Boston Pops at Home: Short Films | The Typewriter

The Typewriter is one of composer Leroy Anderson’s best-loved works, which he composed in 1950. In 1972 when the composer was the special guest on our PBS television show “Evening at Pops,” Fiedler asked Leroy Anderson to take the podium and conduct the orchestra while Fiedler played the percussive ‘carriage return’. This film in tribute to Fiedler, was inspired by that performance.
Best known for the holiday classic, Sleigh Ride, written during a heatwave in July of 1946, Leroy Anderson became the mid-century master of delightful miniature compositions, which are still beloved today for their intelligent, entertaining musicality. As John Williams has said, “When we think of the Pops we think of Leroy Anderson. We think of his light music, which fit the orchestra and fit the mood of Fiedler’s concerts and was done with such skill.”
A Massachusetts native, Anderson first came to the attention of Arthur Fiedler in the mid 1930s while director of the Harvard Band, and with Fiedler’s encouragement, many of his early compositions were premiered by the Boston Pops. Anderson went on to a successful composing and conducting career, recording his own compositions on Decca for over a decade, while maintaining a special relationship with his hometown orchestra.
Film produced by Susan Dangel and Dick Bartlett, recording by the Boston Pops Orchestra.
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