Leslie Statham

Leslie Statham (aka Arnold Steck) was born in Solihull, England on 18 December 1905 and died on 28 April 1974. He was an arranger and composer. He was initially a soldier in the Welsh Guards regiment of the British Army playing in the Welsh Guards band, and was occasionally given to performing as a soloist outside of his military career.

(He was) particularly active in the 1950s and 1960s and is remembered mostly for his marches with titles like "Piccadilly", "Birdcage Walk", "Path of Glory" and best known of all as it was the original signature tune for "Match of the Day", "Drum Majorette", not to mention other 'production' music' titles for Chappells library such as "Morning Canter" and "Important Occasion". [From the Musicweb-international website edited by Rob Barnett ]

Selected Works

*'Skeleton In The Cupboard' performed with the Danish State Radio Orchestra conducted by Robert Farnon featuring xylophone- Chappell C 438 1953
*The Linburn Air 1965, Publisher: Chappell Duration: 4:10 mins. Instrumentation: arr. for military band by Leslie Statham
*Match of the Day
**The theme to the BBC's flagship football programme, broadcasted since 22 August, 1964, is equally well-known. So well-known in fact, that it has become synonymous with football as a whole, rather than just the programme. The BBC commissioned Barry Stoller to write the theme, which was originally called 'Offside'. Words have been added to the theme by several people, including an Anglican minister called Reverend John Hartley to coincide with the 2002 World Cup. The theme plays over images relevant to the competition being covered, either highlights of The FA Premier League, The FA Cup or international matches. However, this was not the first theme used for Match of the Day. Until 1971 a march called 'Drum Majorette' was used. This piece was composed by Major Leslie Statham, who wrote under the name of Arnold Steck. Statham was the Director of Music of the Band of the Welsh Guards - From the BBC website

The next director of music was Leslie Statham, renowned as a composer both under his own name and also under the pen name of Arnold Steck. One of his more popular marches is 'Drum Majorette', the original signature tune to the BBC's Match of the Day. In September 1948, the Band visited Canada to play at the National Exhibition in Toronto. It was estimated that the Band's 127 concerts were attended by nearly one and a half million people and during the course of the engagement the Band played 1174 programme items. The Band made a further visit to the Canadian National Exhibition following the Coronation in 1953. These trips were something of a return engagement for Major Statham, who had been featured as a solo pianist when the Kneller Hall Band had visited Canada in 1931. Major Statham retired from the service in 1962 to concentrate on a career as a composer and arranger. - From the UK Military Bands Website.
*Wimbledon Championships, closing theme entitled "Sporting Occasion" [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A8623884]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.army.mod.uk/music/corps-band/496.aspx Welsh Guards Band Website] (Has a photo of the Band Master under "Personnel Spotlight" section)
* [http://www.musicweb-international.com/garlands/31.htm Musicweb-international.com]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A8623884 BBC theme tunes website]
* [http://military-bands.co.uk/welsh_guards.html Military Bands website]