Polla's Clover Garden Orchestra - Moonlight And Roses

Although this tune seems to have been very popular back then taking into account the many versions of sheet music I found, recordings appear to be rare. Fortunately I found a very fine one by this totally forgotten Edison band. The orchestra presented here was led by William Conrad Polla (1876-1939). One of the least known of the novelty pianists, W.C.Polla was also a leader, arranger, and composer. In the early 1920s, he led his own orchestra, well recorded on Edison Diamond Discs, but disbanded in 1925, just two years before his 1927 hit song "Dancing Tambourine" was recorded by Paul Whiteman, The Radiolites and others. Aside from this one popular work, he is completely forgotten today. Still, he did enjoy a varied career, mostly as a conductor and arranger for New York musical productions. Polla also owned his own publishing house, the W.C. Polla Company, for a few years. Polla was a prolific composer, writing over 60 songs in total, including a large number of popular songs, several ragtime works as well as some orchestral works. The present recording was made in 1925. Vocal chorus by Helen Clark and Charles Hart.