The Syncopated Clock

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"The Syncopated Clock", an extremely familiar piece of American "light" classical music, has become a staple of the so-called "pops" repertoire.

Contents

[edit] The Composer

Leroy Anderson wrote "The Syncopated Clock" in 1945[1] while serving in the U.S. Army and assigned as Chief of the Scandinavian Desk of Military Intelligence at the Pentagon. Anderson had been invited by Arthur Fiedler to guest conduct the Boston Pops on their annual Harvard Night. Anderson wanted to bring a new work to Fiedler and set out to write a piece about a clock with a syncopated rhythm. The idea of the title came to him before he wrote the music. In a few spare hours he wrote the music, scored it for orchestra and then mailed it to Symphony Hall in Boston. Fiedler had the orchestra parts copied from the score. Then on a 3-day pass, Anderson traveled from his home in Arlington, Virginia to Boston where he conducted the premiere on May 28, 1945. Anderson recorded the work for Decca Records in 1950 with the best musicians selected from various New York orchestras. This was true for all of his recordings for Decca titled as "Leroy Anderson and his Orchestra." Anderson's "orchestra" was an assemblage of musicians hired by Decca just for Anderson's recordings.[2] Speed, Burgess; Eleanor Anderson, Steve Metcalf (September 2004). Leroy Anderson: A Bio-Bibliography. Praeger. ISBN 0-313-32176-0.  The album, number catalog number 16005, entered the charts on March 23, 1951 and spent 14 weeks, reaching number twelve[3], while a version credited to the Boston Pops itself (released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 10-3044) entered on June 1, 1951, spent 2 weeks on the charts, and hit number 28[3].

When "The Syncopated Clock" was recorded in 1950, it caught the ear of the producers of a new WCBS-TV program called the "Late Show," a nightly showcase of vintage movies that was to be the station's first venture into late night television. The piece was chosen as the theme music for the "Late Show" and it helped vault Anderson's music into wide exposure. The "Syncopated Clock" was used on the show for the next 25 years, and became a piece that most Americans could readily hum or whistle, even if few would have known the name of its composer.".[4]

[edit] The Movie Theme

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Listeners are probably most familiar with the version recorded by Percy Faith in 1951 (released by Columbia Records as catalog number 39328, with the flip side “On Top of Old Smokey”[5]). It is this version that CBS (for whose Columbia Records label Faith recorded) chose to introduce The Late Show -- the late night movie -- on some of its owned-and-operated stations, most notably WCBS-TV in New York City ([1]), and WBBM-TV in Chicago. The Faith recording introduced the movie show for 25 years, as well as introducing the daytime movie show, The Early Show, for its entire life of about a decade.[citation needed]

The piece is also the tune of the Woodsy Owl theme song, Help Woodsy Spread the Word. .[citation needed] It also appeared in "Yours, Very Deadly," the October 28, 1986 episode of the ABC detective spoof, Moonlighting.[citation needed]

[edit] The Structure

The arrangement calls for temple blocks to be used as the sound of the clock which is heard throughout the number. The piece is in 4/4 time; the opening establishes a perfectly regular "tick-tock" accompaniment, beginning with a roll off the orchestra's staccato strike of an A chord, creating an expectation that it will continue. In the sixth measure, there is an eighth-note rest on the second beat, and two syncopated "ticks" are heard before the "clock" returns to its normal rhythm. As the piece proceeds, the "clock" continues to indulge in brief moments of syncopation. Some are expected by the listener (as the tune repeats the passage in which the first syncopation occurred); others are not, creating a whimsical and comic effect. The song's basic arrangement and lighthearted tone makes it a favourite for school bands.

[edit] The Lyrics

In 1951, Mitchell Parish added rarely-heard lyrics, in part:

There was a man like you and me
 as simple as a man could ever be
 and he was happy as a king
 except for one peculiar thing

He had a clock that worked all right,
It worked all right, but not exactly quite;
Instead of going "tick, tock, tick",
The crazy clock went—"tock, tick, tock".

The poor old man just raved and raved, because nobody could say
Why his silly clock behaved that hickory dickory way....

[edit] Other recordings

[edit] References

  1. ^ List of Leroy Anderson's published music works
  2. ^ [Leroy Anderson: A Bio-Bibliography, Burgess Speed, Eleanor Anderson, and Steve Metcalf; (2004) Praeger]
  3. ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (1973). Top Pop Records 1940-1955. Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin: Record Research. 
  4. ^ [Leroy Anderson: A Bio-Bibliography, Burgess Speed, Eleanor Anderson, and Steve Metcalf; (2004) Praeger]
  5. ^ a b Columbia Records in the 39000 to 39499 series
  6. ^ National Records in the 3001 to 25000 series
  7. ^ Capitol Records in the 500 to 999 series
  8. ^ Capitol Records in the 1500 to 1999 series
  9. ^ a b RCA Victor Records in the 20-4000 to 20-4499 series
  10. ^ MGM Records in the 30000 to 30499 series
  11. ^ Decca Records in the 27500 to 27999 series