Leroy Anderson-The King of Light Music
Generations are born predisposed to dismiss their predecessors. Maybe that’s why organized religions emphasize respect for one’s elders. They don’t want to be forgotten.
Take Lauryn Hill. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill caused a cultural quake once upon a time, but kids today… do they listen to her? Maybe. Maybe not. Time moves on, tastes shift, and the icons of one era become the trivia questions of the next.And if Lauryn Hill seems distant to today’s teens, imagine how far back someone like Leroy Anderson must feel.
The Light-Music Maestro
Anderson, born in 1908, was New England through and through. After studying at the New England Conservatory and Harvard, he began writing the light orchestral pieces that became his signature. His music caught the attention of Arthur Fiedler of the Boston Pops, who became one of his great champions.
His first big hit, “Blue Tango,” recorded in 1951, became the first instrumental ever to sell a million copies. But his most enduring works are “The Syncopated Clock” and “Sleigh Ride.” Listen to them! They’re witty, bright, full of cheer, echoes of Johann Strauss II woven into an unmistakably American sound. You can hear jazz, Gershwin, and a melodic polish equal to the great songwriters of his era.
Could Music Like This Hit Today?
It’s an interesting question. Could light orchestral music like Anderson’s capture the public imagination in 2013?
Maybe not in the way it once did. Music culture is more fragmented, attention is shorter, and the “pop universe,” as it did in the ’50s and ’60s, continues splitting and recombining into new forms.
But Anderson’s music remains instantly likable, instantly evocative. And perhaps that’s why it survives: not as pop hits, but as part of our cultural soundtrack. It resurfaces every December in “Sleigh Ride,” every time a documentary needs a clever clock motif, every time someone stumbles upon his buoyant sound and feels that spark of joy.
Generations may forget, but some melodies have a way of staying remembered.
1/30/2013
