Jason Jacobs
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198742340
- eISBN:
- 9780191695018
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198742340.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
This book explores the formative period of British television drama, concentrating on the years 1936–55. It examines the continuities and changes of early television drama, and the impact this had ...
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This book explores the formative period of British television drama, concentrating on the years 1936–55. It examines the continuities and changes of early television drama, and the impact this had upon the subsequent ‘golden age’. In particular, it questions the caricature of early television drama as ‘photographed stage plays’ and argues that early television pioneers in fact produced a diverse range of innovative drama productions, using a wide range of techniques. It also explores the often competing definitions about the form and aesthetics of early television drama both inside and outside the BBC. Given the absence of an audio-visual record of early television drama, the book uses written archive material in order to reconstruct how early television drama looked, and how it was considered by producers and critics, whilst also offering a critical examination of surviving dramas, such as Rudolph Cartier's Nineteen Eighty-Four.Less
This book explores the formative period of British television drama, concentrating on the years 1936–55. It examines the continuities and changes of early television drama, and the impact this had upon the subsequent ‘golden age’. In particular, it questions the caricature of early television drama as ‘photographed stage plays’ and argues that early television pioneers in fact produced a diverse range of innovative drama productions, using a wide range of techniques. It also explores the often competing definitions about the form and aesthetics of early television drama both inside and outside the BBC. Given the absence of an audio-visual record of early television drama, the book uses written archive material in order to reconstruct how early television drama looked, and how it was considered by producers and critics, whilst also offering a critical examination of surviving dramas, such as Rudolph Cartier's Nineteen Eighty-Four.
Cicely Saunders
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- November 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198570530
- eISBN:
- 9780191730412
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198570530.003.0020
- Subject:
- Palliative Care, Palliative Medicine Research
In 1975, Cicely Saunders published a chapter based on a talk commissioned by the Religious Department of the BBC's European Services and which was broadcast in Germany on ‘The Day of the Dead’. It ...
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In 1975, Cicely Saunders published a chapter based on a talk commissioned by the Religious Department of the BBC's European Services and which was broadcast in Germany on ‘The Day of the Dead’. It draws on both professional and personal experiences of loss and observes in the introduction: ‘From the moment when a little hoard of flints was placed in the grave of early man, the human race has laid down its dead in grief. And it has done so with the hope that somehow this was not the end, and that somewhere those flints would be needed’. Dying may be hard, but it is a process which can be marked by great achievement in which body and mind, though linked, are secondary to the spirit.Less
In 1975, Cicely Saunders published a chapter based on a talk commissioned by the Religious Department of the BBC's European Services and which was broadcast in Germany on ‘The Day of the Dead’. It draws on both professional and personal experiences of loss and observes in the introduction: ‘From the moment when a little hoard of flints was placed in the grave of early man, the human race has laid down its dead in grief. And it has done so with the hope that somehow this was not the end, and that somewhere those flints would be needed’. Dying may be hard, but it is a process which can be marked by great achievement in which body and mind, though linked, are secondary to the spirit.
Dilwyn Porter
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199226009
- eISBN:
- 9780191710315
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199226009.003.0018
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Business History
Sport in Britain, especially elite sport, has been transformed over the period since 1960, increasingly taking on the appearance and attributes of big business. This chapter discusses three important ...
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Sport in Britain, especially elite sport, has been transformed over the period since 1960, increasingly taking on the appearance and attributes of big business. This chapter discusses three important aspects of this transformation. Firstly, the institutions governing British sport, most of them dating from the era of amateur hegemony, which began in the mid 19th century, were subject to a long drawn-out process of modernization, starting in the early 1960s when the distinction between ‘gentlemen’ and ‘players’ was abandoned in English cricket and ending with the arrival of ‘open’ rugby union in 1995. Secondly, as the constraints on commercialism dating from the amateur era were progressively abandoned, sport and business became more closely related as companies began to view sports sponsorship as a cost-effective way of raising consumer awareness of the goods and services that they offered. It is argued that the demands of building relationships with sponsors helped to change the way that sports businesses were run, as the stadium gradually made way for the ‘tradium’. Thirdly, it is clear that business sponsorship, the effectiveness of which was determined by the level of television exposure, helped to push sport into an ever-closer relationship with the media, especially television. The part played by the media, especially BSkyB, in bringing about structural changes in English football and rugby league since the 1990s are explored against this backdrop.Less
Sport in Britain, especially elite sport, has been transformed over the period since 1960, increasingly taking on the appearance and attributes of big business. This chapter discusses three important aspects of this transformation. Firstly, the institutions governing British sport, most of them dating from the era of amateur hegemony, which began in the mid 19th century, were subject to a long drawn-out process of modernization, starting in the early 1960s when the distinction between ‘gentlemen’ and ‘players’ was abandoned in English cricket and ending with the arrival of ‘open’ rugby union in 1995. Secondly, as the constraints on commercialism dating from the amateur era were progressively abandoned, sport and business became more closely related as companies began to view sports sponsorship as a cost-effective way of raising consumer awareness of the goods and services that they offered. It is argued that the demands of building relationships with sponsors helped to change the way that sports businesses were run, as the stadium gradually made way for the ‘tradium’. Thirdly, it is clear that business sponsorship, the effectiveness of which was determined by the level of television exposure, helped to push sport into an ever-closer relationship with the media, especially television. The part played by the media, especially BSkyB, in bringing about structural changes in English football and rugby league since the 1990s are explored against this backdrop.
