Colin Wark

Colin Wark (1896 – 1939) was a British composer of film scores, theatre music and light music.[1] Many of the films he scored were "quota quickies", mostly low-cost, low-quality, quickly-accomplished films commissioned by American distributors active in the UK or by British cinema owners purely to satisfy the quota requirements.[2]

Pasquale Troise and his Mandoliers

Wark was also the composer of the score for Tulip Time, a comedy with music based on the play The Strange Adventures of Miss Brown by Robert Buchanan (1841-1901) and Charles Marlowe.[3] Tulip Time opened at the Alhambra Theatre in London on August 14, 1935 and ran for 425 performances.[4] In 1932 he was responsible for launching and managing Pasquale Troise and his Mandoliers, an orchestra of about 16 mandolin, accordion, guitar and tuned percussion players that made a series of BBC broadcasts between 1932 and 1933.[5] Light music compositions include the novelty intermezzo Animal Antics,[6] Bouncing Ball (xylophone or piccolo solo), and Chrysanthemums for orchestra and piano. Philip L Scowcroft has suggested that Wark used the pseudonym Michele Lesley for some compositions, such as Waltz Serene.[7]