Archibald Joyce (25 May 1873 – 22 March 1963) was an English light music composer of the early 20th century. Often regarded as the "English Waltz King," he is known for short compositions such as Dream of Autumn and

Vision of Salome Vision, Visions, or The Vision may refer to: Perception Optical perception * Visual perception, the sense of sight * Visual system, the physical mechanism of eyesight * Computer vision, a field dealing with how computers can be made to gain und ...

, both of which were part of the

White Star Line The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between t ...

's orchestra repertoire.

Life

Joyce was born in Belgravia, London in May 1873. He began composing at a young age and became well-known for writing

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

es. Joyce died in 1963 at the age of 89.

Works

Waltzes

Joyce first came to prominence with the publication of his waltz ''Dream of Autumn'' (''Songe d'Automne'' in French) in 1908 originally written for piano. The following year he repeated this success with the waltz ''Vision of Salome'' (1909) also written for piano. His music was immensely popular with dance orchestras of the period along with amateur pianists. The piano solo sheet music for his waltzes sold in very large quantities in the UK. He continued primarily with his distinctive waltzes until the start of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. His other successes during this period were ''Dreaming'' waltz (1911), ''Charming'' and ''The Passing of Salome'' waltzes (1912), ''1000 Kisses'' and ''Always Gay'' waltzes (1913) and ''Remembrance'' (1914). His music was familiar worldwide during its period. His

"Dreaming" was provided with lyrics by

Earl Carroll Earl Carroll (September 16, 1893 – June 17, 1948) was an American theatrical producer, director, writer, songwriter and composer. Early life Carroll was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1893. He lived as an infant in the Nunnery Hill ( Fine ...

and introduced in the US by Miss

Kitty Gordon Kitty Gordon (born Constance Minnie Blades; 22 April 1878 – 26 May 1974) was an English stage and silent film actress. Career Constance Minnie Blades was born in Folkestone, Kent, to Col. Blades of the Royal Artillery. Her first professional s ...

Oliver Morosco Oliver Morosco (June 20, 1875 – August 25, 1945) was an American theatrical producer, director, writer, film producer, and theater owner. He owned the Morosco Photoplay Company. He brought many of his theater actors to the screen. Frank A. Garb ...

's comedy with music, ''Pretty Mrs Smith'' (1913). "Songe d'Automne" ("Autumn Dream") and "1000 Kisses" were incorporated into

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

's latter-day

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

added to his ''

The Gold Rush ''The Gold Rush'' is a 1925 American silent comedy film written, produced, and directed by Charlie Chaplin. The film also stars Chaplin in his Little Tramp persona, Georgia Hale, Mack Swain, Tom Murray, Henry Bergman, and Malcolm Waite. Chapl ...

''. In the US a conventional method of gaining public exposure for a song was to arrange to have it included in a

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...

: in this way Joyce's "Vision of Salome" (1909) was included in

Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. Florenz Edward Ziegfeld Jr. (; March 21, 1867 – July 22, 1932) was an American Broadway impresario, notable for his series of theatrical revues, the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' (1907–1931), inspired by the ''Folies Bergère'' of Paris. He also p ...

's ''Follies of 1910''."Vision of Salome"
''levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu'', accessed 1 November 2018

Musicals

He co-wrote the musical ''Toto'' with Merlin Morgan (musical director of

Daly's Theatre Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937. The theatre was built for and named after the American impresar ...

in London). After a try-out in Plymouth it opened at London's

Duke of York's Theatre The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre until her death in 1935. Designed by th ...

on 19 April 1916. Despite good initial reviews it did not take off and was withdrawn after only 77 performances.

Post-war

In the 1920s, he was credited as conducting "the first modern dance band in Britain"; with it he recorded for HMV in 1912. He continued conducting his own orchestra for a number of years until the early 1920s. During the early 1920s, his orchestras recorded material for the

Aeolian Company The Aeolian Company was a musical-instrument making firm whose products included player organs, pianos, sheet music, records and phonographs. Founded in 1887, it was at one point the world's largest such firm. During the mid 20th century, it surpas ...

Vocalion Records Vocalion Records is an American record company and label. History The label was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Company, a maker of pianos and organs, as Aeolian-Vocalion; the company also sold phonographs under the Vocalion name. "Aeolian" was ...

label in London. He had recorded for the

Gramophone Company The Gramophone Company Limited (The Gramophone Co. Ltd.), based in the United Kingdom and founded by Emil Berliner, was one of the early recording companies, the parent organisation for the ''His Master's Voice (HMV)'' label, and the European ...

HMV-label in London as early as 1912 previously. Following the 1920s, Joyce's last notable composition was ''Bohemia – concert waltz for piano'' (1942).

Titanic

It is likely that passengers heard Joyce's compositions played during their time aboard RMS ''Titanic''. In fact, the White Star Line Songbook (which the orchestra members were required to memorize) contained several works by Joyce such as: ''Passing of Salome, A Thousand Kisses, Sweet Memories, Vision d'Amour, Love and Life in Holland, Vision of Salome,'' and ''Dream of Autumn.''

Harold Bride Harold Sydney Bride (11 January 1890 – 29 April 1956) was a British merchant seaman and the junior wireless officer on the ocean liner RMS ''Titanic'' during its ill-fated maiden voyage. After the ''Titanic'' struck an iceberg at 11:40 pm 14 ...

claimed the orchestra aboard Titanic played "Autumn" as it sank. This has led to speculation that Bride was in fact referring to ''Dream of Autumn'', which was part of the repertoire of the Songbook.''Encyclopedia Titanica'': "Songe d'Automne"
''encyclopedia-titanica.org'', accessed 27 October 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Joyce, Archibald English composers Light music composers Romantic composers 1873 births 1963 deaths