Louis Niebur
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195368406
- eISBN:
- 9780199863853
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195368406.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western, Popular
This book chronicles how in the late 1950s, the BBC established Britain's own electronic music studio, the Radiophonic Workshop, in opposition to famous academic studios in Continental Europe and ...
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This book chronicles how in the late 1950s, the BBC established Britain's own electronic music studio, the Radiophonic Workshop, in opposition to famous academic studios in Continental Europe and America. Rather than compete with these other studios, however, the BBC built a studio initially to provide its own avant‐garde dramatic productions with “special sound,” experimental sounds that were “neither music nor sound effect.” Very quickly, however, from the ashes of highbrow BBC radio drama emerged a popular lowbrow kind of electronic music in the form of quirky tonal jingles, signature tunes such as the one for Doctor Who, and incidental music for hundreds of programs lasting until the studio's closure in 1998. These influential sounds and styles, heard by millions of listeners over decades of operation on television and radio, have served as a primary inspiration for the use of electronic instruments in popular music. This history focuses on engineers, composers, directors, producers, bureaucrats, equipment, and locations to construct a narrative of the shifting perception toward electronic music in British culture. By combining a historical discussion with an analysis of specific works, this book derives new hermeneutical models for understanding how the output of the Radiophonic Workshop fits into the larger history of electronic music.Less
This book chronicles how in the late 1950s, the BBC established Britain's own electronic music studio, the Radiophonic Workshop, in opposition to famous academic studios in Continental Europe and America. Rather than compete with these other studios, however, the BBC built a studio initially to provide its own avant‐garde dramatic productions with “special sound,” experimental sounds that were “neither music nor sound effect.” Very quickly, however, from the ashes of highbrow BBC radio drama emerged a popular lowbrow kind of electronic music in the form of quirky tonal jingles, signature tunes such as the one for Doctor Who, and incidental music for hundreds of programs lasting until the studio's closure in 1998. These influential sounds and styles, heard by millions of listeners over decades of operation on television and radio, have served as a primary inspiration for the use of electronic instruments in popular music. This history focuses on engineers, composers, directors, producers, bureaucrats, equipment, and locations to construct a narrative of the shifting perception toward electronic music in British culture. By combining a historical discussion with an analysis of specific works, this book derives new hermeneutical models for understanding how the output of the Radiophonic Workshop fits into the larger history of electronic music.
Asa Briggs
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780192129307
- eISBN:
- 9780191670015
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192129307.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Cultural History
This is the second volume of a four-volume history of broadcasting in the United Kingdom. This volume covers the period from the beginning of 1927, when the BBC ceased to be a private company and ...
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This is the second volume of a four-volume history of broadcasting in the United Kingdom. This volume covers the period from the beginning of 1927, when the BBC ceased to be a private company and became a public corporation, up to the outbreak of war in 1939. The acceptance of wireless as a part of the homely background of life and the acceptance of the BBC as the ‘natural’ institution for controlling it, distinguish this period from that covered in the first volume. From 1927 to 1939 the system of public control that had evolved from the early struggles was never seriously in jeopardy and the one big official inquiry, the Ullswater Report, favoured no major constitutional changes. The main theme of the second volume, therefore, may be called the extension and the enrichment of the activity of broadcasting. Different chapters deal with the programmes and programme-makers; the listeners and the ways in which their needs were (or were not) met as the system expanded; public attitudes to the BBC and the increasing complexity of its control and organization; the coming of television and the early experiments of Baird and others; and the retirement of Sir John Reith — not only the end of a regime but the end of an era. The volume ends with preparations for war.Less
This is the second volume of a four-volume history of broadcasting in the United Kingdom. This volume covers the period from the beginning of 1927, when the BBC ceased to be a private company and became a public corporation, up to the outbreak of war in 1939. The acceptance of wireless as a part of the homely background of life and the acceptance of the BBC as the ‘natural’ institution for controlling it, distinguish this period from that covered in the first volume. From 1927 to 1939 the system of public control that had evolved from the early struggles was never seriously in jeopardy and the one big official inquiry, the Ullswater Report, favoured no major constitutional changes. The main theme of the second volume, therefore, may be called the extension and the enrichment of the activity of broadcasting. Different chapters deal with the programmes and programme-makers; the listeners and the ways in which their needs were (or were not) met as the system expanded; public attitudes to the BBC and the increasing complexity of its control and organization; the coming of television and the early experiments of Baird and others; and the retirement of Sir John Reith — not only the end of a regime but the end of an era. The volume ends with preparations for war.
