Description
Sydney Baynes (1879 – 1938) was an English conductor, composer, arranger and band leader. He gained his first employment as an organist in London and it was through his later work as a piano accompanist that he became a respected conductor for London theatres including the Adelphi and Drury Lane. It was as an arranger that he really made his mark, especially at the BBC where he worked for many years, and he also formed and conducted his own orchestra from 1928- 1938 which broadcast and recorded regularly.
Baynes’s original compositions are largely in the light music genre. The sumptuous Destiny Waltz (1912) is his most famous piece of work and was one of a series of generic waltzes based on one-word adverbs, such as Ecstasy, Loyalty, Mystery, Victory and Witchery. It was published in 1912 and sold over a million copies. It has remained a light music favourite with many people knowing the tune without necessarily knowing what it is called!
