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Light music can be deceptively simple. The focus is on strong melody and mood, but underneath, composers鈥� use of harmony and orchestration could be complex and extremely innovative. Short, characterful orchestral pieces were perfect for home listening, with character and atmosphere and elegantly, subtly scored. In this feature, singer Catherine Bott celebrates the centenary of the birth of Lancastrian composer Ernest Tomlinson, one of the country鈥檚 leading light music composers, whose story played a vital role in the growth - and survival - of British light music.

Light music, with its emphasis on melody and charm, has been around since Mozart, Haydn and Schubert supplied enchanting serenades and divertimenti to entertain their aristocratic patrons. Tchaikovsky鈥檚 piano miniatures The Seasons were published in a magazine, aimed at the domestic market in the days when many households had a piano. Then came the thrilling novelty of gramophone records and a new age of listening to music whenever you felt like it.

Back in 1924, a golden age of light music was dawning thanks to the arrival of 麻豆社 Radio, with its Reithian mission to 鈥榠nform, educate and entertain鈥� and the creation of some fine ensembles to play this repertoire on the wireless. Light music had an important job to do in broadcasting, from filling dedicated programmes and the 麻豆社鈥檚 own Light Music festivals to catchy radio themes with an abundance of staff orchestras on hand.

Not just about 鈥渞elaxing sounds鈥� this seductive repertoire transported us to A Sleepy Lagoon, inviting us to a Portuguese Party, showing us a Portrait of a Flirt 鈥� its music engineered to cheer us up as we listen, work and order the day. Its heyday lasted until the rock-pop explosion of the early 1960s, when popular music moved away from small orchestras to four-piece vocal groups like the Beatles and a new generation of singer-songwriters. Light music composers like Ernest Tomlinson and Peter Hope moved from foreground to background - writing music for the new medium of television, or arranging for British films.

Even at its peak in the mid 1950s, light music wasn鈥檛 universally loved. After the end of the Second World War there were other strains in orchestral music 鈥� composers like Stockhausen and Boulez - that disavowed melody, tonality and traditional harmony to push music ideologically into a new age. Light music, with its insistence on good tunes, was looked down upon as hopelessly nostalgic, superficial and irrelevant. But it was adored by millions of listeners. As we鈥檒l hear, the genre is being re-energised today by new generations of conductors and musicians.

Marking the centenary of composer Ernest Tomlinson鈥檚 birth (whose 鈥楲ittle Serenade鈥�, written for the 麻豆社 in 1955, is one of the treasures of British light music) and exploring the sound-world of pioneering light composers Eric Coates (the father of 20th century British light music), Robert Farnon, Ronald Binge, Peter Hope and others, Catherine takes a look at what light music means today and its deep legacy for radio, television and library music as well as its re-emergence on digital platforms like TikTok.

Contributors include light music composer and arranger Peter Hope, conductor John Wilson, Ernest Tomlinson鈥檚 daughter and trustee of the Light Music Society Hilary Ashton, modern-day light music composer Thomas Hewitt-Jones, conductor Helen Harrison, virtuoso organist and organist in residence at London's Musical Museum Richard Hills, Trunk Records founder and library music expert Jonny Trunk, music critic and writer Paul Morley and director of The Rossendale Male Voice Choir, Matthew Thomas.

Presented by Catherine Bott

Produced by Simon Hollis

A Brook Lapping production for 麻豆社 Radio 3

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