Radio 4 UK Theme

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The BBC Radio 4 UK Theme is a piece of music composed by Fritz Spiegl, which used to be played every morning on BBC Radio 4. In January 2006 it was announced the tune would be scrapped and be replaced with an extended shipping forecast and news briefing. The theme had its last regular playing at 5:30am on Sunday 23 April 2006.

1 Context and usage
2 Description
3 Controversy
4 The single
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Context and usage

The UK Theme was created in 1973 at the suggestion of Ian McIntyre, the then-new controller of Radio 4. He commissioned Fritz Spiegl to produce an arrangement of traditional British melodies to signify Radio 4 as a service encompassing all of the UK. Austrian-born Spiegl came to the UK as a refugee in 1939, after his parents fled Nazi persecution of Jews following the Anschluss.

The piece was played every day at 5:30am when Radio 4 began broadcasting, taking over from the BBC World Service which provides overnight programming on Radio 4's frequencies.

In 2006 the Controller of Radio 4, Mark Damazer, announced that he was cancelling the broadcast. The decision caused much controversy, but protests were to no avail. The last broadcast of the UK Theme was at 5:30am on 23 April 2006.

The UK Theme, like Sailing By, was used before the Shipping Forecast, allowing fishermen and sailors around the British Isles to tune to the correct frequency for the gale warnings and weather forecasts which are about to be broadcast; the continuity of the music being better than spoken words as a gauge of sound quality, allowing those tuning in to find the best frequency for their location.

The theme also served as an item which could be cut short to ensure the forecasts start reliably at precisely 0535; if the previous programme had overrun slightly, the tune was truncated to begin the forecast on time.

[edit] Description

The theme is a fantasia of traditional British tunes representing the four home countries of the United Kingdom as well as the national maritime tradition.

The piece opens with the first few bars of "Early One Morning" (English, horns and trombones), before the main theme of "Rule Britannia" (British, woodwind and strings) is played.

In the second section, the mood changes as the "Londonderry Air" (Northern Irish, cor anglais and harp) combined with "Annie Laurie" (Scottish, violin) are played at a slower tempo.

The faster third section begins with "What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor?" (Royal Navy, piccolo) combined with "Greensleeves" (English, strings), then "Men of Harlech" (Welsh, brass and percussion) combined with "Scotland the Brave" (Scottish, woodwind).

The finale of the piece, after alluding again to "Early One Morning", ends with a full orchestral version of "Rule Britannia" over which a solo trumpet plays the "Trumpet Voluntary".

The piece is exactly five minutes in length and was recorded in 1973 by the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra.

It has echoes of Jack Byfield's Fantasia on National Airs, known colloquially as "Nat. Airs", which was written as a startup theme for the BBC Television Service in the mid-1950s. Both pieces open with Early One Morning.[1]

[edit] Controversy

On 23 January 2006, the BBC announced that by April 2006 the UK Theme would be scrapped, the station opening instead with a news briefing and extended shipping forecast.[2] Explaining the decision, Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer said: "I know there are some people who will regret the passing of the UK Theme, but I believe the bulk of the audience will be better served by a pacy news briefing, read by one of Radio 4's team of news readers."

The announcement led to mass coverage in the British media and even to comments in its support by Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown. On the 24 January, several British MPs submitted Early Day Motions about the theme [3], which led to a question being asked at Prime Minister's Questions, with Prime Minister Tony Blair referring to the "strong feeling" around the country.[4] Also, BBC Newsnight presenter Jeremy Paxman played the UK Theme to end the programme on a number of occasions and several British orchestras and institutions have also pledged to play the theme.[5] These include British supermarket chain ASDA, and London speech radio station, LBC. ASDA said: "We are going to be playing the UK Theme at 10am every morning on ASDA FM, our in-store radio, so that our customers will be treated to this rousing musical medley as they do their weekly shop." David Lloyd, the managing director of LBC, said: "We're with [Jeremy] Paxman on this. If our friends at Radio 4 don't want the theme tune anymore, then we would seriously like to acquire it [for our breakfast show]."[6] Fritz Spiegl's widow, Ingrid, added her support, saying: "I feel the voice of the people should be heard."[7]

On 31 March 2006 the BBC issued a press release [8] confirming that the new Radio 4 schedule would begin on Monday 24 April, meaning that the UK Theme was played for the last time on Sunday 23 April. In it the Controller of Radio 4, Mark Damazer, said: "I'm sorry that part of the audience is upset by the removal of the UK Theme. They may like to know that we will be offering the UK Theme as a stream on the Radio 4 website, where it will be available from Friday 21 April." The following day, the Daily Telegraph carried a short piece saying that the campaign to save the theme had "failed."

On 1 April 2006, the Today Programme transmitted a piece claiming that the UK Theme would be replaced by a new "EU theme". This was later confirmed as an April Fool. [9]

The BBC has released no official figure for the number of complaints it has received on the matter of dropping the UK Theme. However, a MediaGuardian article dated 29 March put it at "more than 6,000"[10]. As the online petition continues to receive signatures daily, it is not unreasonable to assume that complaints are still being made to the BBC, even after Radio 4's new early morning schedule began on 24 April. In November 2006, a new E-petition was started by the Save the Radio 4 Theme website.[11]

On Friday 21 April, the UK Theme officially went online on the Radio 4 website.[12]

[edit] The single

Single cover

On Friday, 17 February 2006, the piece was re-recorded by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia under the direction of Gavin Sutherland and was released as a single on Monday, 27 March, also featuring Ronald Binge's Sailing By, the BBC Radio 4 late night Shipping Forecast theme. The original manuscript was restored by the notable light music composer Ernest Tomlinson after it was discovered in the loft of Ingrid Spiegl's house. The executive producers of the single were Mike Flowers, who had previously had an unexpected hit with his arrangement of Oasis's "Wonderwall", and Liverpool-based conference organiser Simon Roxborough.

During the first week of its release, it charted at number 15 in the Woolworths Singles Chart. On Sunday, 2 April 2006, the single entered the Tesco Singles Chart at number 8 and the UK Singles Chart at number 29. The top-ten placement at Tesco resulted in the single featuring prominently in the store's display areas, while its entry into the UK Singles Chart led to an on-air explanation of the campaign by the presenters of the Radio 1 Chart Show. By the second week of its release, it had dropped to 39th in the UK Singles Chart. In its third week, it fell to number 75.

The same team behind the single were also planning a full-length album of pieces selected from the British light music tradition. The album, provisionally titled "Early One Morning: British Light Music and Broadcasting Classics", was expected to include Country Gardens and Lilliburlero (the BBC World Service theme), as well as the re-recorded UK Theme and Sailing By. However, this appears to have not come to fruition. [13]