Peter Yorke

b. 4 December 1902, London, England, d. 2 February 1966, England. A highly respected composer, conductor and arranger, Yorke was well known in Britain through his hundreds of broadcasts, and his themes have been widely used on television and radio. In the 30s he was one of the finest dance band orchestrators in England, working with Percival Mackey, Jack Hylton, Louis Levy and many others. After World War II he established himself as a light music composer and conductor through BBC radio shows such as Sweet Serenade, Our Kind Of Music and The Peter Yorke Melody Hours. From the late 40s onwards he made numerous 78s for Columbia Records, including some legendary titles with saxophonist Freddy Gardner (1911-50), which are regarded as models of their genre: ‘I’m In The Mood For Love’, ‘I Only Have Eyes For You’, ‘Roses Of Picardy’, ‘These Foolish Things’, ‘Body And Soul’ and ‘Valse Vanite’. Yorke also recorded an early composition, ‘Sapphires And Sables’, which he used as his theme music, and his other notable pieces included ‘Melody Of The Stars’, ‘Dawn Fantasy’, ‘Quiet Countryside’, ‘Caravan Romance’, ‘Carminetta’, ‘Faded Lilac’, ‘Fireflies’, ‘Flyaway Fiddles’, ‘Golden Melody’, ‘Oriental Bazaar’, ‘In My Garden’ - suite, ‘Midnight In Mexico’, ‘Parade Of The Matadors’, ‘Royal Mile’, ‘Highdays And Holidays’, ‘Brandy Snaps’, ‘Miss In Mink’, ‘Lazy Piano’, and ‘Ladies Night’. From 1957-67 ‘Silks And Satins’ was used to close the popular British television soap Emergency Ward 10. Most of Yorke’s original works were written for various London mood music libraries especially Chappells, Francis, Day & Hunter, Bosworth, Harmonic, Conroy, Paxton, Southern and Josef Weinberger. He also conducted several albums of popular songs, mainly for the American market.