Ray Martin (orchestra leader)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ray Martin' was a British orchestra leader. He was noted for his Light Music Compositions. He was born in Vienna, Austria on 11 October 1918 and Died in South Africa on 7 February 1988.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Raymond Stuart (Ray) Martin was initially a violinist. He went to the State Academy of Music and Fine Art in Vienna. In 1937, he immigrated to England and was a Carroll Levis Discovery. After the start of World War II, in 1940, he joined the British Army. As he was multilingual, he served in the Intelligence Corps for six years. He became an arranger and composer for the Royal Air Force Band, After the war's end, he worked in radio for the British Forces Network in Hamburg, Germany and later form his own orchestra for a program called "Melody from the Sky" which had over 500 performances.
He became the conductor of the BBC Variety Orchestra and also worked for EMI as a producer and arranger. In this period he wrote many scores for TV and movies. He moved to the USA in 1957, where he worked on both Broadway and Hollywood productions. Martin composed more than 2000 works, many of which were recorded for RCA and Polydor.
He returned to the UK in 1972, but was comparatively unproductive. In 1980 he moved to South Africa where he died in 1988.
[edit] Selection of His Light Music Titles
- Melody from the Sky
- Once upon a Wintertime
- Blue Violins
- Waltzing Bugle Boy
- Airborne
- Ballet of the Bells
- Tango of the Bells
- Marching Strings
- Begorrah
- Sound out of Sight
[edit] External Reference
Ray Martin [[1]]
[edit] Reference
"Oxford Companion to Popular Music" by Peter Gammond - published by Oxford University Press - ISBN 0-19-280004-3
