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.

Robert Docker (5 June 1918 – 9 May 1992) was an English composer, of light music compositions.

The son of a Paddington gas worker, Robert Docker was educated at North Paddington Central School, and with the aid of a London County Council Scholarship was able to study viola, piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music. During World War II, he was a sergeant in the King's Royal Rifle Corps stationed in Northumberland. He was later married to the viola player Meryl Unsworth and in later life resided in Suffolk. He was particularly noted for his orchestral arrangements. His first was broadcast in 1936 and his arrangements of popular tunes were regularly heard on BBC radio programmes such as Friday Night is Music Night (where for many years he orchestrated music for Sidney Torch) and Melodies For You. He was widely associated with the BBC Concert Orchestra and in 1990, the BBC broadcast two one-hour programmes entitled The Musical World of Robert Docker. WIKIPEDIA VIDEO: Forgotten Brass: Cornet Cascade - Robert Docker Forgotten Brass: Cornet Cascade - Robert Docker / Massed Bands conducted by Geoffrey Brand. Massed Bands: Black Dyke Mills Band, the Fairey Band, G.U.S (Footwear), Yorkshire Imperial Metals Band. This was a first performance, and also the composer's first original work for brass band. Designed as a cornet trio, this performance features no less than twelve players. Recorded at the Royal Albert Hall, London, 1972.