Colin Wark
Colin Wark | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1896 London, England |
| Died | 1939 (aged 42–43) United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Film composer |
Colin Wark (1896 – 1939) was a British composer of film scores, theatre music and light music, born in Ealing, West London and educated at Berkhamsted School.[1][2] Many of the films he scored were "quota quickies", mostly low-cost, low-quality, quickly-accomplished films commissioned by American distributors active in the UK or by British cinema owners purely to satisfy the quota requirements.[3]
Wark was also the composer of the score for Tulip Time, a comedy with music based on the play The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown by Robert Buchanan (1841-1901) and Charles Marlowe.[4] Tulip Time opened at the Alhambra Theatre in London on August 14, 1935 and ran for 425 performances.[5]
In 1932 he was responsible for launching and managing Pasquale Troise and his Mandoliers, an orchestra of about 16 mandolin, accordion, guitar and tuned percussion players that made a series of BBC broadcasts between 1932 and 1933, and which went on to be the most frequently used band on the long-running BBC series Music While You Work (1940-1967).[6]
Wark's light music compositions include the novelty intermezzo Animal Antics,[7] Bouncing Ball (xylophone or piccolo solo), and Chrysanthemums for orchestra and piano. The Wedding of the Three Blind Mice, song/foxtrot, composed with Walter Williams and Bruce Sievier, was published in 1931. Philip L Scowcroft has suggested that Wark used the pseudonym Michele Lesley for some compositions, such as Waltz Serene.[8]
Wark worked for 12 years as musical advisor to the publishers Ricordi. He was married to actress Violet Kearney (1907-1985) who appeared as a dancer in the 1934 film Say It with Flowers, scored by Wark. There was one child, a son.[2] Wark died in 1939 in Hendon, Middlesex.[9]
Selected filmography[edit]
- Creeping Shadows (1931)
- Reunion (1932)
- Eyes of Fate (1933)
- The First Mrs. Fraser (1932)
- The Golden Cage (1933)
- Side Streets (1933)
- Song of the Plough (1933)
- The Wishbone (1933)
- Doss House (1933)
- Colonel Blood (1934)
- Say It with Flowers (1934)
- Lest We Forget (1934)
- Menace (1934)
- White Ensign (1934)
- Bypass to Happiness (1934)
- Old Roses (1935)
- Rolling Home (1935)
- Irish and Proud of It (1936)
- The Crimes of Stephen Hawke (1936)
- Dreams Come True (1936)
- The Big Noise (1936)
- Rhythm in the Air (1936)
- Wedding Group (1936)
- Catch as Catch Can (1937)
- Concerning Mr. Martin (1937)
- The Mill on the Floss (1937)
- The Black Tulip (1937)
- Wanted! (1937)
- Who Goes Next? (1938)
- Garden of the Sea (1942) (travelogue: Scilly Isles)
References[edit]
- ^ "Colin Wark". Bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
- ^ a b Who's who in Music and Musicians' International Directory (1937)
- ^ Low, Rachael. History of the British Film: Filmmaking in 1930s Britain. George Allen & Unwin, 1985. ISBN 9780047910425
- ^ The Literary Encyclopedia
- ^ Tulip Time entry, Guide to Musical Theatre
- ^ Radio Times, Issue 486, 20 January 1933, p 154
- ^ Recorded on Animal Antics, Guild Music CD 5143 (2008)
- ^ Scowcroft, Philip. 'A 349th Garland of British Light Music Composers' (2003)
- ^ 'Colin Wark', biography, IMDb
External links[edit]
- Colin Wark at IMDb
- Animal Antics, played by the London Palladium Orchestra
- Tulip Time entry, Robert Williams Buchanan website
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