Flanders and Swann were a British comedy duo. Lyricist, actor and singer Michael Flanders (1922–1975) and composer and pianist Donald Swann (1923–1994) collaborated in writing and performing comic songs. They first worked together in a school revue in 1939 and eventually wrote more than 100 comic songs together. So we begin with one of their most popoular songs – Have Some Maderia M’Dear. I particularly enjoy the twist at the end and the expression on Michael Flanders face as he sings it.
In December 1956, Flanders and Swann performed their own two-man revue At the Drop of a Hat, which opened on New Year’s Eve. Flanders sang a selection of the songs that they had written, interspersed with comic monologues, accompanied by Swann on the piano. An unusual feature of their act was that both men remained seated for their shows: Swann behind his piano and Flanders in a wheelchair (having contracted poliomyelitis in 1943). The show was successful and ran for over two years, before touring in the UK, the United States, Canada and Switzerland. In 1963, Flanders and Swann opened in a second revue, At the Drop of Another Hat. Over the next four years they toured a combination of the two shows in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and Canada. Both revues were recorded in concert by George Martin (of Beatles fame), and the duo also made several studio recordings.
Our second selection is taken from the same concert in the USA. Flanders’s words are sung to a slightly cut version, with cadenza, of the rondo finale of Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 4 in E Flat Major, (K. 495). It has to be sung since Flanders’s French horn was apparently stolen.This is only live version that I could find, the poster has added the lyrics. They are fine except for the translation of Tricky for Tutti and I am not sure that gawn is the correct spelling for gorn. It is deceptively entitled ‘Ill Wind’.
Over the course of 11 years, Flanders and Swann gave nearly 2,000 live performances. Although their performing partnership ended in 1967, they remained friends afterwards and collaborated on occasional projects. They were particularly noted for their collection of animal songs of which this is the most famous (because of its memorable chorus, “Mud, mud, glorious mud”) and was usually performed as their encore. It is of course The Hippopotamus Song.
If you have enjoyed these excerpts then you may like to watch a complete concert, which I have included for your delectation.
