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Harry Desmond Briscoe (21 June 1925 – 7 December 2006) was an English
composer, sound engineer and studio manager. He was the co-founder and original manager of the pioneering
BBC Radiophonic Workshop
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electroni ...
.
Born in
Birkenhead
Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...
, and a drama studio manager for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
in the 1950s, Briscoe began to develop an interest in the use of electronic and electroacoustic techniques as a source of material for productions. Along with
Daphne Oram
Daphne Blake Oram (31 December 1925 – 5 January 2003) was a British composer and electronic musician. She was one of the first British composers to produce electronic sound, and was an early practitioner of musique concrète in the UK. As a co ...
, he worked on the BBC Radio production of
Samuel Beckett’s ''All That Fall'' (:13 January 1957),
Giles Cooper's ''The Disagreeable Oyster'' (:15 August 1957), and
Frederick Bradnum
Frederick Bradnum (8 May 1920 – 25 December 2001), was a British radio dramatist, producer, and director who penned over 70 plays and 140 dramatisations of novels for the BBC. Along with the likes of Tom Mallin, Jennifer Phillips, Peter Tegel ...
's ''Private Dreams and Public Nightmares'' (:7 October 1957). These works featured some of the earliest electronic effects used by the BBC and highlighted the need for a facility to provide such material.
In 1958, Briscoe and Oram founded the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, with a remit to provide material for use in BBC radio and television programmes. Some of his first work with the workshop involved providing sounds for the science-fiction serial ''
Quatermass and the Pit'' (1958–59).
To coincide with the opening of
BBC Television Centre
Television Centre (TVC) is a building complex in White City, West London, that was the headquarters of BBC Television between 1960 and 2013. After a refurbishment, the complex reopened in 2017 with three studios in use for TV production, opera ...
in 1960, his electronic arrangement of
Eric Coates
Eric Francis Harrison Coates (27 August 1886 – 21 December 1957) was an English composer of light music and, early in his career, a leading viola, violist.
Coates was born into a musical family, but, despite his wishes and obvious talent, ...
' ''Television March'' replaced the orchestral arrangement for the introduction to the 2.00pm BBC News bulletin. This was not met with universal approval, being described as "Orwellian" by one correspondent to the ''
Radio Times'', but it brought their work to wider notice on BBC Television.
[''Radio Times'', 1960, Volume 149, p.59]
Under his direction the Workshop grew from being a small back room department to being one of the most acclaimed electronic studios in the world. He remained with the Workshop until 1983, although he stepped back from organisation duties in 1977. In 1983, with
Roy Curtis-Bramwell, he wrote a retrospective of the Workshop entitled ''The First 25 Years: The BBC Radiophonic Workshop''.
The 1969 BBC album ''Narrow Boats - Voices, Sounds and Songs of the Canals'' (REB 56M) was arranged and produced by Desmond Briscoe, and edited by
Dick Mills
Dick Mills (born 1936) is a British sound engineer, specialising in electronic sound effects which he produced at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
Mills was one of the original staff at the Radiophonic Workshop, joining in 1958 as a technical as ...
of the Radiophonic Workshop, using recordings from the
BBC Sound Archive
The BBC Sound Archive is a collection of audio recordings maintained by the BBC and founded in 1936. Its recordings date back to the late 19th century and include many rare items, including contemporary speeches by public and political figures, fo ...
.
Bibliography
* Desmond Briscoe, Roy Curtis-Bramwell, ''The BBC Radiophonic Workshop: the first 25 years'' (BBC Books, 1983)
References
External links
*
Obituaryfrom ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''
Obituaryfrom ''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
''
Obituaryfrom ''
The Stage
''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...
''
Obituaryfrom ''Last Word'' (
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
)
Obituaryfrom ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Briscoe, Desmond
1925 births
2006 deaths
BBC Radiophonic Workshop
English composers
English electronic musicians
People from Birkenhead
Classical musicians associated with the BBC