''Sounding Brass'' was a pioneer phone-in programme presented by

Gloria Hunniford Mary Winifred Gloria Hunniford, OBE (born 10 April 1940) is a Northern Irish television and radio presenter, broadcaster and singer. She is known for presenting programmes on the BBC and ITV, such as '' Rip Off Britain'', and her regular appear ...

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

. Listeners were invited to choose a

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

or hymn while a

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

band, which included the famous

Chalk Farm Band {{Use dmy dates, date=December 2017 The Chalk Farm Band is brass band of the Salvation Army located at the Salvation Army Centre in Haverstock Hill, Chalk Farm, London, England. It is one of the best known brass bands of the Salvation Army in th ...

, stood by in the studio to play their requests live. The brass bands had a wide repertoire and were usually able to play a

hymn tune A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrain ...

within forty seconds of the request being made. A guest hymnologist was on-hand to explain the origin of the music and the background to the composition of the words. Among the regular Bandmasters who appeared was

Ray Steadman-Allen Lieutenant Colonel (Dr) Ray Steadman-Allen (18 September 1922 – 15 December 2014) was a British composer of choral and brass band music for the Salvation Army and for band competition. He was born in the Salvation Army 'Mother's Hospital', ...

, the famous Salvation Army band composer. The programme was devised and first presented by Owen Spencer-Thomas on

BBC Radio London BBC Radio London is the Local BBC Radio, BBC's local radio station serving Greater London and its surrounding areas. The station broadcasts across the area and beyond, on the 94.9 FM broadcasting, FM frequency, Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB, ...

in 1977. The programme ran until the mid-1990s. Its sister programme ''Sounding Brass Strikes Again'', which featured top brass bands from across London, was broadcast on BBC Radio London from 2 August 1978.BBC Radio Times Genome
Accessed July 21, 2015

References

See also