Monday, February 28, 2011
Hour of Charm
A new OTR arrival at Archive.org is the 'Hour of Charm', an obscure 1945 program presented mainly for the overseas soldiers via AFRS.
According to this source the program ran from 1934 to 1946 under various names including The Electric Hour; and the musical ensemble, unnamed in these clips, is Phil Spitalny's all-girl orchestra. Spitalny's group featured many of the musicians heard earlier in the Ingenues (aka Coquettes, aka Faydetts), which explains why I love these segments so much.
Unbelievably splendid mix of classical and pop arrangements, performed by some of the best voices I've ever heard. Lots of Victor Herbert songs, and the original arrangements of pop songs have a Herbert flavor.
The recordings are somewhat scratchy; usually I don't mind, but in this case it does interfere with the pure beauty of the music.
= = = = =
Several of these 1945 episodes begin with a perfect little national hymn. I've clipped out and enhanced the best version, but the audio is still unsatisfactory.
Listen.
The words:
Father, come we now on bended knee,
Thankful for the blessings of the free,
May we always true and faithful be,
To the altar of our liberty.
This lovely hymn seems to have disappeared, which leads me to think it was an original verse set to a classical tune. I don't recall hearing or singing it in the usual church hymnals; the tune is unfamiliar but heavenly; none of the lines show up in online searches. Nearest approach is a vaguely similar fraternity/sorority song which was set to Gaudeamus Igitur. [The word 'come' in the first line may not be a correct transcription, but I can't think of a more likely substitute.] ¶ 3:59 AM
A new OTR arrival at Archive.org is the 'Hour of Charm', an obscure 1945 program presented mainly for the overseas soldiers via AFRS.
According to this source the program ran from 1934 to 1946 under various names including The Electric Hour; and the musical ensemble, unnamed in these clips, is Phil Spitalny's all-girl orchestra. Spitalny's group featured many of the musicians heard earlier in the Ingenues (aka Coquettes, aka Faydetts), which explains why I love these segments so much.
Unbelievably splendid mix of classical and pop arrangements, performed by some of the best voices I've ever heard. Lots of Victor Herbert songs, and the original arrangements of pop songs have a Herbert flavor.
The recordings are somewhat scratchy; usually I don't mind, but in this case it does interfere with the pure beauty of the music.
= = = = =
Several of these 1945 episodes begin with a perfect little national hymn. I've clipped out and enhanced the best version, but the audio is still unsatisfactory.
Listen.
The words:
Father, come we now on bended knee,
Thankful for the blessings of the free,
May we always true and faithful be,
To the altar of our liberty.
This lovely hymn seems to have disappeared, which leads me to think it was an original verse set to a classical tune. I don't recall hearing or singing it in the usual church hymnals; the tune is unfamiliar but heavenly; none of the lines show up in online searches. Nearest approach is a vaguely similar fraternity/sorority song which was set to Gaudeamus Igitur. [The word 'come' in the first line may not be a correct transcription, but I can't think of a more likely substitute.] ¶ 3:59 AM
