Colin Wark (1896 – 1939) was a British composer of film scores, theatre music and light music, born in Ealing, West London and educated at Berkhamsted School.Who's who in Music and Musicians' International Directory (1937) 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.Low, Rachael. History of the British Film: Filmmaking in 1930s Britain. George Allen & Unwin, 1985.
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.The Literary Encyclopedia Tulip Time opened at the Alhambra Theatre in London on August 14, 1935 and ran for 425 performances.Tulip Time entry, Guide to Musical Theatre
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, and which went on to be the most frequently used band on the long-running BBC series Music While You Work (1940-1967).Radio Times, Issue 486, 20 January 1933, p 154
Wark's light music compositions include the novelty intermezzo Animal Antics,Recorded on Animal Antics, Guild Music CD 5143 (2008) Bouncing Ball (xylophone or piccolo solo), and Chrysanthemums for orchestra and piano. The Wedding of the Three Blind Mice, song/foxtrot, composed with Walter Williams and Bruce Sievier, was published in 1931. Philip L Scowcroft has suggested that Wark used the pseudonym Michele Lesley for some compositions, such as Waltz Serene.Scowcroft, Philip. 'A 349th Garland of British Light Music Composers' (2003)
Wark worked for 12 years as musical advisor to the publishers Ricordi. He was married to actress Violet Kearney (1907-1985) who appeared as a dancer in the 1934 film Say It with Flowers, scored by Wark. There was one child, a son. Wark died in 1939 in Hendon, Middlesex.'Colin Wark', biography, IMDb
Selected filmography
References
External links
Animal Antics, played by the London Palladium Orchestra Tulip Time entry, Robert Williams Buchanan website