"... I now present one of the outstanding bands in the nation. In this kingdom of swing there's terrific competition, as you can understand. Twenty million of the youth of this nation have taken swing unto themselves, and it's gradually sneakin' up on some of the old folks. And in this kingdom just a year ago a modest young boy with a great gift of orchestration and projection came along and captured the youth of the nation of popular melodies. It affords me great joy to have him on this program and to present to you for the final band of the night one of the most popular bands in the United States at the moment -- Mr. Glenn Miller!"
[The last sentence is on the first track of this album.]
With the conclusion of these introductory words by Paul Whiteman there came a thunderous burst of applause from the audience and Glenn Miller and his orchestra went into Moonlight Serenade.
The place was Carnegie Hall on the night of October 6, 1939. The occasion was a Festival of American Music, sponsored by ASCAP (the American Society of Composed, Authors and Publishers) in celebration of its twenty-fifth anniversary. For a full week all that was great in American music in the way of composers, artists and musicians was spotlighted in a series of concerts at Carnegie Hall. The concert for which Glenn was asked to play was described in the program as follows:
"Friday Evening, October 6, 1939: On this occasion modern, symphonic and popular interpretive bands will play the outstanding works in this medium and four of the most famous modern orchestras and in the world will participate ... America has led the world in this field of composition and orchestration and the Society has engaged the best interpreters to assist us celebrate."
This album is the recording made of the Glenn Miller Orchestra during the performance that night. The music pours forth in the vital, swinging style that has made the Glenn Miller aggregation known and loved throughout the world.
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