Five For Friday: Leroy Anderson

Five For Friday 1 Minute

I got to think about this entire "instrumentals" thing, and found that a lot of my favorite instrumentals (and maybe yours, too) are the light orchestral pieces mostly played by "pops" orchestras (e.g. The Boston Pops), school orchestras and the like. One of the most important composers of these pieces is Leroy Anderson, who wrote classic pieces like "The Syncopated Clock", "Blue Tango" (which was a hit for him in 1952), "Sleigh Ride", and "The Typewriter". Here are five of his lesser-known works.

  1. The Boston Pops, "Fiddle-Faddle": Arthur Fiedler guided The Boston Pops through a number of Anderson’s compositions over the years. Anderson publishd this on January 1, 1947, and the Pops debuted it on the radio a few months later. Theirs is the first recording of it.
  2. "Jazz Pizzicato/Jazz Legato": Anderson wrote "Jazz Pizzicato" in 1938, and at less than two minutes it was too short for a three-minute single. So Anderson wrote "Jazz Legato" to go along with it.
  3. "Plink, Plank, Plunk!": This was used for years as the theme music for the game show I’ve Got A Secret. Written in 1951.
  4. "The Waltzing Cat": Written in 1950 and demonstrates Anderson’s ability to use creative instrumental effects.
  5. "Trumpeter’s Lullaby": From 1949.

Leroy Anderson, your Five For Friday, September 10, 2021.

Published by John Holton

Internet disc jockey, lover of old TV (especially the commercials), inveterate wise guy.

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12 thoughts on “Five For Friday: Leroy Anderson”

    1. I’ve been looking for different sources of instrumental music, and I landed on him as a possible source. I have a few more ideas I’ll be rolling out in the next few weeks. Stay tuned…

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