Vivian Ellis
Encyclopedia
Vivian Ellis was an English
musical comedy composer best known for the song "Spread a Little Happiness
" and the theme "Coronation Scot
".
, London
in 1903, not 1904 as is usually stated, and educated at Cheltenham College
. He began a musical career as a concert pianist
, but became a composer
and lyricist. Initially he contributed pieces for several revues in the 1920s. He became well known in the London West End Theatres for providing the music and collaborating in the production of a large number of musical shows, spanning from 1925 to 1958. In fact he was to dominate the theatre of the 1930s having one to three shows run most years of this decade. However, in spite of his music being both pleasant and catchy, few of his compositions were recorded (with the exception of "I'm On a See-Saw" by Fats Waller
and "This is My Lovely Day" by Lizbeth Webb
and Georges Guetary
), so his name became less well known after his last London production. He wrote some songs used in British films of the 1930s.
By the 1950s, musical comedy had begin to fall out of fashion, and his last full-length musical, Half in Earnest, appeared in 1958. He contributed to revues for a few more years and then turned his hand to writing a series of amusing books such as How To Enjoy Your Operation. Ellis became the President of the Performing Right Society
and in 1984 the society instituted an annual event - the Vivian Ellis Prize - to encourage young composers and lyricists to write for the musical stage. Ellis gave all the writers the same advice: "Try and put at least one hit song in every musical you write." Several of the promising writers featured in the competition went on to success, including Charles Hart
who wrote lyrics for Andrew Lloyd Webber
's musical of The Phantom of the Opera
, and Philip Glassborow
whose comedy musical The Great Big Radio Show!
was a personal favourite.
Ellis as a composer was "rediscovered" in the 1980s when his 1929 musical Mr. Cinders
(featuring the hit song, "Spread a Little Happiness") was revived at the King's Head Theatre in London. The song also charted again in a version by Sting, following its ironic use in the film Brimstone and Treacle
. His song "This is My Lovely Day" also appeared in the John Cleese
comedy Clockwise
in 1987.
Ellis's composition "Alpine Pastures" was used as the theme song for the long-running BBC radio series My Word and another light music composition of his, "Coronation Scot," was the signature tune for the Paul Temple
series.
His grandmother was the composer Julia Woolf
. His autobiography, published in 1953, is entitled I'm on a See-Saw, named after the hit song from his musical Jill Darling.
In December 2008, the King's Head Theatre in London will present the world premiere of Godiva, a previously unproduced musical (book by Guy Bolton
) written in the 1950s.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
musical comedy composer best known for the song "Spread a Little Happiness
Spread a Little Happiness
Spread a Little Happiness is a song by English musical comedy composer Vivian Ellis from his 1929 musical Mr. Cinders. Ellis was suffering from a fever of 103 degrees when he wrote this song. In the original production it was sung by Bobby Howes as Jim, but Binnie Hale was the singer on the 78...
" and the theme "Coronation Scot
Coronation Scot
The Coronation Scot was a named express passenger train of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway inaugurated in 1937 for the Coronation of King George VI which ran until the start of the war in 1939...
".
Life and work
Ellis was born in HampsteadHampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1903, not 1904 as is usually stated, and educated at Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College is a co-educational independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.One of the public schools of the Victorian period, it was opened in July 1841. An Anglican foundation, it is known for its classical, military and sporting traditions.The 1893 book Great...
. He began a musical career as a concert pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, but became a composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and lyricist. Initially he contributed pieces for several revues in the 1920s. He became well known in the London West End Theatres for providing the music and collaborating in the production of a large number of musical shows, spanning from 1925 to 1958. In fact he was to dominate the theatre of the 1930s having one to three shows run most years of this decade. However, in spite of his music being both pleasant and catchy, few of his compositions were recorded (with the exception of "I'm On a See-Saw" by Fats Waller
Fats Waller
Fats Waller , born Thomas Wright Waller, was a jazz pianist, organist, composer, singer, and comedic entertainer...
and "This is My Lovely Day" by Lizbeth Webb
Lizbeth Webb
Elizabeth Holton , better known by her stage name, Lizbeth Webb, is a retired English soprano and stage actress. After entertaining British troops during World War II, Webb pursued a career in West End musicals, playing such roles as Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls.-Early life and career:Webb was...
and Georges Guetary
Georges Guétary
Georges Guétary, born Lambros Worloou was a French singer, dancer, cabaret performer and film actor, best known his role in the 1951 musical An American in Paris.-Early life and career:...
), so his name became less well known after his last London production. He wrote some songs used in British films of the 1930s.
By the 1950s, musical comedy had begin to fall out of fashion, and his last full-length musical, Half in Earnest, appeared in 1958. He contributed to revues for a few more years and then turned his hand to writing a series of amusing books such as How To Enjoy Your Operation. Ellis became the President of the Performing Right Society
Performing Right Society
PRS for Music is a UK copyright collection society undertaking collective rights management for musical works. PRS for Music was formed in 1997 as the MCPS-PRS Alliance, bringing together two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society and Performing Right Society...
and in 1984 the society instituted an annual event - the Vivian Ellis Prize - to encourage young composers and lyricists to write for the musical stage. Ellis gave all the writers the same advice: "Try and put at least one hit song in every musical you write." Several of the promising writers featured in the competition went on to success, including Charles Hart
Charles Hart (lyricist)
Charles Hart is a British lyricist, songwriter and musician. He is best known for re-writing the lyrics to, and contributing to the book of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical The Phantom of the Opera. He also co-wrote the lyrics to Lloyd Webber's 1989 musical Aspects of Love...
who wrote lyrics for Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
's musical of The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
, and Philip Glassborow
Philip Glassborow
Philip Glassborow is a playwright, lyricist and composer who writes for theater, radio and television. His best-known theater musical is the cult hit The Great Big Radio Show! with book in collaboration with Nick McIvor, which won a special prize in the Vivian Ellis Awards and was premiered by the...
whose comedy musical The Great Big Radio Show!
