Archibald Joyce

Archibald Joyce (25 May 1873 – 22 March 1963), born Arthur Joyce, was an English light music composer and bandleader of the early 20th century. He is known for his popular short waltzes for dancing, such as ''Dreaming'', ''Songe d'Automne (Dream of Autumn)'' and ''Vision of Salome''. His waltzes were part of the White Star Line's orchestra repertoire, and likely played on the fatal maiden voyage of ''Titanic''.

Life

Arthur Joyce was born in London in May 1873 at 68 Winchester Street, Pimlico.Jason Tomes. 'Joyce, Archibald', in ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (2004) His father was in the Grenadier Guards as a band sergeant. He showed his musical abilities early, singing in a church choir in Paddington and learning violin and piano. His first known composition, completed at the age of 11, was a march that was performed several times by the conductor Dan Godfrey (in his pre-Bournemouth bandmaster days). He began his professional career as a pianist at London's Oxford Music Hall in the 1890sCliffe, Peter. ''Fascinating Rhythm'' (1990), p, 14-15 but soon also started playing for the ballet, most notably the company run by Katti Lanner at the Empire Theatre of Varieties in Leicester Square with Madame Genée as its leading ballerina.

Adopting the stage name of Archibald Joyce, he played on transatlantic liners, in music halls and in the theatre. In 1903 he was musical director of ''Mistress-of-the-Robes'' at the Royal Court Theatre and Opera House in Liverpool starring Ellen Terry. (He later toured with Terry, in 1909-1910). But he soon formed the Archibald Joyce Dance Orchestra, employing up to 100 players depending on the venue (which ranged from seaside pavilions to dance halls, great houses, aristocratic balls and 'coming out' dances during the London season) and its popularity quickly precluded other work. He began composing to expand the repertoire of his orchestra.

Joyce has been credited as conducting "the first modern dance band in Britain". Its fame extended to Europe and America. He recorded for the Gramophone Company HMV-label in London as early as 1912, and from the early 1920s his orchestras recorded material for the Aeolian Company's Vocalion Records label. The heyday of his band was in the pre-war and immediate post war periods, although he continued conducting and recording with his own ensembles throughout the 1920s and his music becoming a staple for dance-medley records as the gramophone industry evolved. But Joyce mostly didn't follow contemporaries such as Eric Coates, Albert Ketèlbey and Haydn Wood into the fields of light concert music for listening, or broadcasting and library music. His music remained primarily for dancing. The waltzes he composed stuck strictly to the form, with lots of repeated sections demanded by the dancers.

Although his style remained static across his entire career, Joyce kept composing into the 1940s and beyond, often for Oxford and Cambridge university balls. His last published piece was ''Recruits on Parade'', which appeared in 1951.

Joyce married Florence Mary Latter in 1919 and there was one adopted daughter, Maisie Parkinson. At the height of his fame he was living on Clapham Common in London. He moved to Bexhill-on-Sea in 1927, and then to Sutton in Surrey from 1932, at 75 Langley Park Road. He died there in 1963, at the age of 89, his life just overlapping with The Beatles.' Archibald Joyce, Orchestral Music. RTÉ Concert Orchestra/Andrew Penny, Naxos 8.555218
Review
MusicWebInternational.com. February 2023.

In the 1990s Philip Lane helped lead a revival of interest in Joyce with a radio documentary, ''The English Waltz King'', also providing new arrangements of his music for a Marco Polo recording (re-issued on Naxos in 2022).

Music

Joyce's first published piece, a two-step called ''The Moke's Parade'' (1905), did not become popular. His first waltz, ''Chanson de mon Cœur'', was published in 1907. But the first to attract any attention was the waltz ''Sweet Memories'' in 1908. That same year, his waltz ''Songe d'Automne'' (''Dream of Autumn'' in English), originally written for piano, became a best-seller. ''Vision of Salome Valse'' also written for piano, followed in 1909. His 1911 waltz ''Dreaming'' became an international success and remains his best remembered work.

Other early waltzes include ''Remembrance'', ''Boating'', ''À jamais'', and ''Vision d'Amour'' in 1909, and ''Love and Life in Holland'' and ''A Thousand Kisses'' in 1910. Joyce's early two-steps include ''I'll Dance till de Sun Breaks Thro and ''Mickey's Birthday (or An Irish Stew)'', both written in 1909.

