the music

Before Late Romantic orchestral trends of length and scope separated the trajectory of lighter orchestral works from the Western Classical canon, classical composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Joseph Haydn won as much fame for writing lighter pieces such as Eine Kleine Nachtmusik as for their symphonies and operas. Later examples of early European light music include the operettas of composers such as Franz von Suppé or Sir Arthur Sullivan; the Continental salon and parlour music genres; and the waltzes and marches of Johann Strauss II and his family. The Straussian waltz became a common light music composition (note for example Charles Ancliffe's "Nights of Gladness" or Felix Godin's "Valse Septembre"). These influenced the foundation of a "lighter" tradition of classical music in the 19th and early 20th centuries...from the likes of Binge and Coates to Farnon.

Montague Ewing, aka Sherman Myers

Montague Ewing ( 21 May 1890 - 4 March 1957, died in London) Ewing was a British composer and arranger of light music, much which was used in films and broadcasting. Montague Ewing (who used several pen names) was a productive songwriter whose works include a great many film tunes published by Sam Fox: "The Motley Fool," "Stealthy Whispers," "The Village Idiot," among many others. He also wrote many Spanish songs. One of his most popular hits was Moonlight on the Ganges published under the pen name Sherman Myers in 1926 with lyrics written by Henry Tilsley...
Hear more about his life and music in the Concert Cameo audio below...

VIDEO: Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra - Moonlight On The Ganges (Ch. Wallace / S.Meyers) , Victor 1926