Ernest Tomlinson - Fantasia on Auld Lang Syne

Ernest Tomlinson was an English composer active from around 1950.  He was an anachronism in that he wrote music with melody, in great contrast to the a-tonal, arrhythmical dreck that is the wasteland of modern classical music.

He may have single-handedly saved much of this sort of music in 1984.  The BBC decided to eliminate their archive of light classical music - it was ever so unfashionable, old chap - and he got the entire archive.  50,000 works are now in the Library Of Light Orchestral Music.  Tomlinson was awarded the Member of the British Empire (MBE) in recognition of his service to music.

This piece is simply a delight.  Everyone will recognize the primary theme - Auld Lang Syne, the traditional New Years' Eve song.  But Tomlinson weaves in brief snippets of 152 other pieces.  It was a completely unexpected pleasure to discover this, and a fitting high note to say goodbye to 2023.

Ernest Tomlinson passed on in 2015.  His obituary is worth a read:

After falling out of favour in the middle of the last century, light music, once a major part of British cultural life, has enjoyed a modest renaissance in recent years. Nobody did more to encourage this revival of interest than Ernest Tomlinson, who has died aged 90. He was a prolific composer, praised by the singer and broadcaster Catherine Bott for his “exceptional technical skills allied to a rare gift for melody”. Equally, he fought to preserve the light music heritage by founding the Library of Light Orchestral Music and acting as consultant and performer for an important series of CD recordings.

He was an anachronism inn modern classical music, living an admirably traditional life.  Married 57 years, this part of his obituary stood out:

He is survived by his children, Ann, Geoffrey, Hilary and Linda, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Jean died in 2006.

Rest in peace, and thanks for the great music.

UPDATE 31 DECEMBER 2023 17:29: From the notes at Youtube, here are some of the different songs included in this piece.  What a fun, very clever musical piece.

0:33- Auld Lang Syne 
2:10 - Gounod’s Soldier Chorus from Faust
2:15 - The British Grenadiers
2:24 - Leroy Anderson’s The Rakes of Mallow
2:42 - Cesar Franck’s Symphonic Variations
2:52 - Chopin's Piano Sonata No.2, 2nd movement
3:09 - Elgar's Enigma Variations, main theme
3:37 - Beethoven's Symphony No.9, 4th movement, "Ode To Joy"
3:53 - Haydn’s St.Anthony Chorale
4:06 - Purcell's Abdelazer, "Rondeau" or Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
4:23 - Schubert’s Trout Quintet, 4th movement
4:32 - Haydn's Symphony No.94, 2nd movement
4:50 - Bach's Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring
5:33 -Dvorak’s Humoresque no 7
5:41 -Foster’s Beautiful Dreamer
5:44 - Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique symphony 3rd movement
5:51 -A Life on The Ocean Wave
5:51 - Auld Lang Syne
5:54 - Khachaturian’s Adagio from Spartacus
6:14 - Mendelssohn’s Overture to The Hebrides
6:51 - Mozart's Piano Sonata No.16, first movement
7:09 - Handel's Entry of the Queen of Sheba
7:23 - Tchaikovsky’s Dance of the Little Swan from Swan Lake
7:27 - Bach’s Fugue in C minor from Well-Tempered Clavier
7:31 -Arthur Sullivan ... "Major General" (Pirates of Penzance)
7:32 -The Keel Row
7:44 - Bizet's Overture to Carmen
7:53 - This Old Man
8:00 - Thomas-Arne’s Rule-Britannia
8:08 - Strauss Jr’s Voice of Spring Waltz
8:53 - Tchaikovsky’s Valse no. 2 from Swan Lake
9:25 - Weber’s Invitation to the Dance
9:31 - Je veux vivre (Juliet's Waltz) from Romeo et Juliette by Charles Gounod
9:46 - Strauss. Jr’s Waltz from Die Flaudermaus
10:05 - Chopin's Grand Valse Brilliante
10:55 - Tchaikovsky - Serenade for Strings, 2nd movement
11:26 -Smetana’s Dance of the Comedian from The Bartered Bride
12:26 - Strauss. Jr’s Perpetuum Mobile Polka
12:35 - Mozart’s French Horn no. 4, 3rd movement
12:42 - Shenandoah
12:48 -Dvorak’s Slavonic Dance no 2 op.46
12:53 -Wi’a Hundred Pipers
12:59 - Offenbach's Can-Can Dance
13:02 - Schubert's Military March No.1, or Stravinsky's Circus Polka
13:13 - Offenbach's Can-Can Dance
13:22 - Rossini’s La Danza from Les Soirée Musicales
13:38 - Mysterious Pizzicato
13:44 - Bach’s A Riercar a 6 from The Musical Offering
14:24 - Rossini’s Overture to Semiramide
13:56 - Dark Eyes
14:07 -Koenig’s Post Horn Gallop
14:42 -Benjamin’s Jamaican Rumba
14:50 - Khachaturian's Sabre Dance
15:02 - Rossini's Overture to "The Barber of Seville"
15:04 - Bizet's L' Arlesienne Suite No.2, "Farandole"
15:07 - Glinka's Overture to "Ruslan and Ludmilla"
15:20 Goodnight, Ladies
15:57 - Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture
17:56 - Verdi's Le donna e mobile, from "Rigoletto"
16:41 - O, Come All ye Faithful
17:47 - La Curachacha
17:58 The Girl I left behind 
18:04 - Yankee Doodle
18:06 - Good King Winceslas
18:10 Sailor's Hornpipe
18:19 - Grieg’s Morning Mood from Peer Gynt
18:26 - Dvorak’s New World Symphony, 2nd movement