The Standard School Broadcast
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''The Standard School Broadcast'' is a weekly educational
radio program A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio networ ...
that went on the air in 1928 and promoted
music appreciation Music appreciation is a division of musicology that is designed to teach students how to understand and describe the contexts and creative processes involved in music composition. The concept of music appreciation is often taught as a subset o ...
for students in the western United States. It was the oldest educational radio program in America. Based in
San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, the series was carried on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
radio stations and via syndication. ''The Standard School Broadcast'' was devoted to music and American history.
Carmen Dragon Carmen Dragon (July 28, 1914 – March 28, 1984) was an American conductor, composer, and arranger who in addition to live performances and recording, worked in radio, film, and television. Early years Dragon was born in Antioch, California, ...
was music director of the programs for many years. The program's sponsor, Standard Oil of California, was honored with a Peabody Award for the series in 1958. In 1975, the program received the Peabody Institutional Award "for 47 years of continuous educational radio service".


History

''The Standard School Broadcast'' began in October 1928 and was first heard in 72 schools via the NBC Pacific Network. Predating the comparable CBS Radio series ''
The American School of the Air ''The American School of the Air'' was a half-hour educational radio program presented by CBS as a public affairs teaching supplement over an 18-year period during the 1930s and 1940s. CBS followed the lead of the first ''School of the Air'' w ...
'', it was the oldest educational radio program in the United States. The series presented hundreds of topics including the science of music, music as drama, and non-classical forms including jazz and folk. Guests ranged from Dorothy Warenskjold to Louis Armstrong. It evolved from a simple lecture program accompanied by a string trio into a program that combined concert hall, stage and documentary, with a symphony orchestra conducted by
Carmen Dragon Carmen Dragon (July 28, 1914 – March 28, 1984) was an American conductor, composer, and arranger who in addition to live performances and recording, worked in radio, film, and television. Early years Dragon was born in Antioch, California, ...
and a cast of professional performers. ''The Standard School Broadcast'' was a companion to the classical music radio program, '' The Standard Hour''. Both were sponsored by Standard Oil of California. ''The Standard School Broadcast'' ran on NBC radio and, later, in syndication on the West Coast. A 1943 brochure shows that the programs were carried on KPO in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
,
KFI KFI (640 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, owned and operated by iHeartMedia, Inc. It began operations in 1922 and became one of the first high-powered, clear-channel station, clear-channel List of ...
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, KGLU in Safford, Arizona,
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, on Thursday at 10 a.m. Pacific time and 11 a.m. Mountain time. At that time, Carl Kalesch was the music director for the programs and John Grover was the announcer. The theme music for ''The Standard School Broadcast,'' as well as '' The Standard Hour,'' was "This Hour Is Yours". The theme was composed by Julius Haug, a violinist in the
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra The San Francisco Symphony (SFS), founded in 1911, is an American orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980 the orchestra has been resident at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall in the city's Hayes Valley neighborhood. The San F ...
. "It was simple theme music, 45 seconds long," wrote radio historian John Dunning, "and listeners who loved it and requested 'the entire piece' were surprised when told there was no more." For many years, the broadcasts originated from NBC's largest radio studio in San Francisco. in the building which housed the network's KPO (later renamed KNBC and then KNBR). Besides John Grover, announcers for the broadcasts included Hale Sparks and Fred Jorgenson. Many of the programs were preserved on transcription discs or magnetic tape.


Accolades

In
1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
, ''The Standard School Broadcast'' received a Peabody Award for radio education, "in recognition of continuous expansion and development over a 30-year period. This outstanding music appreciation series for schools combines educational value with highest musicianship, expert production, and utilization of appropriate musical groups of all types, instrumental and vocal." In 1975, ''The Standard School Broadcast'' received the Peabody Institutional Award:
''The Standard School Broadcasts 47 years on the air throughout the Western states is an achievement to which any broadcaster could point with pride. It is doubly impressive to note that its programming has always been imaginative and entertaining as well as commercial-free. Its performers have included many of the world’s most distinguished musicians and almost single-handedly it has introduced the joys of good music to several generations of listeners.


Home media

A few episodes of ''The Standard School Broadcast'' are available from old-time radio program collectors. In the 1970s, the Chevron Research Company released a series of recordings edited from ''The Standard School Broadcast'' as a public service. The
LP records The LP (from "long playing" or "long play") is an analog sound storage medium, a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of  rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use of the "microgroove" groove specification; and ...
, with teachers guides, were available free of charge to elementary and junior high schools throughout the West, Rocky Mountain area and the Southwest.Jones, Don, and Edward Franklin. Liner notes for ''America Through Five Centuries — Epilogue'' (SOCAL 20), 1973. These out-of-print recordings have been sold on various websites.


Our Nation's Heritage

* 1970: ''Prologue to America'' * 1970: ''The New World'' * 1970: ''Exploring the New World'' * 1970: ''Europe in the New World'' * 1970: ''The English in America'' * 1970: ''The Colonial Frontier'' * 1970: ''The Revolutionary War'' * 1972: ''The New Nation is Launched'' * 1972: ''The New Nation is Tested'' * 1972: ''The Nation Expands'' * 1972: ''The Nation Divided'' * 1972: ''Settling the West'' * 1972: ''The Industrial Revolution in America'' * 1972: ''The Twentieth Century Begins'' * 1972: ''The Nation in Prosperity and Poverty'' * 1972: ''America in World War II'' * 1973: ''America at Mid-Century'' * 1973: ''America Through Five Centuries — Epilogue''


Music Makers

* 1973: ''Guitar'' (two-LP set) * 1973: ''Percussion'' (two-LP set) * 1975: ''Brass'' * 1975: ''Keyboard'' (two-LP set) * 1975: ''Strings'' (two-LP set) * 1975: ''Woodwinds and Reeds''


References


External links


''John Martin'' Standard Hour Collection
Stanford University
Standard Hour 1950-1955
''Non-Commercial Disc Collections : 16 inch'', Archive of Recorded Sound, Stanford University {{DEFAULTSORT:Standard School Broadcast 1920s American radio programs 1930s American radio programs 1940s American radio programs 1950s American radio programs 1960s American radio programs 1970s American radio programs American classical music radio programs American children's radio programs Chevron Corporation NBC radio programs Peabody Award-winning radio programs 1928 radio programme debuts 1975 radio programme endings Educational broadcasting Mutual Broadcasting System programs