Louis Niebur
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195368406
- eISBN:
- 9780199863853
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195368406.003.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western, Popular
For lowbrow comedy, children's science fiction, and experimental Third Programme broadcasts, the gradual addition of electronic noise in sound effects technicians' arsenal in the 1950s offered new ...
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For lowbrow comedy, children's science fiction, and experimental Third Programme broadcasts, the gradual addition of electronic noise in sound effects technicians' arsenal in the 1950s offered new sonic options to BBC producers. At first, the mere presence of “electronic sound” was a novelty, but soon, as these sounds began to appear in programming with greater frequency, several producers within the Drama Department began to explore Continental musical techniques. This chapter tells this history and discusses how this curiosity led to the first deliberate domestic productions using concrete techniques. It also introduces a radio‐specific adaptation of Michel Chion's concept of the acousmêtre, traditionally any sound in a film for which the source is invisible, as a way of understanding the appeal of electronic sound in both science fiction and Theatre of the Absurd productions, including Samuel Beckett's All That Fall (1957), the success of which precipitated the opening of the Radiophonic Workshop a year later.Less
For lowbrow comedy, children's science fiction, and experimental Third Programme broadcasts, the gradual addition of electronic noise in sound effects technicians' arsenal in the 1950s offered new sonic options to BBC producers. At first, the mere presence of “electronic sound” was a novelty, but soon, as these sounds began to appear in programming with greater frequency, several producers within the Drama Department began to explore Continental musical techniques. This chapter tells this history and discusses how this curiosity led to the first deliberate domestic productions using concrete techniques. It also introduces a radio‐specific adaptation of Michel Chion's concept of the acousmêtre, traditionally any sound in a film for which the source is invisible, as a way of understanding the appeal of electronic sound in both science fiction and Theatre of the Absurd productions, including Samuel Beckett's All That Fall (1957), the success of which precipitated the opening of the Radiophonic Workshop a year later.
Louis Niebur
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195368406
- eISBN:
- 9780199863853
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195368406.003.0002
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western, Popular
Opening with a discussion of the material problems encountered by the Workshop's supporters after its initial proposal, this chapter primarily concerns the aggressive but ultimately futile attempts ...
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Opening with a discussion of the material problems encountered by the Workshop's supporters after its initial proposal, this chapter primarily concerns the aggressive but ultimately futile attempts by the BBC's Music Department to prevent the studio's creation. Frightened of an academic studio under the BBC banner, and determined to protect the “rational development of music” in Britain, department heads proposed a series of often‐ridiculous alternatives to a full‐fledged electronic music studio. Ultimately, those in opposition to the studio were successful in shaping a great deal of the final studio's makeup, largely forbidding the use of the studio by outside composers and initially limiting the output of the Workshop to electronic “sound effects” for dramatic productions. The chapter then examines the studio's tiny budget, offers detailed discussion of the equipment it acquired, and explores its early compositions.Less
Opening with a discussion of the material problems encountered by the Workshop's supporters after its initial proposal, this chapter primarily concerns the aggressive but ultimately futile attempts by the BBC's Music Department to prevent the studio's creation. Frightened of an academic studio under the BBC banner, and determined to protect the “rational development of music” in Britain, department heads proposed a series of often‐ridiculous alternatives to a full‐fledged electronic music studio. Ultimately, those in opposition to the studio were successful in shaping a great deal of the final studio's makeup, largely forbidding the use of the studio by outside composers and initially limiting the output of the Workshop to electronic “sound effects” for dramatic productions. The chapter then examines the studio's tiny budget, offers detailed discussion of the equipment it acquired, and explores its early compositions.
