Raymond Agoult

Raymond A. Agoult was a conductor and composer born July 1, 1911 and died July 1992 at age 81. There is very little written about him. Hungarian born, Agoult lived in London on Fellows Road in the St. John's Wood district. He conducted two albums, both for Decca Records. These albums were coproductions with RCA, utilizing Decca engineers and producers. The recordings were first released by RCA in the U.S. in the early stereo era, and reissued by Decca (London) later:

*Overture! Overture (released in 1958 on RCA LSC 2134 and reissued in 1971 on London STS 15223 (titled Favorite Overtures, and including some overtures recorded by Albert Wolff) was recorded by engineer Cyril Windebank at Kingsway Hall. This album was also released under the title Overtures – in Spades (RCA LM 2134). Six overtures by four composers were included.

*Clair de Lune (released in 1959 on RCA LSC 2326 and reissued in 1970 on London STS 15160) was recorded by engineer Kenneth Wilkinson and producer Michael Williamson in May/June 1958 at Walthamstow Town Hall. This was also released by Decca on SPA 111 and by RCA on SF 5054. Ten light classical pieces are included.

Each of these albums became audiophile standards highly rated for their sound qualities. They were re-released as vinyl records decades later by Classic Records under license from PolyGram Special Markets with their original RCA artwork and liner notes and “shaded dog” record labels intact.

The New Symphony Orchestra of London and the London Proms Symphony Orchestra (recording orchestras) are listed on these recordings. These are apparently the same orchestra since for Clair de Lune, RCA listed the London Proms Symphony Orchestra and the later London reissue listed The New Symphony Orchestra of London.

Compositions and arrangements

Amongst Agoult’s compositions for band are "Bulgarian Bugle Boy" (which was recorded by The Scottish C.W.S. Band on Pye GSGL 10430). Agoult also composed two additional compositions for band, "Culloden" and "Caramba!". His "Caramba!" is likely the work heard on the LP "What We Want is Watney's Silver Band" issued on MFP 1303. Agoult also made an arrangement of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" which can be heard on a recording with the Band of the Grenadier Guards on Entertainment Sales ESI-106. Other arrangements for band by Agoult include the Coronation March from "Le prophète" by Giacomo Meyerbeer and the Grand March from "Aida” by Giuseppe Verdi

References

* England & Wales, Death Index: 1984-2005
* Rehrig, William H. The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. Composers and their music. Supplement, 1996.
*Valin, Jonathan. The RCA Bible, 1993.
*Who's Who in Music and Musicians' International Directory, 1972.