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Radio 4 UK Theme
The ''BBC Radio 4 UK Theme'' is an orchestral arrangement of traditional British and Irish airs compiled by Fritz Spiegl and arranged by Manfred Arlan. It was played every morning on BBC Radio 4 between 23 November 1978 and 23 April 2006. The piece was used as the signature theme to introduce the daily beginning of Radio 4's broadcasting following the early morning handover from the BBC World Service. The theme was immediately followed by the Shipping Forecast. In 2006, the decision by Mark Damazer (Controller of Radio 4 at the time) to drop the Radio 4 UK Theme to make way for a "pacy news briefing" caused much controversy in the United Kingdom, including extensive discussion in the British media and even in Parliament. Austrian-born Spiegl moved to the UK as a refugee in 1939, after his parents fled Nazi persecution of Jews after the Anschluss. He had contributed several pieces of music to the BBC, including a theme for Radio 4 based on a children's skipping rhyme introduce ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fritz Spiegl
Fritz Spiegl (27 January 1926 – 23 March 2003) was an Austrian-born English musician, journalist, broadcaster, humorist and collector who lived and worked in Britain from 1939. His works include compiling the Radio 4 UK Theme in 1978. Early life Spiegl was born near the Hungarian border in the village of Zurndorf, Burgenland, Austria, where his father was a businessman manufacturing among other things carbonated water. Spiegl attended the '' Gymnasium'' in Eisenstadt but, as the family were Jewish, they were persecuted by the Nazis in the wake of the ''Anschluss'' of 1938. All their property having been confiscated, Fritz's parents succeeded in leaving the country in 1939, eventually escaping to Bolivia while sending Fritz and his older sister Hanny (born 1923) to Northamptonshire, England. On arrival in Britain, Spiegl was sent to Magdalen College School, Brackley, where he learned little beyond "rugger, plane-spotting and a bit of Latin". Eventually he went to London to work f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Londonderry Air
The "Londonderry Air" is an Irish air that originated in County Londonderry. It is popular among the North American Irish diaspora and is well known throughout the world. The tune is played as the victory sporting anthem of Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games. The song "Danny Boy" uses the tune, with a set of lyrics written in the early 20th century. History The title of the air came from the name of County Londonderry, and was collected by Jane Ross of Limavady in the county. Ross submitted the tune to music collector George Petrie, and it was then published by the Society for the Preservation and Publication of the Melodies of Ireland in the 1855 book ''The Ancient Music of Ireland'', which Petrie edited. The tune was listed as an anonymous air, with a note attributing its collection to Jane Ross of Limavady. For the following beautiful air I have to express my very grateful acknowledgement to Miss J. Ross, of New Town, Limavady, in the County of Londonderry—a l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harp
The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orchestras or concerts. Its most common form is triangular in shape and made of wood. Some have multiple rows of strings and pedal attachments. Ancient depictions of harps were recorded in Current-day Iraq (Mesopotamia), Iran (Persia), and Egypt, and later in India and China. By medieval times harps had spread across Europe. Harps were found across the Americas where it was a popular folk tradition in some areas. Distinct designs also emerged from the African continent. Harps have symbolic political traditions and are often used in logos, including in Ireland. History Harps have been known since antiquity in Asia, Africa, and Europe, dating back at least as early as 3000 BCE. The instrument had great popularity in Europe during ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cor Anglais
The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto oboe in F. The cor anglais is a transposing instrument pitched in F, a perfect fifth lower than the oboe (a C instrument). This means that music for the cor anglais is written a perfect fifth higher than the instrument sounds. The fingering and playing technique used for the cor anglais are essentially the same as those of the oboe, and oboists typically double on the cor anglais when required. The cor anglais normally lacks the lowest B key found on most oboes, and so its sounding range stretches from E3 (written B) below middle C to C6 two octaves above middle C. Description and timbre The pear-shaped bell (called Liebesfuß) of the cor anglais gives it a more covered timbre than the oboe, closer in tonal quality to the oboe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
String Instrument
String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the strings with their fingers or a plectrum—and others by hitting the strings with a light wooden hammer or by rubbing the strings with a bow. In some keyboard instruments, such as the harpsichord, the musician presses a key that plucks the string. Other musical instruments generate sound by striking the string. With bowed instruments, the player pulls a rosined horsehair bow across the strings, causing them to vibrate. With a hurdy-gurdy, the musician cranks a wheel whose rosined edge touches the strings. Bowed instruments include the string section instruments of the orchestra in Western classical music (violin, viola, cello and double bass) and a number of other instruments (e.g., viols and gambas used in early music from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rule, Britannia!
