The Boulevardier". Sequenced by George Pollen

(2367)"Galavant". Sequenced by George Pollen

(2253)"In Sherwood (from The Robin Hood Suite)". Sequenced by George Pollen

(2267)"Maid Marion (from The Robin Hood Suite)". Sequenced by George Pollen
(2258)"March of the bowmen (from The Robin Hood Suite)". Sequenced by George Pollen

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