As I never
sleep through the night (a fact of life for the aged!) I am often lying in bed
at say 4am and being surprised at how light the day is, as I try to snooze
again. Twilight has become moonlight and now dawn is not far away. I am tempted
to burst into song with some appropriate ditty – like those listed below – and
I invite my kind readers to tune up their tonsils, get whistling and make the
window-panes rattle!
1. It’s Twilight Time by The Platters
Great
favourites in the 1950s, the Platters somehow squeezed in as crooning gave way
to rock ‘n roll.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0kprJ30_HU&ab_channel=ThePlatters%C2%AE
2. Love’s Old Sweet Song (Just a song at Twilight) by John
McCormack
A very
popular Irish-composed Victorian “parlour song” – I am not normally a fan of
John McCormack but his lyric tenor voice is admirable in this 1927 recording.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viW5rT2duoc
3. Moonlight Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven
A timeless
piece, evocative in so many ways to so many people
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VmQNKaOeEw&ab_channel=AnastasiaHuppmann
4. By the Light of the Silvery Moon sung by Doris Day and Gordon MacRae
A feel-good
American classic sung by great stars of the 1950-60s. Dig those perfect teeth!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td7lCCO9aaQ&ab_channel=HyakuShiki.
5. Au Claire de la Lune
This
traditional French nursery song has stuck in my memory ever since it was sung
in a House Singing Competition at my Edinburgh school in about 1958. It was
sung as a duet and one singer was “Speedy” Young, later a Highlands hotelier!
He won!
6. Claire de Lune by Claude Debussy
Once
reckoned the epitome of French music in the good old days when the French were justly
proud of their cuisine, wines and cheeses and chic fashions. Less heard
now in a world of gilets jaunes, urban terrorism and Anglophobia, alas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvFH_6DNRCY&ab_channel=CHANNEL3YOUTUBE
7. Give me the Moonlight, Give me the
Girl by Frankie
Vaughan
This was
the signature tune of good-natured Frankie Vaughan, never a big star but a
stalwart of the variety theatre circuit. Many a teeny-bopper fan screamed in
ecstasy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilo83LRCJrE&ab_channel=NottsUK
8. Welcome, welcome Glorious Morn by Henry Purcell
This
Welcome Song by Purcell, welcomes the Dawn and was a birthday ode for Mary II
in 1691. It is a typical piece by England’s finest composer.
I hope some
of this entertains you all this Bank Holiday. Enjoy!
SMD
26.05.24
Text
Copyright ©Sidney Donald 2024
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