Lawrence Clive Shove (5 November 1923 – 2 April 1995) was a British
sound recordist
Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording te ...
, specialising in field recordings of wildlife.
The "Shove collection of British wildlife" at the
National Sound Archive
The British Library Sound Archive, formerly the British Institute of Recorded Sound; also known as the National Sound Archive (NSA), in London, England is among the largest collections of recorded sound in the world, including music, spoken word a ...
(NSA), part of the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
comprises 243 reels of his recordings, on
magnetic tape.
In 1969, Shove was one of the first contributors to the NSA's wildlife collection, and their wildlife recording number 00001 is his 1966 recording of a
Eurasian bittern
The Eurasian bittern or great bittern (''Botaurus stellaris'') is a wading bird in the bittern subfamily (Botaurinae) of the heron family Ardeidae. There are two subspecies, the northern race (''B. s. stellaris'') breeding in parts of Europe a ...
at
Hickling Broad
Hickling Broad is a nature reserve 4 km south-east of Stalham, north-east of Norwich in Norfolk. It is managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. It is a National Nature Reserve and part of the Upper Thurne Broads and Marshes Site of Speci ...
, in Norfolk.
The NSA acquired his complete collection of wildlife recordings in the mid-1990s.
In 1968, he was described by the BBC as "the only full-time freelance recordist of wildlife sounds in Britain".
He was the subject of a BBC television ''
The World About Us'' episode, screened on 9 April 1972,
and appeared on several other BBC television and radio programmes in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
In the 1970s and 1980s, he was manager of the
Minack Theatre
The Minack Theatre ( kw, Gwaryjy Minack) is an open-air theatre, constructed above a gully with a rocky granite outcrop jutting into the sea. The theatre is at Porthcurno, from Land's End in Cornwall, England. The season runs each year from May ...
,
Porthcurno
Porthcurno ( kw, Porthkornow, Porthcornow, meaning ''"pinnacle cove"'', see below) is a small village covering a small valley and beach on the south coast of Cornwall, England in the United Kingdom. It is the main settlement in a civil and an ec ...
, Cornwall.
The NSA have put most of Shove's recordings online, and as of November 2013 will extend access as part of a
Europeana
Europeana is a web portal created by the European Union containing digitised cultural heritage collections of more than 3,000 institutions across Europe. It includes records of over 50 million cultural and scientific artefacts, brought togethe ...
project.
Discography
* ''The Country Sings'' (1963)
A series of 7",
33⅓ rpm,
EPs of Shove's wildlife recordings, with his narration, were published by
Discourses as part of the "Shell Nature" series, in conjunction with
Shell-Mex and BP Ltd. Featuring liner notes by
Jeffery Boswall
Jeffery Boswall (20 March 1931 – 15 August 2012) was a British naturalist, broadcaster and educator.
One of the longest serving producers with the BBC Natural History Unit (1957-1987), and the writer and presenter/narrator of many of the ...
, these included:
[Sleeve notes]
* ''Sea Birds'' (DCL 701, 1966; re-released in 1967 in different packaging)
* ''Garden And Park Birds'' (DCL 702, 1966)
* ''Woodland Birds'' (DCL 703, 1966)
* ''Estuary Birds'' (DCL 704, 1967)
* ''Field And Open Countryside Birds'' (DCL 705, 1967)
* ''Moor And Heath Birds'' (DCL 706, 1967)
* ''Marsh And Riverside Birds'' (DCL 707, 1967)
* ''Nightingale and Dawn Chorus'' (DCL 708, 1969)
* ''Mountain And Highland Birds'' (DCL 709, 1969)
References
External links
British Library recording of Bittern by Lawrence ShoveLawrence Shove's and other British wildlife recordings from the British LibraryLawrence Shove Discography at Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shove. Lawrence
1923 births
1995 deaths
Cornish people
Wildlife sound recordists