Cedric King Palmer (13 February 1913 – 13 July 1999) was an English composer, conductor, author and teacher, best known for his popular educational books on music and as a prolific composer of orchestral
library music
Production music (also known as stock music or library music) is recorded music that can be licensed to customers for use in film, television, radio and other media. Often, the music is produced and owned by production music libraries.
Backgrou ...
.
Biography
Born in Eastbourne, East Sussex, the son of an architect, Cedric King Palmer was educated at
Tonbridge School
Tonbridge School is a public school (English fee-charging boarding and day school for boys aged 13–18) in Tonbridge, Kent, England, founded in 1553 by Sir Andrew Judde (sometimes spelt Judd). It is a member of the Eton Group and has clo ...
and studied conducting and composition at the
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...
. His teachers there included
Ernest Read
Ernest Read CBE (22 February 1879 – 9 October 1965) was an English conductor, organist, and music educator. He had a profound impact on the development of music education within England during the first half of the 20th century, and publishe ...
and
Benjamin Dale
Benjamin James Dale (17 July 188530 July 1943) was an English composer and academic who had a long association with the Royal Academy of Music. Dale showed compositional talent from an early age and went on to write a small but notable corpus of ...
(conducting) and
William Alwyn
William Alwyn (born William Alwyn Smith; 7 November 1905 – 11 September 1985), was a prolific English composer, Conducting, conductor, and music teacher who composed over 200 cinematic scores, of which some 70 were for full-length features, ...
and
Norman Demuth
Norman Demuth (15 July 1898 – 21 April 1968) was an English composer and musicologist, remembered largely for his biographies of French composers.
Biography
Early life
Demuth was born in Croydon, Surrey, at 91 St James' Road. On leaving Repto ...
(composition). While still a student conductor, Palmer was asked in 1932 to conduct at the
Queen's Hall
The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...
by
Sir Henry Wood
Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hundr ...
.
After graduating in 1933 he began taking in students for singing lessons and offering correspondence courses in music theory. He also took on the role of conductor at the Sevenoaks Musical Society, which performed
Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
's cantata ''King Olaf'' in 1934 under his baton.
By 1937, Palmer had written his first stage show, ''Gay Romance'' (book and lyrics by Cossar Turfery) from which one song, "The Man For Me" gained a measure of separate popularity.
He also wrote ''With Pomp and Pride'', a march to celebrate
the coronation of King George VI in 1937. The outbreak of war disrupted his theatre music career, but he did conduct a revival of ''
The Desert Song
''The Desert Song'' is an operetta with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. It was inspired by the 1925 uprising of the Riffs, a group of Berber fighters, against French colonia ...
'' in January 1943 at the
Prince of Wales Theatre
The Prince of Wales Theatre is a West End theatre in Coventry Street, near Leicester Square in London. It was established in 1884 and rebuilt in 1937, and extensively refurbished in 2004 by Sir Cameron Mackintosh, its current owner. The theatre ...
in London, and later a revival of
Victor Herbert
Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and co ...
's operetta ''
Naughty Marietta'' in which his future wife, Winifred Henry, was singing. They married in 1947.
Meanwhile, in 1944 Palmer had published ''Teach Yourself Music'', part of the extensive English University Press
Teach Yourself
Teach Yourself is currently an imprint of Hodder Education and formerly a series published by the English Universities Press (a subsidiary company of Hodder & Stoughton) that specializes in self-instruction books. The series, which began in 1938, ...
series in their distinctive black and yellow jackets, with subjects ranging from salesmanship to jet-engines and rocket propulsion. Attempting such a broad subject in less than 200 pages was obviously a daunting task. The (anonymous) ''Musical Times'' reviewer stated that "whatever else you may teach yourself, it cannot be done with music" and expressed "a good deal of sympathy for a writer who was, as he doubtless well knew, up against it". ''Teach Yourself to Compose Music'', more narrowly focused on harmony, form and counterpoint as well as genres, followed in 1948.
''Teach Yourself to Play the Piano'' was published in 1957. The books lay out classical best practices clearly and simply, but ignore more modern developments altogether. Reviewing ''Teach Yourself Orchestration'' (1964)
Geoffrey Bush pointed out that "
Webern
Anton Webern (; 3 December 1883 – 15 September 1945) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and musicologist. His music was among the most radical of its milieu in its lyric poetry, lyrical, poetic concision and use of then novel atonality, aton ...
might never have existed". His other books included ''The Musical Production – a complete guide for amateurs'' (with Cossar Turfery, 1953), and ''The ABC of Church Music'' (with Stephen Rhys, 1967).
Conducting and Composition
From the late 1940s Palmer was building up both his conducting and composition activities. The King Palmer Light Orchestra regularly broadcast on the
BBC Home Service
The BBC Home Service was a national and regional radio station that broadcast from 1939 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 4.
History
1922–1939: Interwar period
Between the early 1920s and the outbreak of World War II, the BBC ...
and
Light Programme
The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the lo ...
between 1948 and 1956. Always a champion of amateur music making, Palmer also conducted the
City Literary Institute
City Lit is an adult education college in Holborn, central London, founded by the London County Council in 1919, which has charitable status. It offers part-time courses across four schools and five "centres of expertise", covering humanities an ...