Louis Niebur
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195368406
- eISBN:
- 9780199863853
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195368406.003.0003
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western, Popular
This chapter explores the unique form of British modernism that influenced the shift in the Radiophonic Workshop's output from abstract avant‐garde radio drama to electronic tonal music. Moving ...
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This chapter explores the unique form of British modernism that influenced the shift in the Radiophonic Workshop's output from abstract avant‐garde radio drama to electronic tonal music. Moving roughly chronologically through the major commissions of the Workshop in its first years, this chapter traces this shift, first in radio and then in television. As “sound engineers” give way to “composers” within the studio, so too does the fear from within the Music Department transform into tolerance as they realize how little the two departments overlap. The primary focus of this chapter, however, is the works; detailed attention is paid to the composition, construction, reception, and interpretation of specific commissions, and to their significance for contemporary audiences. The chapter concludes by arguing that the need for electronic music taps into a deep‐seated insecurity within Britain about the country's political, artistic, and financial position in the 1950s and 1960s.Less
This chapter explores the unique form of British modernism that influenced the shift in the Radiophonic Workshop's output from abstract avant‐garde radio drama to electronic tonal music. Moving roughly chronologically through the major commissions of the Workshop in its first years, this chapter traces this shift, first in radio and then in television. As “sound engineers” give way to “composers” within the studio, so too does the fear from within the Music Department transform into tolerance as they realize how little the two departments overlap. The primary focus of this chapter, however, is the works; detailed attention is paid to the composition, construction, reception, and interpretation of specific commissions, and to their significance for contemporary audiences. The chapter concludes by arguing that the need for electronic music taps into a deep‐seated insecurity within Britain about the country's political, artistic, and financial position in the 1950s and 1960s.
Louis Niebur
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195368406
- eISBN:
- 9780199863853
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195368406.003.0004
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western, Popular
In 1965 the first synthesizers arrived at the Workshop. Chapter 4 discusses the impact of their arrival, with a detailed discussion both of the features of these early synthesizers and of the ways ...
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In 1965 the first synthesizers arrived at the Workshop. Chapter 4 discusses the impact of their arrival, with a detailed discussion both of the features of these early synthesizers and of the ways they were used by composers such as Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson. It also discusses how, for the first time, “nonspecialist” composers like Dudley Simpson were allowed to use the facilities of the Workshop in their BBC commissions. One of the fundamental shifts in composition resulting from the use of synthesizers rather than tape techniques was the move away from abstract sounds toward fixed pitches, resulting in even more tonally centered works. Pieces no longer blurred the boundaries of sound effect and music, tending instead to imitate traditionally composed tonal music in an electronic idiom.Less
In 1965 the first synthesizers arrived at the Workshop. Chapter 4 discusses the impact of their arrival, with a detailed discussion both of the features of these early synthesizers and of the ways they were used by composers such as Delia Derbyshire and Brian Hodgson. It also discusses how, for the first time, “nonspecialist” composers like Dudley Simpson were allowed to use the facilities of the Workshop in their BBC commissions. One of the fundamental shifts in composition resulting from the use of synthesizers rather than tape techniques was the move away from abstract sounds toward fixed pitches, resulting in even more tonally centered works. Pieces no longer blurred the boundaries of sound effect and music, tending instead to imitate traditionally composed tonal music in an electronic idiom.
Louis Niebur
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195368406
- eISBN:
- 9780199863853
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195368406.003.0005
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western, Popular
Throughout the 1970s, synthesizers continually dropped in price while improving in design and ease of use; consequently, electronic music was no longer only within the financial range of universities ...
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Throughout the 1970s, synthesizers continually dropped in price while improving in design and ease of use; consequently, electronic music was no longer only within the financial range of universities and government‐funded institutions such as the BBC. In particular, the success of popular artists such as Pink Floyd (who earlier had actually used the equipment at the Workshop), Vangelis, and Jean‐Michel Jarre forced the composers at the Radiophonic Workshop to adapt their compositional style. Especially with the addition of pop musician Paddy Kingsland, the general tone of the Workshop's output changed: a distinctly commercial pop sound was combined with a tech‐heavy emphasis on electronic production.Less
Throughout the 1970s, synthesizers continually dropped in price while improving in design and ease of use; consequently, electronic music was no longer only within the financial range of universities and government‐funded institutions such as the BBC. In particular, the success of popular artists such as Pink Floyd (who earlier had actually used the equipment at the Workshop), Vangelis, and Jean‐Michel Jarre forced the composers at the Radiophonic Workshop to adapt their compositional style. Especially with the addition of pop musician Paddy Kingsland, the general tone of the Workshop's output changed: a distinctly commercial pop sound was combined with a tech‐heavy emphasis on electronic production.
