Editing Ronald Binge (section)

==Compositions==
Binge was interested in the technicalities of composition and was most famous as the inventor of the "[[cascading strings]]" effect that is the signature sound of the Mantovani orchestra, much used in their arrangements of popular music.<ref name=scow/> First heard on the hit ''Charmaine'' (1951)<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=X0unFqqjhMAC&dq=Mantovani+Charmaine+cascading&pg=PA126 Mackenzie, Colin. ''Mantovani: A Lifetime in Music'' (2005), pp. 126–7]</ref> it was originally created to capture the essence of the echo properties of a building such as a cathedral, although it later became particularly associated with [[easy-listening]] music.<ref name=tom>[[Ernest Tomlinson|Tomlinson, Ernest]]. 'Ronald Binge', in ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (2004)</ref>

Binge's catalogue includes hundreds of works, most of them light orchestral.<ref>[https://ronaldbinge.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Ronald-Binge-music-catalogue.pdf Ronald Binge Music Catalogue], ''Ronaldbinge.com''</ref> His first big compositional success was the orchestral overture ''Spitfire'', composed in Blackpool while he was still on RAF service, which predated William Walton's orchestral tribute by a year.<ref name=scow>Scowcroft, Philip. L. ''British Light Music'' (1997), pp. 28–29</ref> Best known today is probably ''[[Elizabethan Serenade]]'' (1951),<ref name=scow/> which was used by the [[British Broadcasting Corporation]] as the theme for the popular 1950s series, "Music Tapestry", and as the play-out for the [[British Forces Network]] radio station, and for which in 1957 he won an [[Ivor Novello Award]].<ref name="Larkin50"/> It was later turned into a vocal version called "Where the Gentle Avon Flows", with lyrics by the poet [[Christopher Hassall]]. A [[reggae]] version of the tune, "Elizabethan Reggae", was performed by [[Boris Gardiner]] in 1970.

Binge is also known for ''[[Sailing By]]'' (1963), which introduces the late-night [[Shipping Forecast]] on [[BBC Radio 4]].<ref name=tom/><ref>Saylor, Eric. [https://books.google.com/books?id=cgo7EAAAQBAJ&dq=ronald+binge+sailing+by&pg=PA4 ''The Sea in British Musical Imagination''] (2015), p. 4</ref> Other well-known pieces include ''Miss Melanie'' (used as the theme for the CBS Network's radio comedy ''[[Ethel and Albert|The Couple Next Door]]'' from 1957 to 1960), ''Like Old Times'', ''[[The Watermill]]'' (1958) for oboe and strings (used as the theme for the BBC children's series The Secret Garden),<ref name=scow/> and his Concerto for Alto Saxophone in E-flat major (1956). His largest, longest, and most ambitious work is the four-movement [[Symphony]] in C (or ''Saturday Symphony''), which was written during his retirement between 1966 and 1968,<ref name=scow/> and performed in Britain and Germany. It was issued as a recording by the South German Radio Orchestra, conducted by the composer.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3IvKVh3s3E ''Saturday Symphony''], ''YouTube''</ref>

<!---UNCITED Less well known is a 1948 [[piano]] piece known as "Vice Versa", a [[palindrome#In Music|musical palindrome]] which was not only a front-to-back [[palindrome]], but also exploited the two [[musical stave|staves]] used for writing for piano. The music reads the same whichever way it is turned. He later extended this theme, composing a piece known as "Upside/Downside" for his son, who was learning to play the [[Recorder (musical instrument)|recorder]] at [[Downside School]]. This musical palindrome was for piano, recorder and [[cello]] and again was universally reversible – two players could play from the same sheet of music reading from opposite ends.--->