Biography
Born on 4 December 1902 in London, England, and passing away on 2 February 1966 in England, Peter Yorke earned widespread regard as a composer, conductor and arranger whose hundreds of broadcasts made him a familiar figure across Britain. His signature melodies found frequent placement in both television and radio programming. During the 1930s he ranked among England’s foremost dance-band orchestrators, collaborating with Percival Mackey, Jack Hylton, Louis Levy and numerous additional leaders.
Following the close of World War II he secured recognition as a composer and conductor of light music through BBC radio programmes including Sweet Serenade, Our Kind Of Music and The Peter Yorke Melody Hours. Beginning in the late 1940s he issued many 78 rpm recordings on Columbia Records, several of them celebrated collaborations with saxophonist Freddy Gardner (1911–50) that came to exemplify the style: ‘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’. He also committed to disc his early composition ‘Sapphires And Sables’, which thereafter served as his personal theme, and created further well-known pieces such as ‘Melody Of The Stars’, ‘Dawn Fantasy’, ‘Quiet Countryside’, ‘Caravan Romance’, ‘Carminetta’, ‘Faded Lilac’, ‘Fireflies’, ‘Flyaway Fiddles’, ‘Golden Melody’, ‘Oriental Bazaar’, the suite ‘In My Garden’, ‘Midnight In Mexico’, ‘Parade Of The Matadors’, ‘Royal Mile’, ‘Highdays And Holidays’, ‘Brandy Snaps’, ‘Miss In Mink’, ‘Lazy Piano’ and ‘Ladies Night’.
Between 1957 and 1967 the piece ‘Silks And Satins’ accompanied the closing credits of the British television serial Emergency Ward 10. The majority of his original compositions were created for London mood-music libraries, among them Chappells, Francis, Day & Hunter, Bosworth, Harmonic, Conroy, Paxton, Southern and Josef Weinberger. In addition he directed several albums of popular songs intended chiefly for the American audience.
Following the close of World War II he secured recognition as a composer and conductor of light music through BBC radio programmes including Sweet Serenade, Our Kind Of Music and The Peter Yorke Melody Hours. Beginning in the late 1940s he issued many 78 rpm recordings on Columbia Records, several of them celebrated collaborations with saxophonist Freddy Gardner (1911–50) that came to exemplify the style: ‘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’. He also committed to disc his early composition ‘Sapphires And Sables’, which thereafter served as his personal theme, and created further well-known pieces such as ‘Melody Of The Stars’, ‘Dawn Fantasy’, ‘Quiet Countryside’, ‘Caravan Romance’, ‘Carminetta’, ‘Faded Lilac’, ‘Fireflies’, ‘Flyaway Fiddles’, ‘Golden Melody’, ‘Oriental Bazaar’, the suite ‘In My Garden’, ‘Midnight In Mexico’, ‘Parade Of The Matadors’, ‘Royal Mile’, ‘Highdays And Holidays’, ‘Brandy Snaps’, ‘Miss In Mink’, ‘Lazy Piano’ and ‘Ladies Night’.
Between 1957 and 1967 the piece ‘Silks And Satins’ accompanied the closing credits of the British television serial Emergency Ward 10. The majority of his original compositions were created for London mood-music libraries, among them Chappells, Francis, Day & Hunter, Bosworth, Harmonic, Conroy, Paxton, Southern and Josef Weinberger. In addition he directed several albums of popular songs intended chiefly for the American audience.
Albums