The Great Big Radio Show!
The Great Big Radio Show! is a musical comedy, with music and lyrics by Philip Glassborow. Piano arrangements and dance music are by David Rhind-Tutt. Book is by Philip Glassborow with Nick McIvor.-Synopsis:...
was a personal favourite.
Ellis as a composer was "rediscovered" in the 1980s when his 1929 musical Mr. Cinders
Mr. Cinders
Mr. Cinders is a musical. The music is by Vivian Ellis & Richard Myers, and the libretto by Clifford Grey & Greatorex Newman. The story is an inversion of the Cinderella fairy tale with the gender roles reversed. The Prince Charming character has become a modern young and forceful woman, and Mr....
(featuring the hit song, "Spread a Little Happiness") was revived at the King's Head Theatre in London. The song also charted again in a version by Sting, following its ironic use in the film Brimstone and Treacle
Brimstone and Treacle
-Potter on Brimstone and Treacle:In 1978, Potter said:I had written Brimstone and Treacle in difficult personal circumstances. Years of acute psoriatic arthropathy—unpleasantly affecting skin and joints—had not only taken their toll in physical damage but had also, and perhaps inevitably, mediated...
. His song "This is My Lovely Day" also appeared in the John Cleese
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese is an English actor, comedian, writer, and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report...
comedy Clockwise
Clockwise (film)
Clockwise is a 1986 British comedy film starring John Cleese. It was directed by Christopher Morahan, written by Michael Frayn and produced by Michael Codron. The film was co-produced by Moment Films and Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment...
in 1987.
Ellis's composition "Alpine Pastures" was used as the theme song for the long-running BBC radio series My Word and another light music composition of his, "Coronation Scot," was the signature tune for the Paul Temple
Paul Temple
Paul Temple is a fictional character created by British writer Francis Durbridge for the BBC radio serial Send for Paul Temple in 1938. Temple is an amateur private detective and author of crime fiction...
series.
His grandmother was the composer Julia Woolf
Julia Woolf
Sophia Julia Woolf was an English composer known for songs and opera.-Life and works:Julia Woolf composed piano pieces and songs for theatrical productions.A review of her opera Carina in the New York times described the work as:...
. His autobiography, published in 1953, is entitled I'm on a See-Saw, named after the hit song from his musical Jill Darling.
In December 2008, the King's Head Theatre in London will present the world premiere of Godiva, a previously unproduced musical (book by Guy Bolton
Guy Bolton
Guy Reginald Bolton was a British-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the U.S., he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred working in collaboration with others, principally the English writers P. G...
) written in the 1950s.
Pre-World War II
- By-the-Way - 1925
- Mercenart Mary - 1925
- Still Dancing - 1925
- Kid Boots - 1926
- Blue Skies - 1927
- The Yale Blues - 1927
- Clowns in Clover -1927
- Girl Friend - 1927
- Will o' the Whisper - 1928
- Mr. CindersMr. CindersMr. Cinders is a musical. The music is by Vivian Ellis & Richard Myers, and the libretto by Clifford Grey & Greatorex Newman. The story is an inversion of the Cinderella fairy tale with the gender roles reversed. The Prince Charming character has become a modern young and forceful woman, and Mr....
- 1929 - The House That Jack Built - 1929
- Follow a Star - 1930
- Little Tommy Tucker - 1930
- Blue Roses - 1931
- Stand Up & Sing - 1931
- Song of the Drum - 1931
- Out of the Bottle - 1932
- Please - 1933
- Jill Darling - 1933
- Streamline - 1934
- The Town Talks - 1936 (review)
- Going Places - 1936 (review)
- Floodlight - 1937 (review)
- Hide & Seek - 1937
- The Fleets Lit Up - 1938
- Running Riot - 1938
Post World War II
- Big Ben - 1946
- Bless the BrideBless The BrideBless the Bride is a musical with music by Vivian Ellis and a book and lyrics by A. P. Herbert, the third of five musicals they wrote together. The musical is remembered as Ellis's best work and for the recordings of "This is my lovely day" and "I was never kissed before", with Lizbeth Webb and...
- 1947 - Tough at the Top - 1949
- And So To Bed - 1951
- Over the Moon - 1953
- The Water Gypsies - 1955
- Half in Earnest - 1958
Songs (some that have recordings)
- Over My Shoulder
- I'm On a See Saw
- She's My Lovely
- Spread a Little HappinessSpread a Little HappinessSpread a Little Happiness is a song by English musical comedy composer Vivian Ellis from his 1929 musical Mr. Cinders. Ellis was suffering from a fever of 103 degrees when he wrote this song. In the original production it was sung by Bobby Howes as Jim, but Binnie Hale was the singer on the 78...
- This is My Lovely Day