Louis Niebur
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195368406
- eISBN:
- 9780199863853
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195368406.003.0006
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western, Popular
In the 1980s, the Workshop composed hundreds of pop electronic incidental scores for successful, influential television programs such as Doctor Who, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the ...
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In the 1980s, the Workshop composed hundreds of pop electronic incidental scores for successful, influential television programs such as Doctor Who, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the ongoing BBC Schools production Look and Read. And with the adoption of the Mac computer, the Workshop became one of the most sophisticated MIDI‐controlled studios in Europe. Ultimately, however, as popular music continued to adopt electronic techniques, the lack of a unique sound at the Workshop led to its gradual decline, and the BBC's decision that all departments must be self‐sufficient led to the Workshop's closure in 1998.Less
In the 1980s, the Workshop composed hundreds of pop electronic incidental scores for successful, influential television programs such as Doctor Who, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the ongoing BBC Schools production Look and Read. And with the adoption of the Mac computer, the Workshop became one of the most sophisticated MIDI‐controlled studios in Europe. Ultimately, however, as popular music continued to adopt electronic techniques, the lack of a unique sound at the Workshop led to its gradual decline, and the BBC's decision that all departments must be self‐sufficient led to the Workshop's closure in 1998.
W. G. Runciman
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263297
- eISBN:
- 9780191734519
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263297.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter discusses the information provided by the Hutton Report and the Butler Report concerning the bases of the British government's decision to join the U.S. in overturning Saddam Hussein for ...
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This chapter discusses the information provided by the Hutton Report and the Butler Report concerning the bases of the British government's decision to join the U.S. in overturning Saddam Hussein for his alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It suggests that nothing revealed in the reports could bring an agreement to whether British Prime Minister Tony Blair was right in his decision, but those who have read the reports could surely conclude that the government, the intelligence services, and the BBC fell short of what have been expected of them at a time when Britain was on the brink of being taken into a war. It discusses the similarities between the Iraq War and the Suez Canal conflict.Less
This chapter discusses the information provided by the Hutton Report and the Butler Report concerning the bases of the British government's decision to join the U.S. in overturning Saddam Hussein for his alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It suggests that nothing revealed in the reports could bring an agreement to whether British Prime Minister Tony Blair was right in his decision, but those who have read the reports could surely conclude that the government, the intelligence services, and the BBC fell short of what have been expected of them at a time when Britain was on the brink of being taken into a war. It discusses the similarities between the Iraq War and the Suez Canal conflict.
Onora O’Neill
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263297
- eISBN:
- 9780191734519
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263297.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, UK Politics
This chapter examines the issues of accuracy and trust involved in the Hutton Report. It explains that Lord Hutton's interpretation of the events surrounding the death of David Kelly led him to focus ...
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This chapter examines the issues of accuracy and trust involved in the Hutton Report. It explains that Lord Hutton's interpretation of the events surrounding the death of David Kelly led him to focus on a range of accusations and counter-accusations. The British government and the BBC had accused one another of inaccuracy and of making partly untruthful claims. This chapter suggests that though many of the documents disclosed in the Hutton Report rely on procedures that help secure accuracy, some of the people quoted in the report made claims that turned out to be inaccurate and they also dispensed with procedures that are important for securing accuracy.Less
This chapter examines the issues of accuracy and trust involved in the Hutton Report. It explains that Lord Hutton's interpretation of the events surrounding the death of David Kelly led him to focus on a range of accusations and counter-accusations. The British government and the BBC had accused one another of inaccuracy and of making partly untruthful claims. This chapter suggests that though many of the documents disclosed in the Hutton Report rely on procedures that help secure accuracy, some of the people quoted in the report made claims that turned out to be inaccurate and they also dispensed with procedures that are important for securing accuracy.
Steve Reich
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195151152
- eISBN:
- 9780199850044
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195151152.003.0058
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
This chapter presents Reich's thoughts about Proverb, which was cocommissioned by the BBC Proms as part of their 100th Anniversary season in 1995 and by the Early Music Festival of Utrecht. The idea ...
