Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart wrote the book, music and lyrics for Oliver!, the Dickens musical whose songs have long outlived the West End run. He also penned hit pop numbers and other stage scores that helped shape postwar British musical theatre.
Best known for Oliver! (1960), Bart supplied both the story craft and the tunes: "Where Is Love", "Who Will Buy?" and the rest of that score still turn up in recital programmes, crossover albums and free improvisation as readily as in full productions. Before and beside the musicals he wrote chart songs for the British pop boom, among them "Living Doll" and "Rock with the Caveman", and the title theme for the Bond film From Russia with Love. Stage works such as Lock Up Your Daughters, Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be, Blitz! and Maggie May favoured direct melody and vernacular character over imported Broadway polish. He could not read or write notation; collaborators took the lines down from his humming. The result is music built to be sung and remembered, which is why fragments of it keep resurfacing in new guises.
Compositions by Lionel Bart appear on
Such a Sky
Such a Sky gathers live Salon performances from the Melbourne Recital Centre. Cellist Imogen Manins and pianist Tony Gould are joined by Slava Grigoryan, David Jones, Gian Slater, Riley Lee and Eugene Ughetti.
The Cello and the Mockingbird
Improvisations on beautiful melodies from cellist Imogen Manins with pianist Tony Gould and percussionist David Jones. Their second trio album gathers film themes, standards and original sketches, shaped in the studio through open improvisation.
Dream Song
A charming collection of well-known songs, sure to delight. Immortal sacred favourites sit beside theatre and film themes, from Franck’s Panis Angelicus and Lloyd Webber’s Pie Jesu to Blake, Rodgers and Bart.
Rhythm of Life
A delicious blend of highlights from Broadway shows, popular music theatre, traditional songs and operatic hits, sung with style by Melbourne vocal ensemble Pot-Pourri.