| Ray Martin | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Kurt Kohn |
| Also known as | Marshall Ross |
| Born | October 11, 1918 |
| Origin | Vienna, Austria |
| Died | February 7, 1988 (aged 69) |
| Occupations | music director, composer, conductor, orchestra leader |
| Instruments | Violin |
| Years active | 1940s - 1980s |
Ray Martin (Raymond Stuart Martin; born 'Kurt Kohn' and later anglicised his name) (11 October 1918 - 7 February 1988[1]) was a British orchestra leader. He was noted for his light music compositions. Allmusic journalist, Bradley Torreano states "Ray Martin created a legacy for himself in British popular music through his work with his orchestra during the 1950s. His regular appearances on radio and television kept him in the public spotlight, while his position at EMI Records made him an influential producer at the label. His use of pseudonyms has blurred the path of his career through the years, making his many contributions even harder to keep track of. But his original compositions are what really made him popular; tracks like "Marching Strings" have become stables of many public and city bands and orchestras since their release".[2]
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Raymond Stuart Martin was born in Vienna, Austria,[1] and 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.[2] As he was multilingual, he served in the Intelligence Corps for six years.[2] He became an arranger and composer for the Royal Air Force Band. During this time, he also managed to rescue his brother, who was imprisoned in a concentration camp. After the war's end, he worked in radio for the British Forces Network in Hamburg, Germany, and later formed his own orchestra for a programme 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 record producer and arranger. In this period he wrote many scores for TV and movies. He moved to the U.S. 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.[2] In 1980 he moved to South Africa, where he died in Johannesburg, from cancer in 1988 at the age of 69.[1]