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This chapter presents Reich's thoughts about Proverb, which was cocommissioned by the BBC Proms as part of their 100th Anniversary season in 1995 and by the Early Music Festival of Utrecht. The idea for Proverb was originally suggested by Paul Hillier, who thought of a primarily vocal piece with six voices and two percussion. What resulted was a piece for three sopranos, two tenors, two vibraphones, and two electric organs, with a short text from Ludwig Wittgenstein. Since Paul Hillier is well known as a conductor and singer of early music and since Reich shares an interest in this period of Western music, he looked once again at the works of Perotin for guidance and inspiration.Less
This chapter presents Reich's thoughts about Proverb, which was cocommissioned by the BBC Proms as part of their 100th Anniversary season in 1995 and by the Early Music Festival of Utrecht. The idea for Proverb was originally suggested by Paul Hillier, who thought of a primarily vocal piece with six voices and two percussion. What resulted was a piece for three sopranos, two tenors, two vibraphones, and two electric organs, with a short text from Ludwig Wittgenstein. Since Paul Hillier is well known as a conductor and singer of early music and since Reich shares an interest in this period of Western music, he looked once again at the works of Perotin for guidance and inspiration.
Pierluigi Petrobelli and Roger Parker
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264348
- eISBN:
- 9780191734250
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264348.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
Julian Medford Budden (1924–2007), a Fellow of the British Academy, was the finest scholar of nineteenth-century Italian opera of his generation. He will be remembered for his achievements as a ...
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Julian Medford Budden (1924–2007), a Fellow of the British Academy, was the finest scholar of nineteenth-century Italian opera of his generation. He will be remembered for his achievements as a producer at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), for his broadcasts and reviews, and above all for his books on Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini. Indeed, his passing leaves a huge gap in the field of opera studies. Budden was born in Hoylake, near Liverpool, on April 9, 1924, the only child of Lionel Budden and Maud Budden. In 1951 he started at the BBC, where he remained for his entire working life. Budden's first post was as a clerk and script editor; he then rose through the ranks to become a producer, Chief Producer of Opera, and finally External Services Music Organizer. Two aspects of Budden's background were likely to have been fundamental to his scholarly achievement: his exposure to Classics at Oxford University and his career in BBC Radio.Less
Julian Medford Budden (1924–2007), a Fellow of the British Academy, was the finest scholar of nineteenth-century Italian opera of his generation. He will be remembered for his achievements as a producer at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), for his broadcasts and reviews, and above all for his books on Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini. Indeed, his passing leaves a huge gap in the field of opera studies. Budden was born in Hoylake, near Liverpool, on April 9, 1924, the only child of Lionel Budden and Maud Budden. In 1951 he started at the BBC, where he remained for his entire working life. Budden's first post was as a clerk and script editor; he then rose through the ranks to become a producer, Chief Producer of Opera, and finally External Services Music Organizer. Two aspects of Budden's background were likely to have been fundamental to his scholarly achievement: his exposure to Classics at Oxford University and his career in BBC Radio.
Christina L. Baade
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195372014
- eISBN:
- 9780199918287
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372014.001.0001
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western, Popular
This book examines how the British Broadcasting Corporation mobilized popular music to support the war effort on the home front and among the forces overseas. To an unprecedented degree, the wartime ...
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This book examines how the British Broadcasting Corporation mobilized popular music to support the war effort on the home front and among the forces overseas. To an unprecedented degree, the wartime BBC programmed popular music and studied its audiences in order to build national unity, boost morale, and increase industrial production. The BBC also used popular music and jazz to promote the wartime values of virile masculinity, greater public participation for women, Anglo-American friendship, and pride in a common British culture. At the same time that it developed special programming for women factory workers and male soldiers, however, the BBC also came into uneasy contact with the threats of (ef)feminized sentimentality, Americanization, and new representations of nonwhite, racialized “Others.” It responded by regulating and even censoring popular music repertories and performers while listeners, the press, and Parliament energetically debated its decisions. Throughout the war, broadcast performances by singers like Vera Lynn and Anne Shelton; bandleaders including Geraldo, Victor Silvester, Harry Parry, and Glenn Miller; and theater organists like Sandy Macpherson helped reshape and reframe prewar understandings of gender, race, class, and nationality for the nation at war. This book argues that, rather than providing the soundtrack for a unified “People’s War,” popular music broadcasting at the BBC exposed the divergent ideologies, tastes, and perspectives of the nation.Less
This book examines how the British Broadcasting Corporation mobilized popular music to support the war effort on the home front and among the forces overseas. To an unprecedented degree, the wartime BBC programmed popular music and studied its audiences in order to build national unity, boost morale, and increase industrial production. The BBC also used popular music and jazz to promote the wartime values of virile masculinity, greater public participation for women, Anglo-American friendship, and pride in a common British culture. At the same time that it developed special programming for women factory workers and male soldiers, however, the BBC also came into uneasy contact with the threats of (ef)feminized sentimentality, Americanization, and new representations of nonwhite, racialized “Others.” It responded by regulating and even censoring popular music repertories and performers while listeners, the press, and Parliament energetically debated its decisions. Throughout the war, broadcast performances by singers like Vera Lynn and Anne Shelton; bandleaders including Geraldo, Victor Silvester, Harry Parry, and Glenn Miller; and theater organists like Sandy Macpherson helped reshape and reframe prewar understandings of gender, race, class, and nationality for the nation at war. This book argues that, rather than providing the soundtrack for a unified “People’s War,” popular music broadcasting at the BBC exposed the divergent ideologies, tastes, and perspectives of the nation.
