Ronald Binge is a British composer and arranger of light music which includes notably the Elizabethan Serenade and Sailing By. The composer was interested in the technical aspects of composition and was best known as the inventor of the « cascading strings » effect which is the signature sound of the Mantovani Orchestra, widely used in their arrangements of popular music. He arranged several of Mantovani's most famous pieces before composing his own music. Binge may be accused of creating a mythological and possibly stereotyped description of the Scottish landscape and people. However this ought to be no more a problem than Edward German’s Welsh Rhapsody is to the Welsh, Stanford’s Irish Rhapsodies are to the Irish or Greensleeves is to the English. The compositional history suggests that Binge raided his memory for appropriate Scottish tunes and when he could not find one to suit he invented something which is more Scottish than the real thing! Tunes that the listener will ‘ken’ include « Kelvin Grove » and « Fairy Dance Reel » then « Where has my hi'lan' laddie gone ». His melodies of which « A Scottish Rhapsody » were originally written for Mantovani who included it in many concert pefromances in Europe and America. Popular music is the learned music that is missing from our desire. *Lucien*
Thanks for that. Quite illuminating. I was wondering why I'd never heard of this piece before ( I'm Scottish so I'm slightly embarrassed). Some of the melodies were familiar but I was also wondering if he'd included some of his own because others were completely unfamiliar to me. You reminded me of Binge's association with Mantovani as arranger and sometime composer. I have vague memories of watching and listening to Mantovani in the early 1970s on BBC 2. It was decades later I wondered how the orchestra achieved that " cascading" string sound - I'd always assumed it had more to do with the producer until hearing them " live " in a TV studio.
Well now. I'm Scottish and have been listening to " classical" music for 50 + years. Not only is this my first time hearing this but I'd never even heard of it before ( tho the composer's name was familiar). Thank you and vielan dank!
The roots of my Scottish listening are The Edinburgh Tim Wright Band,John Robertson's SCDP and not in the least The BBC Scottish Variety Orchestra( leader Dennis MacConnel,conductor Jack Leon) and the boom of the Scottish Dance Bands,led by Sir Jimmy Shand.
