Philip Green

Philip Green (19 July 1911 – 6 October 1982), sometimes credited as Harry Philip Green or Phil Green, was a British film and television composer and conductor, and also a pianist and accordion player. He made his name in the 1930s playing in and conducting dance bands, performed with leading classical musicians, scored up to 150 films, wrote radio and television theme tunes and library music, and finally turned to church music at the end of his life in Ireland, a song from which period proved so popular that it reached No 3 in the Irish charts in 1973. Early life and career Green was born on 19 July 1911 in Whitechapel, London. His father was Philip Green, a boot clicker, and his mother was Elizabeth Vogel. He began learning the piano at the age of seven, and went on to study at Trinity College of Music in London, aged just 13. After college he played in various orchestras, and then became conductor at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London. He signed as a recording artist to EMI in 1933 at the age of 21 and continued to record for them throughout his lifetime. Green conducted large orchestras and played piano and accordion in small bands across Europe. One of the small bands, put together for recording purposes, was the Ballyhooigans, using a line up of clarinet, two pianos, guitar, base and drums, which played in a "near-Dixieland" style. Between 1935 and 1939 became well known for his Radio Luxembourg programmes, which were broadcast to Britain. During the war Green regularly conducted for BBC broadcasts with various orchestras, on programmes such as Salute to Rhythm, and Band Call. In these programmes he first introduced stars such stars as Dorothy Carless (1916-2012), Monte Ray (1900-1982) and Beryl Davis to British listeners. One of his bands during this period featured a remarkable set of players from the classical music world: Green himself on accordion, Arthur Gleghorn (flute), Leon Goossens (oboe), Reginald Kell (clarinet), Victor Watson (double bass), Jack Collings (percussion), and Denis Gomm, piano - all members of the BBC Salon Orchestra at the time. He also became house arranger and conductor for Decca and accompanied many of their vocalists such as Gracie Fields, Donald Peers and Anne Shelton. Film music Green's first credited film work was on 1943's The Sky's the Limit, but his first notable success came with The Magic Bow (1946), a musical based on the life and loves of the Italian violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini.