LEGENDS OF
LIGHT MUSIC
Sidney Torch
Sidney Torch, MBE,
distinguished himself in two
musical spheres. In his early
years he gained a reputation as a
brilliant cinema organist, but in
the second half of his career he
switched to composing and
conducting Light Music, with even
greater success.
He was born Sidney
Torchinsky of Ukranian parents,
at 27 Tottenham Court Road in
London’s West End in 1908.
His father, an orchestral
trombonist, decided to anglicise
the family name, and it was he
who introduced his son to the
rudiments of music. Young Sidney
studied piano at the Blackheath
Conservatoire, where he soon
displayed evidence of an
unusually retentive memory. As he
entered an examination room he
discovered, to his horror, that
he had left behind at his home in
Maida Vale all the compulsory
music. He had no alternative but
to play from memory, and passed
the exam with distinction. He
shared the same professor for
piano tuition as Gerald Bright,
later to achieve fame in Britain
as the band-leader Geraldo.
Clearly Torch must
have been a talented pianist,
because his first professional
engagement was as accompanist to
the celebrated violinist Albert
Sandler. He then moved into
several cinema orchestras playing
for silent films, starting at
Stratford Broadway in East
London, but the arrival of the
talkies forced him to consider a
musical change of direction. Full
orchestras were no longer needed
in cinemas, and even such
prestigious ensembles such as
Emanuel Starkey's orchestra at
the Regal, Marble Arch, (in which
Torch also played piano) had to
go. But every picture palace of
note decided to install an organ
and the Regal was no exception; a
Christie was built in 1928 by the
famous London firm of Hill,
Norman and Beard. At the time it
was the largest theatre organ
outside the United States.
Torch became
assistant organist to Quentin
Maclean at the Regal, Marble
Arch, taking over this famous
Christie Organ (following a short
residency by Reginald Foort) full
time from 1932 to 1934. His
signature tune became,
appropriately, the popular song
"I've Got To Sing a Torch
Song" (from the Hollywood
film "Gold Diggers of
1933") to which he added his
own special lyrics. From Marble
Arch Torch moved on to the Regal,
Edmonton, leaving in 1936 to join
Union Cinemas, opening many new
organs and recording at their
flagship theatre, the Regal
Kingston. In 1937 he opened the
magnificent Wurlitzer Organ at
the Gaumont State, Kilburn, which
was then the largest cinema organ
in England.
Torch was a real
'star' of the cinema organ in
those pre-World War II days.
Through his many personal
appearances, broadcasts and
commercial recordings he had
reached the very top of his
profession. In 1940 he was called
into the Royal Air Force, and
initially was stationed near
Blackpool, where he continued to
record at the Opera House. He
first trained as an air gunner in
the RAF, but was subsequently
commissioned and attained the
rank of Squadron Leader. He
became conductor of the RAF
Concert Orchestra, which gave him
the opportunity to study more
closely the intricacies of
orchestral scoring. This
experience was to stand him in
good stead when he returned to
civilian life after the war.
Torch realised
that the days of the cinema organ
as he knew it were numbered, so
he turned to light orchestral
composing, arranging and
conducting, where he quickly
established himself through his
radio broadcasts and commercial
recordings. He wrote the catchy
signature-tune for the famous BBC
Radio series "Much Binding
In The Marsh", and also
discovered that his composing
talents were ideally suited to
the requirements of the
production music (mood music)
publishers, that were rapidly
establishing libraries in London.
Chappells had already started
recording light music for the use
of radio, film, newsreel and
eventually television companies
as far back as 1942, drawing
mainly upon the talents of
Charles Williams, who conducted
the Queen's Hall Light Orchestra
on those 78s. From 1946 onwards
Sidney Torch contributed many
different works to the Chappell
catalogue, both under his own
name and also as Denis Rycoth (an
anagram). He also conducted the
Queen's Hall Light Orchestra on
these special recordings, working
alongside Williams, Robert
Farnon, Peter Yorke, Wally Stott,
Clive Richardson and many other
luminaries of light music in the
post-war years. Francis, Day
& Hunter employed Torch to
conduct their New Century
Orchestra when their library was
founded in 1947, and he remained
with them for two years until a
Musicians' Union ban halted all
such work in Britain.
In 1946 the Daily
Mail organised a 'British Film
Festival' with well-known actors
recreating on stage scenes from
some notable British films of the
war years in which they had
appeared, accompanied by Torch
conducting a large symphony
orchestra plus some of his own
linking music. Although the BBC
originated most of the material
it broadcast on the radio in
those days, London musicians were
also employed by transcription
services (LangWorth, Muzak etc.)
and overseas broadcasting
organisations such as Radio
Luxembourg and IBC. Torch was
closely associated with the Harry
Alan Towers radio production
company which supplied programmes
to Radio Luxembourg and,
occasionally, even to the BBC.
In 1953 the BBC
decided that it needed a new
programme whose brief was:
"to help people relax after
the week's hard work and put them
in the right mood for a happy
weekend". With Sidney
Torch's full participation, the
formula for "Friday Night Is
Music Night" was devised -
with such foresight that the
programme survives to this very
day. The BBC Concert Orchestra
had been formed the previous
year, and Torch conducted them
for almost twenty years in this
series, until his retirement in
1972.
During this period
Torch became one of the most
popular and respected conductors
in Britain. His countless
broadcasts included many
celebrity concerts, often at
London's Royal Festival Hall as
part of the BBC's regular Light
Music Festivals. He had a
reputation as something of a
martinet, according to the
musicians and singers who
performed under his baton. One
described the crackle that
emanated from his starched
shirt-cuffs on some of his
rapier-like downbeats. Singers
dreaded 'the glare of the Torch'
if they failed to please the
maestro. But he was also
remembered for various acts of
kindness, seldom made public, but
nevertheless appreciated by some
of his musicians who needed
temporary financial assistance.
He demanded smartness in dress
from his musicians, and always
had in reserve an extra pair of
gloves or black socks in case of
need. His music was also often
entertaining to watch as well as
hear: his London Transport Suite
and Duel/or Drummers are ideal
examples requiring, as they do,
such athletic participation from
the percussion section.
Following his retirement Sidney
Torch seemed to lose interest in
his previous musical activities.
He rarely wanted to talk about
his pre-war stardom as a cinema
organist, and similarly dismissed
most attempts to get him to
recall his great moments in light
music. In a rare radio interview
in 1983 he admitted that he had
been cruel to most of his
producers, although he felt that
most of them probably benefited
from the experience. He was
appointed MBE in 1985.
He died at his
Eastbourne, Sussex home on 16th
July 1990 at the age of 82,
having been pre-deceased by his
wife Elizabeth Tyson (a former
BBC producer) six months earlier.
Sidney Torch's music is still
remembered by the many admirers
of the cinema organ and light
music. "Friday Night Is
Music Night" is still
regarded by many as 'his'
programme, and his own
compositions and arrangements are
still regularly performed by
'his' BBC Concert Orchestra. Few
musicians could have a better
memorial to their talents.
David Ades
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