Ronald Binge (15 July 1910 – 6 September 1979) was a British composer and arranger of

light music Light music is a less-serious form of Western classical music, which originated in the 18th and 19th centuries and continues today. Its heyday was in the mid‑20th century. The style is through-composed, usually shorter orchestral pieces and ...

. He arranged many of

Mantovani Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (; 15 November 1905 – 30 March 1980) was an Italian British conductor, composer and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book '' British Hit Singles & Albums'' ...

's most famous pieces before composing his own music, which included '' Elizabethan Serenade'' and ''

Sailing By "Sailing By" is a short piece of light music composer, composed by Ronald Binge in 1963, which is used before the late Shipping Forecast on BBC Radio 4. A slow waltz, the piece uses a repetitive ABCAB structure and a distinctive rising and fallin ...

''.Ades, David. 'Binge, Ronald', in ''Grove Music Online'' (2001)

Biography

Binge was born in a working-class neighbourhood in

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, Derbyshire, in the

English Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefordshi ...

. In his childhood he was a chorister at Saint Andrew's Church (

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

), London Road, Derby – 'the railwaymen's church' (demolished 1970). Binge was educated at the Derby School of Music, where he studied the organ. Early in his career he was a cinema organist, and later worked in summer orchestras in British seaside resorts (including

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

and

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

), for which he learned to play the

piano accordion A piano accordion is an accordion equipped with a right-hand keyboard similar to a piano or organ. Its acoustic mechanism is more that of an organ than a piano, as they are both aerophones, but the term "piano accordion"—coined by Guido Deir ...

. Binge's skill as a cinema organist was put to good use, and he played the organ in

's first band, the Tipica Orchestra. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, during which time he was much in demand organising in-camp entertainment.Carey, Mike
''Sailing By, the Ronald Binge Story''
''Goodreads.com'', (2000) After the war, Mantovani offered Binge the job of arranging and composing for his new orchestra. With Mantovani, Binge also orchestrated

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

's musicals '' Pacific 1860'' (1946) and ''

Ace of Clubs An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or a club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ...

'' (1950). In 1951, his arrangement of " Charmaine" gave him and Mantovani worldwide success and recognition. However, he tired of writing

arrangements In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing Composition (music), composition. Differences from the original composition may include Harmony (music), reharmonization, Musical phrasing, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or M ...

, and turned to composing original works and film scores. Mantovani's orchestra began playing his light orchestral pieces for radio broadcast, and in 1952 Binge devised and conducted his own BBC radio programme called String Song, playing many of his own compositions. He regularly composed for production and library music publishers, and a number of his works were used for radio and television signature tunes. Binge married Vera Simmons in 1945. During the 1950s they lived at 18, Smitham Bottom Lane in Purley, Croydon. He died in Ringwood,

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, of

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

in 1979, aged 69, survived by his wife, son and daughter.

Compositions

Binge was interested in the technicalities of composition and was most famous as the inventor of the " cascading strings" effect that is the signature sound of the Mantovani orchestra, much used in their arrangements of popular music. First heard on the hit ''Charmaine'' (1951) it was originally created to capture the essence of the echo properties of a building such as a cathedral, although it later became particularly associated with

easy-listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit ...

music. Tomlinson, Ernest. 'Ronald Binge', in ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (2004) Binge's catalogue includes hundreds of works, most of them light orchestral. His first big compositional success was the orchestral overture ''Spitfire'', composed in Blackpool while he was still on RAF service, which predated William Walton's orchestral tribute by a year.Scowcroft, Philip. L. ''British Light Music'' (1997), pp. 28–29 Best known today is probably '' Elizabethan Serenade'' (1951), which was used by the

British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...

as the theme for the popular 1950s series, "Music Tapestry", and as the play-out for the

British Forces Network The British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS) provides radio and television programmes for His Majesty's Armed Forces, and their dependents worldwide. Editorial control is independent of the Ministry of Defence and the armed forces themselv ...

radio station, and for which in 1957 he won an

Ivor Novello Award The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the Welsh entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and Musical composition, composing. They have been presented annually in London by the The Ivors Academy, Ivors Academy, formerly called the Britis ...

. It was later turned into a vocal version called "Where the Gentle Avon Flows", with lyrics by the poet Christopher Hassall. A

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

version of the tune, "Elizabethan Reggae", was performed by

Boris Gardiner Boris Gardiner (born 13 January 1943) is a Jamaican singer, songwriter and bass guitarist. He was a member of several groups during the 1960s before recording as a solo artist and having hit singles with " Elizabethan Reggae" (in 1970), " I Wan ...

in 1970. Binge is also known for ''

'' (1963), which introduces the late-night

Shipping Forecast The ''Shipping Forecast'' is a BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The for ...

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. Other well-known pieces include ''Miss Melanie'' (used as the theme for the CBS Network's radio comedy ''

The Couple Next Door ''The Couple Next Door'' is a British psychological thriller television series written by David Allison, based on the Dutch series ''Nieuwe Buren''. Developed by Eagle Eye Drama for Channel 4 and Starz, the first series stars Eleanor Tomlinson, ...

'' from 1957 to 1960), ''Like Old Times'', '' The Watermill'' (1958) for oboe and strings (used as the theme for the BBC children's series The Secret Garden), and his Concerto for Alto Saxophone in E-flat major (1956). His largest, longest, and most ambitious work is the four-movement

Symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

in C (or ''Saturday Symphony''), which was written during his retirement between 1966 and 1968, and performed in Britain and Germany. It was issued as a recording by the South German Radio Orchestra, conducted by the composer.''Saturday Symphony''
''YouTube''

Selected works

References

External links

Ronald Binge, composer website

Biography at the Robert Farnon SocietyClassical Composers Database (with photo)Biography at Chaddesden Historical Group (Derby)Obituary by George Pollen, copyist to R BingePhotogallery on Obituary to R Binge
{{DEFAULTSORT:Binge, Ronald 1910 births 1979 deaths English classical composers English light music composers 20th-century British classical composers Musicians from Derby Deaths from liver cancer in England Theatre organists 20th-century English composers English male classical composers 20th-century British organists 20th-century English male musicians Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Royal Air Force airmen Military personnel from Derby English film score composers English male film score composers