Ivor Novello - Cottagemusic

Born into a musical family, his first success was as a songwriter. His first big
hit (1914) was "Keep the Home Fires Burning", which was enormously
popular during the First World War. Novello contributed numbers to several
successful
musical
comedies
and
was
eventually
commissioned to write the score of a complete show (1917) -
Theodore & Co.
Ivor Novello
He then wrote musicals in the style of operetta, often composing his music
to the librettos of Christopher Hassall.
In the 1920s, he turned to acting, both on stage and
in films. He played the title character in the first London production
of Liliom (1926) and, in British films, in 1927 he starred in two silent
films directed by Alfred Hitchcock, The Lodger and Downhill.
Novello briefly went to Hollywood but he soon returned to Britain
where he had greater success appearing in his own lavish West
End musicals.
From the 1930s, he often performed with Zena Dare, writing parts
particularly for her in his works.
In the 1940s he continued to write for film but he had his greatest late
successes, as after the First World War, with romantic musicals.
Novello died suddenly from a coronary thrombosis at the age of 58,
a few hours after completing a performance in the run of King's
Rhapsody. Only a few weeks before his death, Coward had written of him: "The reward of his
work lies in the indisputable fact that whenever and wherever he appears the vast majority of
the British public flock to see him.” His ashes were buried beneath a lilac bush.
The Ivor Novello Awards for songwriting, established in 1955 in Novello's memory, are awarded each year by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) to
British songwriters and composers, as well as to an outstanding international music writer.
A scholarship in memory of Novello was established at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art,.
In 1952 a bronze bust of him by Clemence Dane was unveiled at Drury Lane & a panel was
installed to commemorate Novello In St. Paul's, Covent Garden (known as the actors' church).
In 1972, a memorial stone was unveiled in St. Paul's Cathedral to mark the 21st anniversary
of his death
In 2005, the Strand Theatre, above which Novello lived for many years, was renamed the
Novello Theatre. On 27 June 2009, a statue of Novello was unveiled outside the Wales
Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay.
15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951
David Ivor Davies
Welsh composer and actor
who became one of the most popular British entertainers
of the first half of the 20th century
Keep The Home Fires Burning
1.
Somewhere there’s another land, different to this world below,
Far more mercifully planned than the cruel place we know.
Innocence and peace are there, all is good that is desired,
Faces there are always fair, Love grows never old nor tired.
Ch.
We shall never find that lovely land of might-have-been,
I can never be your King, nor you can be my Queen.
Days may pass, and years may pass, and seas may lie between,
We shall never find that lovely land of might-have-been.
2.
Sometimes, on the rarest nights, comes the vision calm and clear,
Gleaming with unearthly lights on the path of doubt and fear.
Winds from that far land are blown, whispering with secret breath,
Hope, that plays her tune of love, Love, that conquers pain and death.
(Till The Boys Come Home)
Words by Lena Guilbert-Ford
Music by Ivor Novello—1914
They were summoned from the hillside, they were called-in from the Glen,
And the country found them ready at the stirring call for men.
Let no tear add to their hardship as the soldiers pass along,
And, although your heart is breaking, make it sing this cheery song ..
Keep the home fires burning, while your hearts are yearning,
Though your lads are far away, they dream of home.
There’s a silver lining through the darkness shining,
Turn the dark cloud inside out, ‘til the boys come home.
As played and sung by
Jeremy Northam (2nd left)
in Robert Altman’s film
‘Gosford Park’ where he
portrays Ivor Novello
entertaining guests at a
shooting weekend.
Over-seas there came a pleading .. “Help a nation in distress !”
And we gave our glorious laddies .. Honour bade us do no less.
For no gallant son of Britain to a foreign yoke shall bend,
And no Englishman is silent to the sacred call of “Friend !”
Cultural references
This song was sung by Joan Fontaine in the 1942 film This Above All, in the 1969
musical Oh What a Lovely War, in the 1970 musical film Darling Lili, in the 1981
film Chariots of Fire, & by the cast of M*A*S*H in Episode 127 (Season 5)
"War of Nerves"
The story follows a party of wealthy Britons and an American and their servants,
who gather for a shooting weekend at Gosford Park, an English country house.
A murder occurs after a dinner party and the film goes on to present the subsequent
investigation into it from the servants' and guests' perspectives.
It stars a bravura cast, including_ Dames Helen Mirren & Maggie Smith, Knights
Derek Jacobi, Alan Bates & Michael Gambon, Eileen Atkins, Clive Owen, Kristin Scott
-Thomas, Emily Watson, Charles Dance & Stephen Fry.
What is made obvious is the ignorance and complete disdain in which Novello is held
by his aristocratic hosts; whereas he is idolised by the below-stairs staff.
Written by The Right Honourable, Julian, The Lord Fellowes of West Stafford DL,
(winning an Oscar for Best Screenplay) - the series Downton Abbey was a ‘spin-off’.
And Her Mother Came Too !
I seem to be the victim of a cruel jest,
It dogs my footsteps with the girl I love the best !
She’s just the sweetest thing that I have ever known,
But still, we never get the chance to be alone !
