BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra
Encyclopedia
The BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra (SRO) was a light music broadcasting orchestra based in Glasgow
, Scotland, maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1940 until disbandment in 1981.
. This new orchestra had an instrumentation comprising a small brass section, woodwinds, four saxophones, strings and a basic rhythm section including accordion. Having a small saxophone section, it was effectively a showband, and this line up which would enable it to play both light and dance music. One of its functions being to accompany the variety shows which were produced in Scotland for the BBC National Programme
and the Scottish Home Service. Initially it had regular appearances in 'Music While You Work' and in the long-running series 'Sunday Serenade'.
At the end of the war the orchestra was made a regular salaried, staff orchestra and its title was amended to BBC Scottish Variety Orchestra, now under the direction of Kemlo Stephen. Under Stephen, and subsequent conductor Jack Leon, the dance band element of the orchestra was toned down, and the emphasis was changed to straight light music, though the orchestra still accompanied popular singers and played programmes of Scottish Dance music which continued to be important part of the its repertoire. The orchestra's accordionist Archie Duncan was featured prominently in these arrangements. By this time the orchestra participated in a wide range of programmes for the Scottish Home Service and the Light Programme - "Bright and Early", "Morning Music", "Melody on the Move", "Lunch Date" and "Music On the Move" in which they played programmes of Scottish Dance Music.
Kemlo Stephen and Jack Leon were succeeded in 1965 by conductor Iain Sutherland
. The orchestra gave a weekly Tuesday morning broadcast in 'Music While You Work', as well as playing in all the other regular light music slots. It also played for television, accompanying singers such as Moira Anderson
. The London based BBC Variety and BBC Revue Orchestras were merged in 1965 to form the BBC Radio Orchestra
, so at Sutherland’s suggestion the Scottish Variety Orchestra was renamed the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra in January 1967.
, a large studio orchestra of around 65 players which included a full Big Band
and symphonic sized wind and strings. This was a grouping that could be used in its entirety or broken down into a series of flexible ensembles prefixed A-E.
The New Scottish Radio Orchestra's instrumentation, classified B1, B2 and C1 to match its London counterparts, had a full complement of 32, and was a big band with strings in the Billy May
/Nelson Riddle
style. The full ensemble was classified as the B1 Orchestra, comprising 5 saxes, flute, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, piano, guitar, bass, drums, percussion, 10 violins, 2 violas and 2 cellos. All the players in the sax section played one or more other instruments including flutes, piccolo, clarinets and different varieties of saxophones, and the pianist also played celeste and electric organ. For special live broadcasts and projects, the full SRO was occasionally augmented with players from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. The B2 Orchestra featured the string and rhythm sections of the SRO. The C1 Orchestra's 16 players formed the same big band as that which was the basis of the B1, and was sometimes known as the Radio Scotland Big Band. It shared many arrangements with its London based colleagues the BBC Big Band
, and many of the BBC SRO's broadcasts featured just the C1 big band section. With this change in format, the orchestra now played a great deal of jazz and swing as well as light music and accompanying popular singers.
Under the direction of composer and arranger Brian Fahey, the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra also did a lot of television work accompanying the likes of Kenneth McKeller, Lena Martell
, Moira Anderson
, Shirley Bassey
, Lulu
, Lena Zavaroni
and Anne Lorne Gilles. It also had its own BBC One
programme, Make Way for Music. They recorded 'inserts' for the many music and chat shows on Radio 2
and Radio Scotland
, recording with artists including Cleo Laine
, Georgie Fame
, Carol Kidd
and trombonist Don Lusher
.
, and Midland Radio Orchestra, as well as the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
. However the Scottish Radio Orchestra was not one of the orchestras under threat. Strike action followed which seriously disrupted the Proms, and incensed musicians took every opportunity to state their cause. The compromise that ended the strike saved the Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the expense of the Scottish Radio Orchestra, which had previously not been considered for disbandment. The irony was that whilst the SRO had fought to save its classical counterparts, when the situation was reversed the Scottish Radio Orchestra was axed without much of a fight.
Part of the compromise included a guarantee that the BBC would give all the musicians in the SRO an agreed number of engagements per year, for the next five years. As a unit, the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra was officially disbanded early in 1981, one of their final performances being at the Playhouse Theatre in Edinburgh with Ella Fitzgerald
. They continued to perform for the BBC as a group under freelance contracts until 1986.
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, Scotland, maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1940 until disbandment in 1981.
