Softly, Softly, Bridget Spiegel arr. Ray Farr. Concert Band

Softly, Softly

Softly, Softly was originally composed as the theme tune for a BBC Television police drama of the same name, focussing on plain-clothes CID officers based in the fictional area of Wyvern, England.  It was designed as a vehicle for Detective Chief Inspector Charles Barlow and Detective Inspector John Watt (played by Stratford Johns and Frank Windsor respectively) from the iconic police series Z-Cars, which had just finished its original run in December 1965.

Composer Fritz Spiegl (1926 2003) was born at Zurndorf, Austria, the son of an agricultural merchant and his Jewish wife. His family escaped Nazi persecution in Europe, and upon arrival in Britain, Spiegl was sent to Magdalen College School, Brackley. Eventually he went to London to work for an advertising agency, but he soon switched to music, taught himself to play the flute, enrolled at the Royal Academy of Music and, within a short time, became principal flautist with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he kept for more than a decade.

As a composer, he worked on a number of television theme tunes during the 1960s, including Z-Cars and Softly, Softly.

This superb big band style arrangement works brilliantly for concert band and is an ideal concert opener.

Product information
Composer Bridget Speigel
Arranger Ray Farr
Instrumentation Concert Band
Duration 3'00"
Difficulty Level Moderate