You are here

Music For Her

Availability

Lp (mono): Columbia CL 705 (USA)
CD: Collectables COL-CD-7562 (plus bonus tracks) (USA)

Liner notes

Music for her, music about her, music that sings of romance and tenderness and the pleasures of love . . . these are the melodies that Percy Faith presents in this collection. This is the music of romance, when all’s right with the world and when the heart sings even though the lips are silent. The melodies and the ideas are those that course through the minds of lovers, and would find utterance if they were able to phrase them so neatly. Each of them is addressed to what grammarians call the second person singular, to Her, and it is for her this music is played.

Who is she, what is she, for whom this serenade is intended? She is his, certainly, and is everything he needs. She is the face he finds in the morning sun, the person he loves to spend long evenings with. She is lovely, too, and her presence is inviting. A home-maker and a personage of dreams, a pillar of strength and the sharer of all his possessions. Her spell is magical, and her breathless charm unchanging.

Does such a paragon exist? In lovers’ dreams, yes, and in these glowing songs, as presented by Percy Faith and his Orchestra. Songs of romance seem invariably to draw forth the loveliest melodies composers can offer, and some of the most sensitive verses of lyricists. There is a gentleness in these songs that is lacking in those that deal with thwarted love, and a pleasantly affirmative feeling. These are memorable songs, all of them, and their description of romance is as evocative as ever.

Percy Faith’s arrangements of these melodies is superbly in keeping with the atmosphere. Perhaps no other arranger-conductor has been so successful in the presentation of romantic music, keeping the feeling properly rich and yet not letting the tunes get smothered in masses of sound. The Faith technique, famous from the earliest days of his radio broadcasts, has become even more famous with his splendid recordings, and the development of high-fidelity sound has enhanced the sonorous depth of his arrangements. Whether he is presenting music from a Broadway show, lively Latin tunes, the lilting music of Europe, or, as in this case, romantic music, he tastefully points up the mood of the music with a fascinating interplay of orchestral voices and countermelodies.

In this collection of music for her, the suave, flowing components of the Faith style are wonderfully displayed, and they form a perfect complement for the music. These expressive songs, all of them favorites for several years, provide a splendid medium, for orchestral magic, and the magic, in turn, enhances the songs in a way that is both intimate and expansive. Here, then, is music for her (and music for you, too) in a collection designed to mirror the many-faceted qualities of a woman of dreams.