History
Established by the BBC in 1940 as the Scottish Variety Orchestra, the orchestra was originally a freelance ensemble under the direction of arranger and conductor Ronnie Munro and based at the BBC Studios in Glasgow. It shared studio space with the BBC Scottish Symphony OrchestraBBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra is a broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow, Scotland. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation , it is the oldest full-time professional orchestra in Scotland...
. This new orchestra had an instrumentation comprising a small brass section, woodwinds, four saxophones, strings and a basic rhythm section including accordion. Having a small saxophone section, it was effectively a showband, and this line up which would enable it to play both light and dance music. One of its functions being to accompany the variety shows which were produced in Scotland for the BBC National Programme
BBC National Programme
The BBC National Programme was a BBC radio station from the 1920s until the outbreak of World War II.-Foundation:When the BBC first began transmissions on 14 November 1922, the technology for both national coverage and joint programming between transmitters did not exist – transmitter powers were...
and the Scottish Home Service. Initially it had regular appearances in 'Music While You Work' and in the long-running series 'Sunday Serenade'.
At the end of the war the orchestra was made a regular salaried, staff orchestra and its title was amended to BBC Scottish Variety Orchestra, now under the direction of Kemlo Stephen. Under Stephen, and subsequent conductor Jack Leon, the dance band element of the orchestra was toned down, and the emphasis was changed to straight light music, though the orchestra still accompanied popular singers and played programmes of Scottish Dance music which continued to be important part of the its repertoire. The orchestra's accordionist Archie Duncan was featured prominently in these arrangements. By this time the orchestra participated in a wide range of programmes for the Scottish Home Service and the Light Programme - "Bright and Early", "Morning Music", "Melody on the Move", "Lunch Date" and "Music On the Move" in which they played programmes of Scottish Dance Music.
Kemlo Stephen and Jack Leon were succeeded in 1965 by conductor Iain Sutherland
Iain Sutherland
Iain Sutherland is a Scottish violinist and orchestra conductor. Around 1965 he succeeded Jack Leon in leading what then became the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra in Glasgow. At the time Sutherland was a young violinist with a passion for light music, who played in orchestra directed by such...
. The orchestra gave a weekly Tuesday morning broadcast in 'Music While You Work', as well as playing in all the other regular light music slots. It also played for television, accompanying singers such as Moira Anderson
Moira Anderson
Moira Anderson, OBE is a Scottish singer.- Life and career :Following an education at Lenzie Academy, Anderson quickly established herself at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow before getting her big break in the media after a successful audition at the BBC.She landed her...
. The London based BBC Variety and BBC Revue Orchestras were merged in 1965 to form the BBC Radio Orchestra
BBC Radio Orchestra
The BBC Radio Orchestra was a broadcasting orchestra based in London, maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1965 until 1991....
, so at Sutherland’s suggestion the Scottish Variety Orchestra was renamed the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra in January 1967.
The B1, B2 and C1 Orchestras
In 1972, as part of a revamp of the light orchestras, the BBC changed the structure of the orchestra, to match its London counterpart, the BBC Radio OrchestraBBC Radio Orchestra
The BBC Radio Orchestra was a broadcasting orchestra based in London, maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation from 1965 until 1991....
, a large studio orchestra of around 65 players which included a full Big Band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
and symphonic sized wind and strings. This was a grouping that could be used in its entirety or broken down into a series of flexible ensembles prefixed A-E.
The New Scottish Radio Orchestra's instrumentation, classified B1, B2 and C1 to match its London counterparts, had a full complement of 32, and was a big band with strings in the Billy May
Billy May
William E. "Billy" May was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music, for The Green Hornet , Batman , and Naked City and collaborated on films, such as Pennies from Heaven , and orchestrated Cocoon, and Cocoon: The Return among...
/Nelson Riddle
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle, Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid 1980s...
style. The full ensemble was classified as the B1 Orchestra, comprising 5 saxes, flute, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, piano, guitar, bass, drums, percussion, 10 violins, 2 violas and 2 cellos. All the players in the sax section played one or more other instruments including flutes, piccolo, clarinets and different varieties of saxophones, and the pianist also played celeste and electric organ. For special live broadcasts and projects, the full SRO was occasionally augmented with players from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. The B2 Orchestra featured the string and rhythm sections of the SRO. The C1 Orchestra's 16 players formed the same big band as that which was the basis of the B1, and was sometimes known as the Radio Scotland Big Band. It shared many arrangements with its London based colleagues the BBC Big Band
BBC Big Band
The BBC Big Band, originally known as the BBC Radio Big Band is a British big band run under the auspices of the BBC. Widely regarded as the UK’s leading and most versatile jazz orchestra, the band broadcasts exclusivley on BBC Radio, particularly on BBC Radio 2's long running series Big Band Special...
