Face The Music (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Face the Music was a weekly BBC
television programme in the form of a classical music quiz. It began in 1966 and continued until 1979, with revivals in 1983-4 and 2007.
, took the form of a quiz, with a panel of three celebrities, but without scoring or any winner. Each week there would be a special guest, who would also have to answer questions. The questions to the panel were asked in a series of rounds, each with a theme, such as "The Face, The Music", where a member of the panel would have to identify a composer from his picture, while music by a different composer was played in the background.
The most popular round was the "Dummy Keyboard", where Cooper would played a famous piece on a dummy piano, requiring identification by the panel from hand movements alone. The music in question would be slowly faded in for the benefit of the audience viewing at home.
Another round was "Hidden Melody" where Cooper would perform a popular tune in the style of a famous composer including extracts of works by the composer to help the listeners. Robin Ray
, if a member of that week's panel, would typically identify the opus number
of the quoted works.
The theme music for the show was the Popular Song, based on an extract from William Walton
's Façade suite. During its most popular period the programme had a weekly audience of over 4 million.
, Robin Ray, Richard Baker
, Bernard Levin
, David Attenborough
, Arianna Stassinopoulos
(now known as Arianna Huffington), Valerie Pitts
, Patrick Moore
and Polly Elwes
. Guests included William Walton
, Dudley Moore
, André Previn
, Julian Lloyd Webber
, Nigel Kennedy
and Georg Solti
(whose wife, Valerie Pitts was a panel member for the broadcast).
and entitled Face the Music 2007, was aired by BBC Four
on 1 July 2007. It was announced as a pilot, implying that a full series would follow. Unlike the original, points were awarded for correct answers, although Sergeant's assertion that "scores are important" was clearly ironic as the show retained the non-competitive feel of the original series.
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television programme in the form of a classical music quiz. It began in 1966 and continued until 1979, with revivals in 1983-4 and 2007.
Format
The programme, chaired by Joseph CooperJoseph Cooper
Joseph Elliott Needham Cooper, OBE , pianist and broadcaster, best known as the chairman of the BBC's long-running television panel game Face the Music.- Early career :...
, took the form of a quiz, with a panel of three celebrities, but without scoring or any winner. Each week there would be a special guest, who would also have to answer questions. The questions to the panel were asked in a series of rounds, each with a theme, such as "The Face, The Music", where a member of the panel would have to identify a composer from his picture, while music by a different composer was played in the background.
The most popular round was the "Dummy Keyboard", where Cooper would played a famous piece on a dummy piano, requiring identification by the panel from hand movements alone. The music in question would be slowly faded in for the benefit of the audience viewing at home.
Another round was "Hidden Melody" where Cooper would perform a popular tune in the style of a famous composer including extracts of works by the composer to help the listeners. Robin Ray
Robin Ray
Robin Ray was an English actor, musician and broadcaster, the son of comedian Ted Ray and the brother of actor Andrew Ray.-Career:...
, if a member of that week's panel, would typically identify the opus number
Opus number
An Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
of the quoted works.
The theme music for the show was the Popular Song, based on an extract from William Walton
William Walton
Sir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
's Façade suite. During its most popular period the programme had a weekly audience of over 4 million.
Panel members
Regular panel members included Joyce GrenfellJoyce Grenfell
Joyce Irene Grenfell, OBE was an English actress, comedienne, diseuse and singer-songwriter.-Early life:...
, Robin Ray, Richard Baker
Richard Baker (broadcaster)
Richard Baker OBE is a British broadcaster best known as a newsreader for the BBC News from 1954 to 1982. He was a contemporary of Kenneth Kendall and Robert Dougall and was the first person to read the BBC Television News in 1954. At one time he lived in Barnet, North London...
, Bernard Levin
Bernard Levin
Henry Bernard Levin CBE was an English journalist, author and broadcaster, described by The Times as "the most famous journalist of his day". The son of a poor Jewish family in London, he won a scholarship to the independent school Christ's Hospital and went on to the London School of Economics,...
, David Attenborough
David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA is a British broadcaster and naturalist. His career as the face and voice of natural history programmes has endured for more than 50 years...
, Arianna Stassinopoulos
Arianna Huffington
Arianna Huffington is a Greek American author and syndicated columnist. She is best known as co-founder of the news website The Huffington Post. A popular conservative commentator in the mid-1990s, she adopted more liberal political beliefs in the late 1990s...
(now known as Arianna Huffington), Valerie Pitts
Valerie Pitts
Valerie Pitts, Lady Solti, is the widow of Sir Georg Solti. She was one of the BBC's original team of television presenters during the 1950s. She left the programme in 1960 to marry James Sargent who was stage manager of the Sadler's Wells Opera Company. She also worked at Granada Television.She...
, Patrick Moore
Patrick Moore
Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore, CBE, FRS, FRAS is a British amateur astronomer who has attained prominent status in astronomy as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter of the subject, and who is credited as having done more than any other person to raise the profile of...
and Polly Elwes
Polly Elwes
Polly Elwes, born Mary Freya Elwes , was a BBC Television in-vision announcer from 1957 to 1960. She attended the Central School of Speech and Drama, now a part of the University of London.-Television career:...
. Guests included William Walton
William Walton
Sir William Turner Walton OM was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera...
, Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE was an English actor, comedian, composer and musician.Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in the ground-breaking comedy revue Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s, and then became famous as half of the highly popular television...
, André Previn
André Previn
André George Previn, KBE is an American pianist, conductor, and composer. He is considered one of the most versatile musicians in the world, and is the winner of four Academy Awards for his film work and ten Grammy Awards for his recordings. -Early Life:Previn was born in...
, Julian Lloyd Webber
Julian Lloyd Webber
Julian Lloyd Webber is a British solo cellist who has been described as the "doyen of British cellists".-Early life:Julian Lloyd Webber is the second son of the composer William Lloyd Webber and his wife Jean Johnstone . He is the younger brother of the composer Andrew Lloyd Webber...
, Nigel Kennedy
Nigel Kennedy
Nigel Kennedy is a British born violinist and violist. He made his early career in the classical field, and he has performed and recorded most of the major violin concerti...
and Georg Solti
Georg Solti
Sir Georg Solti, KBE, was a Hungarian-British orchestral and operatic conductor. He was a major classical recording artist, holding the record for having received the most Grammy Awards, having personally won 31 as a conductor, including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to his...
(whose wife, Valerie Pitts was a panel member for the broadcast).
2007 revival
A version, hosted by John SergeantJohn Sergeant (journalist)
John Sergeant is a British television and radio journalist and broadcaster.-Biography:The son of a missionary who was also a distinguished linguist, Sergeant is of Russian Jewish origin on his mother's side. Sergeant's early life meant that he followed his father's work, and was raised in...
and entitled Face the Music 2007, was aired by BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
on 1 July 2007. It was announced as a pilot, implying that a full series would follow. Unlike the original, points were awarded for correct answers, although Sergeant's assertion that "scores are important" was clearly ironic as the show retained the non-competitive feel of the original series.