Rehearsal Orchestra, formed in November 1949 by professional musicians working in various restaurants and theatres to play through the standard symphonic repertoire. Advanced amateurs were also recruited. Palmer also lectured on music at City Lit. His orchestral conducting provided a platform for arrangements - such as ''Galopade'' (a medley of galops and cancans), ''Foster Memories'' (selection of
Stephen Foster
Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Folk music, folk music during the Romantic music, Romantic period. He wr ...
songs), ''Suppé On Parade'' (selection of
Suppé marches), and ''Waltzing Through the Years'' (selection of waltzes, 1951) - but also for original compositions. And an engagement by the
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...
for his orchestra to play at the Ford Motor Show in 1946 (held at the
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272.
Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
) was his first introduction to the potential of commercial music. Palmer composed ''Rhythm of the Road'', with lyrics by Cossar Turfey, which Ford used as the basis for a promotional film, in which the composer can be seen conducting.
Following on from this he built up a new career in production and library music, composing over 600 mood music pieces for music library companies such as W. Paxton and Co and
KPM. Many of these pieces were short snippets composed to evoke a specific mood for radio, television and films. Many were used multiple times and have become familiar while remaining anonymous, because they are mostly used uncredited. Examples include ''Hackney Carriage'' (memorably used by
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...
in his 1995 film ''
Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as the 36th vice president under P ...
''), ''Toboggan Ride, Holiday Playtime'' and ''Jogging Along''. Occasionally, a piece would be chosen for a series theme tune and become more widely known, such as the theme for the 1962 US medical drama TV series ''
The Eleventh Hour.''
Aside from library music, Palmer wrote a series of orchestral suites and shorter light music movements, some plays with music and pantomimes for children, and the occasional work with more serious intentions – notably the ''Three Atonal Studies'' for piano. He collaborated with his wife Winifred on a new musical, ''The Snow Queen'', in 1967, with music adapted from Grieg. By the end of the 1960s Palmer had stopped composing, but usage of his library music continued to grow. It is still in use today in series such as the
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
animated series ''
The Ren and Stimpy Show
''The Ren & Stimpy Show'', commonly referred to as simply ''Ren & Stimpy'', is an American animated Comedy film, comedy television series created by John Kricfalusi for Nickelodeon. The series follows the misadventures of Ren Höek, an emotion ...
'' and ''
SpongeBob SquarePants
''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...
'', Much of the music has also been repackaged in a set of library music CDs now available to the general music buyer for the first time.
EMI Production Music
/ref>
Personal life
King Palmer married Winifred Henry in 1947 and they had one son (Roger Lindsay, b 1948) and one daughter (Jane Hetherington, b 1952). For a while the couple set up and managed an arts bookshop in Kensington, where they were living. But by 1957 they had moved to Clovelly Lodge, Popes Grove in Twickenham.
Books
* ''Your Music and You'' (1938)
* ''Teach Yourself Music'' (EUP, 1944 – four editions, the last in 1978)
* Paxton Miniature Biographies series: ''Bantock; Bach; Beethoven; Handel'' (1947-8)
* ''Teach Yourself to Compose Music'' (1948, 2nd Edition 1973)
* ''The Musical Production'' (by Cossar Turfery, King Palmer, 1953)
* ''Teach Yourself to Play the Piano'' (1957 – 2nd Edition 1982).
* ''Teach Yourself Orchestration'' (1964)
* ''The ABC of Church Music'' (by Stephen Rhys, King Palmer, 1967)
Selected works
Stage Shows: ''Romany Moon''; ''The Night is Young''; ''Gay Romance'' (1937); ''Hop o' my Thumb'' (1958); ''Two Weeks to Californiay'' (1962) (with his wife Winifred); ''Aladdin'' (1965); ''Coalblack and the Seven Giants'' (1965); ''The Snow Queen'' (1967) (music adapted from Grieg)
Orchestral: ''With Pomp and Pride'' (ceremonial march, 1937); ''March of the Astronauts'', ''Kingsway March'';''Springtime'' (intermezzi); ''Down a Country Lane'' (suite); ''Out of Doors'' (suite); ''Eight Period Pieces'' (suite); ''Studies in Motion'' (suite); ''Studies in Happiness'' (suite); ''Fairy Cobweb'' (1950); ''Pull Up Your Socks'' (1960)
Library music/genre pieces: B''lue Days at Sea, Busy Life, Country Market, Enchantment, Feather on the Breeze, Frivolity, Gala, Golden Harvest, Going Concern, Hackney Carriage, Jogging Along, Paddle Steamer, Paul Pry, Procession, Softly She Sleeps, Spindlelegs, Stormy Passage, Tomorrow the World''
Film and television music: ''Dark Eyes of London'' (1939), ''Rhythm of the Road'' (1946); ''The Eleventh Hour'' (1962); ''Cockney Kids' Adventure''.
References
External links
by Tim Billamore, ''The Independent'', 26 July 1999
* Ford Motor Company,
Rhythm of the Road
', 1946
*
Into the Music Library
', BBC Radio 4 documentary, Falling Tree Productions
* The Twickenham Museum
Cedric King Palmer
*
Hackney Carriage
', APM Music Library (on ''Music for TV Dinners'', Scamp Records, 1997)
*
Going Concern
', Grosvenor Studio Orchestra, 1958 (from ''The Golden Age of Light Music'', Guild GLCD 5169)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Palmer, King
1913 births
1999 deaths
English composers
English male conductors (music)
20th-century English conductors (music)
20th-century English male musicians
Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music