My car will meet her _ and her mother comes too.
It’s a two-seater _ still, her mother comes, too.
At Ciro’s, when I am free, at dinner, supper or tea,
She loves to shimmy with me _ and her mother does too !
We buy her trousseau _ and her mother comes too,
Asked not to do so _ still her mother comes, too.
She simply won’t take a snub. I go and sulk at my club,
Then have a bath and a rub _ and her brother comes too !
There may be times when couples need a chaperone,
But mothers ought to learn to leave a chap alone.
I wish they’d have a heart and use their common sense
For three’s a crowd, and more, it’s treble the expense !
We lunch at Maxim’s _ and her mother comes too,
How large a snack seems when her mother comes too.
And when they're visiting me, we finish afternoon tea,
She loves to sit on my knee _ and her mother does, too !
To golf we started _ and her mother came too,
THREE bags I carted _ when her mother came too.
She fainted just off the tee. My darling whispered
“Jack, dear. At last we are free !” _ But her mother came to !
From the show “A to Z” - 1921
What A Duke Should Be
Rose of England
Christopher Hassall
If you wonder what a duke should be,
Just you take another look at me.
I'm doughty! I'm gouty! I'm wonderful to see!
All my people, 'pon my soul it's true,
Look on Noah as a parvenu !
By gad, you can search your family tree,
But you'll never find a duke like me.
In B.C. 33, ah me, that's a dash long time ago,
There lived a Roman hero who had shaken hands with Nero;
And the history you shall know.
He was introduced to the king of Gaul, whoever that might be,
And, crossing in galley, with a Norman wench got pally
And they went and founded me ! So ..
When old Canute was buying fruit one day, so runs the tale,
A young convicted felon brought him a juicy melon
And was then released from jail;
This noble youth, to tell the truth, sailed right away to sea,
And the Duke of Malta's daughter brought him his shaving water ..
And the grand result was me ! So ..
Ivor Novello - 1937
Grown in one land alone, where proud winds have blown,
there’s not a flow’r, born of a show’r, braver than England’s own.
Though gales of winter blow, piercing hail and snow,
Shining she stays, bright as in days of yore.
Old England’s pride still blossoms fresh on England’s shore.
Rose of England, thou shalt fade not here,
Proud and bright from rolling year to year.
Red shall thy petals be, as rich as wine untold,
Shed by thy warriors who served thee of old.
Rose of England, breathing England’s air,
Flower of Liberty beyond compare;
While heart and hand endure to cherish thy prime,
Thou shalt blossom to the end of time !
From the 3-act show ‘Crest of the Wave’, first produced at the Theatre
Royal, Drury Lane, September 1st, 1937.
Unusually, given the ultra-patriotic nature of the song, the ‘plot’ was an
extravaganza set in Hollywood, about the escapades, connivances and
loves of a group of actors, dancers and producers.
Christopher Hassall was educated at St. Michael’s College, Tenbury, before
becoming Novello’s understudy in London. After serving as an Anti-aircraft gun
officer, he devised a project of recording great voices reading great poetry and
persuaded many of his theatrical contracts to participate - Richard Burton,
Dame Peggy Ashcroft, John Gielgud, Robert Hardy, and Anthony Quayle.
He retired to Tonford Manor outside Canterbury and helped found the Stour
Festival
V.2
We’ll learn to love a-new the simple joys we knew
And shared together night and day.
We’ll watch without a sigh the moments speeding by
When life is free and hearts are gay.
The dream is here for you to share_
And in my heart, my dream becomes a prayer.
BIOGRAPHY
1903 DAFFID IVOR DAVIES (aged 10) wins 1st prize for singing at the National
Eisteddfod - then a scholarship to Magdelen College school, Oxford.
1909 Studies Organ and Counterpoint: publishes song “Spring of the Year”
1910 “The Little Damozel” is his first ‘hit’ - moves to London
1912 Tours USA and Canada - writes “The Fickle Jade”, a full length musical
1914 Writes “Keep the Home Fires Burning”
1915 Tours N. France entertaining the troops
1916 Appointed Sub-Lieutenant in R.N.A.S.
1919 “Call of the Blood” makes him a film-star
1921 Debuts as an actor in “Deburau”
1924 Writes the ‘straight’ play “The Rat”
1927 Changes name by deed poll - buys ‘Red Roofs’, his country house
1930-31 Works in New York and Hollywood
1939 Opens “The Dancing Years 23 March - theatres closed 3 Sept, so tours
1945 “Perchance to Dream” given its 1,020th performance
1951 Dies, almost on stage - leaving £4.5 million in his will
HIGHLIGHTS
“A TO Z” 21/10.1921 Prince of Wales
“GLAMOROUS NIGHT” 02/05/1935 Theatre Royal
“CARELESS RAPTURE” 11/09/1936 Theatre Royal “CREST OF THE WAVE” 01/09/1937 “ “
“THE DANCING YEARS” 23/03/1939 “
“
“PERCHANCE TO DREAM” 21/04/1945 Hippodrome
“KING’S RHAPSODY” 15/09/1949 Palace Theatre “GAY’S THE WORD” 16/02/1951 Saville Theatre