The waltz ''Dreaming'' of 1911 was one of the first examples of the 'hesitation' waltz craze, and remained Joyce's most famous composition, selling one and a quarter million copies of the sheet music between 1911 and 1920. Many different recordings exist. Other highly successful waltzes quickly followed, including ''When the Birds Began to Sing'' in 1911, ''Charming'' and ''Passing of Salome'' in 1912, ''Always Gay'' and ''Maiden's Blush'' in 1913, ''Entrancing'' in 1914, and ''Love's Mystery'' in 1915. Salome was a common topic of Joyce's work, and he wrote four waltzes on the subject; ''Vision of Salome'' in 1909, ''Passing of Salome'' in 1912, ''Reincarnation'' (subtitled ''Salome'') in 1919, and ''Phantom of Salome'' in 1945.

His marches include ''The Palace Guard'', ''Royal Standard'', ''American March'', ''Hiking to Brighton'', ''Ceremonial March Britannica,'' ''Wedding Bells'' and ''Prince of Wales''. The three-movement suite of oriental miniatures, ''Caravan,'' was composed in 1926. Songs by Joyce include ''I’m Skipper of a Submarine'', ''God’s Greatest Gift'', ''The Rogue of the Road'', ''Awake'', ''The Morning Light'', ''Dreams of Bohemia'', ''Friends Dear to Me'' and ''The Modern Girl''.

In 1916 Joyce co-wrote the musical ''Toto'' with Merlin Morgan (musical director of Daly's Theatre in London). After a try-out in Plymouth it opened at London's Duke of York's Theatre on 19 April. Despite good initial reviews it did not take off and was withdrawn after only 77 performances. A second foray into musical theatre came in 1921 with ''Gabrielle'', co-written with George H. Clutsam, which successfully toured the provinces.

Although his style remained static across his entire career, Joyce kept composing into the 1940s and beyond, often for Oxford and Cambridge university balls. In 1942, he wrote the waltz ''Bohemia''. ''Song of the River'' came out in 1946 and was broadcast by the BBC. His last published piece was ''Recruits on Parade'', which appeared in 1951.

Inspiration and influence

Although billed by his publishers (Ascherberg, Hopwood & Crew) as "The English Waltz King", the implied comparison with Johann Strauss II is not valid, according to Jason Tomes. Instead Joyce was more directly inspired by Franz Lehár and Leo Fall, particularly by the waltz duet from the second act of Lehár's ''The Merry Widow'', which opened at Daly's Theatre in London on 8 June 1907 and was extraordinarily popular, running for 778 performances. Other contemporary examples of the English light waltz include ''Destiny'' by Sydney Baynes and ''Nights of Gladness'' by Charles Ancliffe, both 1912.

His music was taken up by other dance orchestras (Alfredo Campoli, Debroy Somers and others) and by amateur pianists. It also became familiar worldwide through its inclusion in musical revues and films. ''Dreaming'' was given lyrics by Earl Carroll and introduced in the US by Miss Kitty Gordon in Oliver Morosco's comedy with music, ''Pretty Mrs Smith'' (1913). In the US a conventional method of gaining public exposure for a song was to arrange to have it included in a revue: in this way ''Vision of Salome'' (1909) was included in Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.'s ''Follies of 1910''. ''Songe d'Automne'' and ''A Thousand Kisses'' were incorporated into Charlie Chaplin's latter-day soundtrack added to his ''The Gold Rush'' in 1925. In 1948 film composer Benjamin Frankel included ''Dreaming'' as part of his score for ''Trottie True'', evoking the Edwardian period in which the film is set.

Joyce disliked jazz, avoiding the syncopation and saxophones favoured by the younger generation of dance hall composers. His ensemble was among the first generation of Big_band#Dance_music, dance orchestras, soon to lose ground to brass and saxophone-dominated bands.

RMS ''Titanic''

It is likely that passengers heard Joyce's compositions played during their time aboard RMS Titanic, RMS ''Titanic'' in April 1912. In fact, the White Star Line Repertoire book (which the orchestra members were required to memorize) contained several works by Joyce: ''Passing of Salome'', ''A Thousand Kisses'', ''Dreaming'', ''Sweet Memories'', ''Boating'', ''Vision d'Amour'', ''Love and Life in Holland'', ''Vision of Salome'', ''Songe d'Automne'', and ''Remembrance.'' Junior Wireless operator, Wireless Operator Harold Bride claimed the orchestra aboard ''Titanic'' played 'Autumn' as it sank. This has led to speculation that Bride was referring to ''Songe d'Automne'', which was part of the orchestra's repertoire.

A theory has arisen that the last song played was indeed ''Songe d'Automne'', and that the survivors misinterpreted it as ''Nearer, My God, to Thee, Nearer, my God, to Thee''. This is because both songs begin with the same three notes.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, Archibald
1873 births
1963 deaths
Dance band bandleaders
English light music composers
English Romantic composers