The 1930s witnessed many advances in entertainment for the masses. Films were now talking, radio was making great strides in the home, and the electrical recording that had been fully developed as the 1920s drew to a close meant that records no longer sounded ‘hissy’ and ‘tinny’ - provided that you owned a reasonable gramophone on which to play them. Light music was thriving, not only through the afore-mentioned modern miracles, but also at the seaside, in public parks and in theatres throughout the land where ensembles, large and small, were in their hey-day. The record companies reflected this wide diversity of musical choice, and the recordings in this collection offer many contrasting styles. Today’s restoration techniques are revealing just how far the art of sound recording had progressed by the 1930s.

Artists

Reginald Foort, BBC Variety Orchestra, Jack Hylton Orchestra, Alfredo Campoli Salon Orchestra, BBC Dance Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Fred Hartley's Quintet, Leslie Jeffries Orchestra, Light Symphony Orchestra, London Palladium Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Louis Levy Gaumont-British Symphony, Marek Weber Orchestra, New Light Symphony Orchestra, Paul Whiteman Concert Orchestra, West End Celebrity Orchestra, Charles Shadwell, Jack Hylton, Joseph Lewis, Alfredo Campoli, Clifford Greenwood, Eduard Künneke, Fred Hartley, Haydn Wood, Henry Hall, John Ansell, Leslie Jeffries, Louis Levy, Marek Weber, Paul Whiteman, Walter Goehr