Simon J. Potter
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199568963
- eISBN:
- 9780191741821
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199568963.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Cultural History
This book analyses the attempts of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to use broadcasting as a tool of empire. From an early stage the corporation sought to unite home listeners with their ...
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This book analyses the attempts of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to use broadcasting as a tool of empire. From an early stage the corporation sought to unite home listeners with their counterparts in the wider British world, particularly in the British settler diaspora in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The BBC saw this as part of its public-service mandate, and also as a means to strengthen its position at home: by broadcasting to and about the empire, it built up its own broadcasting empire. The BBC encouraged overseas the spread of the British approach to broadcasting, in preference to the American commercial model. During the 1930s it tried to work with the public broadcasting authorities that were established in the ‘dominions’: initially, these efforts met with limited success, but more progress was made in the later 1930s. High culture, royal ceremonies, sport, and even comedy were used to project Britishness, particularly on the BBC Empire Service, the predecessor of today's World Service. Commonwealth broadcasting collaboration intensified during the Second World War, and reached its climax during the late 1940s and 1950s. Belatedly, at this stage the BBC also began to consider the role of broadcasting in Africa and Asia, as a means to encourage ‘development’ and to combat resistance to continued colonial rule. However, during the 1960s, as decolonization entered its final, accelerated phase, the BBC staged its own imperial retreat.Less
This book analyses the attempts of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to use broadcasting as a tool of empire. From an early stage the corporation sought to unite home listeners with their counterparts in the wider British world, particularly in the British settler diaspora in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The BBC saw this as part of its public-service mandate, and also as a means to strengthen its position at home: by broadcasting to and about the empire, it built up its own broadcasting empire. The BBC encouraged overseas the spread of the British approach to broadcasting, in preference to the American commercial model. During the 1930s it tried to work with the public broadcasting authorities that were established in the ‘dominions’: initially, these efforts met with limited success, but more progress was made in the later 1930s. High culture, royal ceremonies, sport, and even comedy were used to project Britishness, particularly on the BBC Empire Service, the predecessor of today's World Service. Commonwealth broadcasting collaboration intensified during the Second World War, and reached its climax during the late 1940s and 1950s. Belatedly, at this stage the BBC also began to consider the role of broadcasting in Africa and Asia, as a means to encourage ‘development’ and to combat resistance to continued colonial rule. However, during the 1960s, as decolonization entered its final, accelerated phase, the BBC staged its own imperial retreat.
Frank Christianson
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748625086
- eISBN:
- 9780748652068
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748625086.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
This book examines the issue of British propaganda to France during the Second World War and aims to show the value of the propaganda campaign to the British war effort. It surveys the organisation, ...
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This book examines the issue of British propaganda to France during the Second World War and aims to show the value of the propaganda campaign to the British war effort. It surveys the organisation, operation and nature of the British propaganda effort towards the French people, including both white propaganda (BBC broadcasts and leaflets dropped by the RAF) and black propaganda (secret broadcasting stations, documents purporting to come from the Germans in France or distributed in France using clandestine methods and rumours). Finally the book examines the contemporary British understanding of the French and German reception of and reaction to this propaganda material, to show whether the campaign was an effective and well-directed use of resources. Almost all examinations of British foreign propaganda during the Second World War have focused on propaganda directed towards Germany. British propaganda to France, which in terms of quantity of output was actually the most important area of British propaganda, has never been examined in depth until now. The book adds a further chapter to our knowledge of propaganda in the Second World War, especially in the conduct of psychological warfare. It also touches on better-known areas such as RAF Bomber Command and its Operational Training Units, which handled aerial dissemination of British white propaganda leaflets over France, and the Special Operations Executive in France, which worked closely with the Political Warfare Executive in delivering much black propaganda.Less
This book examines the issue of British propaganda to France during the Second World War and aims to show the value of the propaganda campaign to the British war effort. It surveys the organisation, operation and nature of the British propaganda effort towards the French people, including both white propaganda (BBC broadcasts and leaflets dropped by the RAF) and black propaganda (secret broadcasting stations, documents purporting to come from the Germans in France or distributed in France using clandestine methods and rumours). Finally the book examines the contemporary British understanding of the French and German reception of and reaction to this propaganda material, to show whether the campaign was an effective and well-directed use of resources. Almost all examinations of British foreign propaganda during the Second World War have focused on propaganda directed towards Germany. British propaganda to France, which in terms of quantity of output was actually the most important area of British propaganda, has never been examined in depth until now. The book adds a further chapter to our knowledge of propaganda in the Second World War, especially in the conduct of psychological warfare. It also touches on better-known areas such as RAF Bomber Command and its Operational Training Units, which handled aerial dissemination of British white propaganda leaflets over France, and the Special Operations Executive in France, which worked closely with the Political Warfare Executive in delivering much black propaganda.
