Leroy Anderson - Blue Tango: The Leroy Anderson Collection 1951-62 (2022)

Leroy Anderson was an American composer and conductor of light orchestral music, who wrote many pieces for the Boston Pops Orchestra before starting to record under his own name. Highly educated and multi-lingual as well as a classically-trained pianist, for many years he combined his composing with his work in military intelligence at the Pentagon and serving in the Korean War. He specialised in short pieces with unusual and specific reference points, with his most successful compositions including “The Syncopated Clock”, and “Sleigh Ride” as well as his biggest hits, the US No. 1s “Blue Tango”, The Typewriter” and “A Christmas Festival”. This great-value 49-track 2-CD collection comprises A and B sides of Decca singles by Leroy Anderson’s Pops Concert Orchestra from this era, and titles from his albums “A Leroy Anderson Pops Concert” and “The New Music Of Leroy Anderson” not otherwise released on singles. It features the US No. 1 hits “Blue Tango”, “A Christmas Festival” and “The Typewriter”, plus “Syncopated Clock” and the UK hit “Forgotten Dreams”. It includes the titles from his themed work “Irish Suite”, plus several tunes from the musical “Goldilocks” for which he wrote the music. Film composer John Williams called him “one of the great American masters of light orchestral music”, and this collection demonstrates his unique talents in this genre.