, and many of the BBC SRO's broadcasts featured just the C1 big band section. With this change in format, the orchestra now played a great deal of jazz and swing as well as light music and accompanying popular singers.
Under the direction of composer and arranger Brian Fahey, the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra also did a lot of television work accompanying the likes of Kenneth McKeller, Lena Martell
Lena Martell
Lena Martell is a Scottish singer, who had a number one UK single with "One Day at a Time" in 1979....
, Moira Anderson
Moira Anderson
Moira Anderson, OBE is a Scottish singer.- Life and career :Following an education at Lenzie Academy, Anderson quickly established herself at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow before getting her big break in the media after a successful audition at the BBC.She landed her...
, Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
, Lulu
Lulu (singer)
Lulu Kennedy-Cairns, OBE , best known by her stage name Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, and television personality who has been successful in the entertainment business from the 1960s through to the present day...
, Lena Zavaroni
Lena Zavaroni
Lena Hilda Zavaroni was a Scottish child singer and a television show host. With her album Ma! He's Making Eyes At Me at ten years of age, she is the youngest person in history to have an album in the UK album chart top ten. Later in life she hosted TV shows and appeared on stage...
and Anne Lorne Gilles. It also had its own BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
programme, Make Way for Music. They recorded 'inserts' for the many music and chat shows on Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
and Radio Scotland
Radio Scotland
Radio Scotland was an offshore pirate radio station broadcasting on 1241 kHz mediumwave , created by Tommy Shields in 1965. The station was located on the former lightship M.V...
, recording with artists including Cleo Laine
Cleo Laine
Dame Cleo Laine, Lady Dankworth, DBE is a jazz singer and an actress, noted for her scat singing and vocal range...
, Georgie Fame
Georgie Fame
Georgie Fame is a British rhythm and blues and jazz singer and keyboard player. The one-time rock and roll tour musician, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still a popular performer, often working with contemporaries such as Van Morrison and Bill Wyman.-Early life:Fame took piano lessons from the...
, Carol Kidd
Carol Kidd
Carol Kidd, MBE is a Scottish jazz singer.She came to prominence in the mid 1970s, as the vocalist in the band led by vibrophonist / saxophonist Jimmy Feighan. In 1990, she released her award-winning album, The Night We Called It a Day. She has subsequently performed and recorded extensively on...
and trombonist Don Lusher
Don Lusher
Don Lusher OBE was a jazz and big band trombonist best known for his association with the Ted Heath Big Band...
.
Closure
With the ever-increasing air-time being given to commercial pop music, there was less time available for staff studio orchestras, the costs of which were becoming disproportionate to their use. In 1980 the BBC announced its intention to disband several of its staff light orchestras incluiding the Northern Radio OrchestraBBC Northern Dance Orchestra
The BBC Northern Dance Orchestra was a big band run by the BBC and formed in 1951 as the successor to the BBC's Northern Variety Orchestra. Known to listeners as the NDO, it broadcast on the radio daily from the Playhouse Theatre in Hulme before moving to the BBC studios in Oxford Road...
, and Midland Radio Orchestra, as well as the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra is a broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow, Scotland. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation , it is the oldest full-time professional orchestra in Scotland...
. However the Scottish Radio Orchestra was not one of the orchestras under threat. Strike action followed which seriously disrupted the Proms, and incensed musicians took every opportunity to state their cause. The compromise that ended the strike saved the Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the expense of the Scottish Radio Orchestra, which had previously not been considered for disbandment. The irony was that whilst the SRO had fought to save its classical counterparts, when the situation was reversed the Scottish Radio Orchestra was axed without much of a fight.
Part of the compromise included a guarantee that the BBC would give all the musicians in the SRO an agreed number of engagements per year, for the next five years. As a unit, the BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra was officially disbanded early in 1981, one of their final performances being at the Playhouse Theatre in Edinburgh with Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald , also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an American jazz and song vocalist...
. They continued to perform for the BBC as a group under freelance contracts until 1986.
External links
- http://www.flickr.com/groups/1390756@N20/
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A36164045
- http://www.adiosmusic.com/?p=95