Colin Wark

Colin Wark (1896 – 1939) was a British composer of film scores, theatre music and light music.[1] Many of the films he scored were "quota quickies", mostly low-cost, low-quality, quickly-accomplished films commissioned by American distributors active in the UK or by British cinema owners purely to satisfy the quota requirements.[2]

Colin Wark
Born1896
London, England
Died1939 (aged 42–43)
United Kingdom
OccupationFilm composer

Wark was also the composer of the score for Tulip Time, a comedy with music based on the play The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown by Robert Buchanan (1841-1901) and Charles Marlowe.[3] Tulip Time opened at the Alhambra Theatre in London on August 14, 1935 and ran for 425 performances.[4]

In 1932 he was responsible for launching and managing Pasquale Troise and his Mandoliers, an orchestra of about 16 mandolin, accordion, guitar and tuned percussion players that made a series of BBC broadcasts between 1932 and 1933.[5]

Light music compositions include the novelty intermezzo Animal Antics,[6] Bouncing Ball (xylophone or piccolo solo), and Chrysanthemums for orchestra and piano. Philip L Scowcroft has suggested that Wark used the pseudonym Michele Lesley for some compositions, such as Waltz Serene.[7]

Selected filmography

References
  1. "Colin Wark". Bfi.org.uk. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  2. Low, Rachael. History of the British Film: Filmmaking in 1930s Britain. George Allen & Unwin, 1985. ISBN 9780047910425
  3. The Literary Encyclopedia
  4. Tulip Time entry, Guide to Musical Theatre
  5. Radio Times, Issue 486, 20 January 1933, p 154
  6. Recorded on Animal Antics, Guild Music CD 5143 (2008)
  7. Scowcroft, Philip. 'A 349th Garland of British Light Music Composers' (2003)


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