Christina L. Baade
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195372014
- eISBN:
- 9780199918287
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372014.003.0010
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western, Popular
The book concludes with a consideration of VE-Day and the initial shape of the better postwar future promised by the People's War. Near the end of the war, BBC Listener Research began to recognize ...
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The book concludes with a consideration of VE-Day and the initial shape of the better postwar future promised by the People's War. Near the end of the war, BBC Listener Research began to recognize that the omnibus category of dance music was really comprised of several different genres with their own distinct audiences. The BBC concluded that the youthful minority audience of swing fans, which had coalesced through Radio Rhythm Club and wartime service, deserved special programming, laying the groundwork for the broadcasting of traditional jazz, skiffle, and eventually rock ’n’ roll. Meanwhile, the BBC renewed its commitment to big bands and dance music, which dominated the postwar Light Programme and served as a bulwark against Americanization well into the rock era.Less
The book concludes with a consideration of VE-Day and the initial shape of the better postwar future promised by the People's War. Near the end of the war, BBC Listener Research began to recognize that the omnibus category of dance music was really comprised of several different genres with their own distinct audiences. The BBC concluded that the youthful minority audience of swing fans, which had coalesced through Radio Rhythm Club and wartime service, deserved special programming, laying the groundwork for the broadcasting of traditional jazz, skiffle, and eventually rock ’n’ roll. Meanwhile, the BBC renewed its commitment to big bands and dance music, which dominated the postwar Light Programme and served as a bulwark against Americanization well into the rock era.
Christina L. Baade
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195372014
- eISBN:
- 9780199918287
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195372014.003.0005
- Subject:
- Music, History, Western, Popular
Chapter 4 addresses how wartime notions of masculinity, escapism, and morale affected the BBC's efforts to provide high-quality dance music. As Britain faced the Blitzkrieg and military defeats ...
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Chapter 4 addresses how wartime notions of masculinity, escapism, and morale affected the BBC's efforts to provide high-quality dance music. As Britain faced the Blitzkrieg and military defeats throughout 1940 and 1941, broadcast dance music and dancing were important morale boosters. Nevertheless, the government resisted reserving dance musicians from the call-up, and civilian bands lost players while critics held them to be unmanly shirkers. To cope with the shortage, the BBC developed a Dance Band Scheme, which involved indefinite contracts for two bandleaders, the respectable, middlebrow Jack Payne and the modern, innovative Geraldo. It was Victor Silvester who best reconciled wartime manliness with dance music, however. In BBC Dancing Club,he positioned dancing as an activity that supported wartime goals of fitness and social harmony. Whether broadcasting entertaining music for listeners or dancers, however, dance musicians had to position themselves carefully as fully masculine, British, and patriotic.Less
Chapter 4 addresses how wartime notions of masculinity, escapism, and morale affected the BBC's efforts to provide high-quality dance music. As Britain faced the Blitzkrieg and military defeats throughout 1940 and 1941, broadcast dance music and dancing were important morale boosters. Nevertheless, the government resisted reserving dance musicians from the call-up, and civilian bands lost players while critics held them to be unmanly shirkers. To cope with the shortage, the BBC developed a Dance Band Scheme, which involved indefinite contracts for two bandleaders, the respectable, middlebrow Jack Payne and the modern, innovative Geraldo. It was Victor Silvester who best reconciled wartime manliness with dance music, however. In BBC Dancing Club,he positioned dancing as an activity that supported wartime goals of fitness and social harmony. Whether broadcasting entertaining music for listeners or dancers, however, dance musicians had to position themselves carefully as fully masculine, British, and patriotic.