"Rule, Britannia!" is a British patriotic song, originating from the 1740 poem "Rule, Britannia" by James Thomson and set to music by Thomas Arne in the same year. It is most strongly associated with the Royal Navy, but is also used by the British Army. ''Alfred'' The song was originally the final musical number in Thomas Arne's ''Alfred'', a masque about Alfred the Great, co-written by James Thomson and David Mallet and first performed at Cliveden, the country home of Frederick, Prince of Wales, on 1 August 1740. Lyrics This version is taken from ''The Works of James Thomson'' by James Thomson, Published 1763, Vol II, p. 191, which includes the entire text of ''Alfred''. "Married to a Mermaid" In 1751 Mallet re-used the text of "Rule, Britannia!", omitting three of the original six stanzas and adding three new ones by Lord Bolingbroke, to form the repeated chorus of a comic song "Married to a Mermaid". This became extremely popular when Mallet produced his m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trombones
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate. Nearly all trombones use a telescoping slide mechanism to alter the pitch instead of the valves used by other brass instruments. The valve trombone is an exception, using three valves similar to those on a trumpet, and the superbone has valves and a slide. The word "trombone" derives from Italian ''tromba'' (trumpet) and ''-one'' (a suffix meaning "large"), so the name means "large trumpet". The trombone has a predominantly cylindrical bore like the trumpet, in contrast to the more conical brass instruments like the cornet, the euphonium, and the French horn. The most frequently encountered trombones are the tenor trombone and bass trombone. These are treated as non-transposing instruments, reading at concert pitch in bass clef, wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Horn Instrument
A horn is any of a family of musical instruments made of a tube, usually made of metal and often curved in various ways, with one narrow end into which the musician blows, and a wide end from which sound emerges. In horns, unlike some other brass instruments such as the trumpet, the bore gradually increases in width through most of its length—that is to say, it is conical rather than cylindrical. In jazz and popular-music contexts, the word may be used loosely to refer to any wind instrument, and a section of brass or woodwind instruments, or a mixture of the two, is called a horn section in these contexts. Types Variations include: *Lur (prehistoric) *Shofar *Roman horns: ** Cornu **Buccina * Dung chen *Dord * Sringa * Nyele *Wazza *Alphorn *Cornett *Serpent * Ophicleide *Natural horn **Bugle **Post horn *French horn *Vienna horn *Wagner tuba *Saxhorns, including: **Alto horn (UK: tenor horn), pitched in E ** Baritone horn, pitched in B * Valved bugles, including ** c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Early One Morning
"Early One Morning" (Roud V9617) is an English folk song with lyrics first found in publications as far back as 1787.Patrick M. Liebergen, Singer's Library of Song: Medium Voice (Alfred Music Publishing, 2005) , 164. A broadside ballad sheet in the Bodleian Library, Oxford, dated between 1828 and 1829 has the title "The Lamenting Maid" and refers to the lover leaving to become a sailor. The now well-known melody was first printed by William Chappell in his publication ''National English Airs'' c.1855-1859. The melody may be derived from an earlier song "The Forsaken Lover". Chappell wrote in his later ''Popular Music of the Olden Time'': If I were required to name three of the most popular songs among the servant-maids of the present generation, I should say, from my own experience, that they are ''Cupid's Garden'', ''I sow'd the seeds of love'', and ''Early one morning''. I have heard ''Early one morning'' sung by servants who came from Leeds, from Hereford and from Devonsh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Folk Tune
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted orally, music with unknown composers, music that is played on traditional instruments, music about cultural or national identity, music that changes between generations (folk process), music associated with a people's folklore, or music performed by custom over a long period of time. It has been contrasted with commercial and classical styles. The term originated in the 19th century, but folk music extends beyond that. Starting in the mid-20th century, a new form of popular folk music evolved from traditional folk music. This process and period is called the (second) folk revival and reached a zenith in the 1960s. This form of music is sometimes called contemporary folk music or folk reviv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
PM (BBC Radio 4)
''PM'', sometimes referred to as the ''PM programme'' to avoid ambiguity, is BBC Radio 4's long-running early evening news and current affairs programme. It is currently presented by Evan Davis and Carolyn Quinn and produced by BBC News. Broadcast times ''PM'' is broadcast from 5pm to 6pm from Monday to Friday and from 5pm to 5:30pm on Saturdays. On weekdays it is followed by another news programme, the ''Six O'Clock News''. The final five minutes of the weekday edition are only broadcast on FM as long wave breaks away from the programme at 5.54pm to broadcast the teatime shipping forecast. History ''PM'' launched on 6 April 1970, with its first presenters, William Hardcastle and Derek Cooper, promising a programme that "sums up the day, and your evening starts here".BBC Radio 4, 2007.PM History" Accessed 2007-09-10. Radio 4’s 10pm news programme ''The World Tonight'' was launched on the same day. ''PM'' made history for being the first radio news programme to feature its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Damazer
Mark David Damazer, CBE (born 15 April 1955), is a former Master of St Peter's College, Oxford, and a former controller of BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 7 in the United Kingdom. Early life and education Damazer was born on 15 April 1955. He is the son of a Polish-Jewish delicatessen owner in Willesden in North London. He is the younger brother of Benjamyn Damazer JP DL. Damazer was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School, an independent day school in the village of Elstree in Hertfordshire. He then studied history at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (from 1974), where he graduated with a double starred first in 1977. At Cambridge he had a relationship with Enoch Powell's daughter, Jenny Powell. Enoch Powell thanked him in his biography of Joseph Chamberlain. After graduating, Damazer took up a Harkness Fellowship to study at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Career Damazer returned to England to train at ITN in 1980, with fellow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
