Lucie Skeaping
Encyclopedia
Lucie Skeaping is a British singer, instrumentalist and broadcaster, founder of the early music group the City Waites
, pioneering klezmer
band The Burning Bush and presenter of BBC Radio 3
's Early Music Show, a programme dedicated to the early music
repertoire. She is married to Roddy Skeaping, also a founder member of the City Waites and Burning Bush.
Skeaping is a noted exponent of the broadside ballad repertoire, popular songs from the seventeenth century, and also plays baroque violin
, fiddle
and rebec
, among other instruments. Her involvement with the often profane mediaeval ballad repertoire led to The Daily Telegraph
describing her as "the bawdy babe of Radio 3".
She began her training as a violinist at the Royal College of Music
, developing an interest in early music as a result of a chance meeting there and cultivating an interest in the lute and viol, among other instruments. After graduation she formed The City Waites, a four-piece group specialising in the broadside ballads of 17th-century England, before being attracted to theatre and thence to presenting children's TV programmes for the BBC, including Play School. She moved back to music full time, working with the City Waites, the Consort of Musick, the Martin Best Ensemble, the Michael Nyman Band
, the Sadista Sisters and the English Consort of Viols before eventually forming her own band The Burning Bush.
As a solo artist and with her groups she has toured extensively and recording over 30 CDs, and has collaborated with musicians and broadcasters including Ken Dodd
, Simon Schama
and Michael Nyman
. She was commissioned by the BBC to present music documentaries, and developed the weekly series Music Restored which became The Early Music Show. She sings in English, Yiddish and Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish
), and is of Jewish extraction.
programme The Music Arcade between 1979 and 1986 alongside Tim Whitnall
, later of Teletubbies
fame, but other non-musical shows such as Play School, Get Set For Summer (which Roddy Skeaping composed the theme for), Take Two and Pob's Programme
. She also appeared in Peter Greenaway
's 1980 mock documentary The Falls
, as subject #74, Pollie Fallory.
City Waites
The City Waites is a British early music band. Formed in the early 1970s, they specialise in English music of the 16th and 17th centuries from the street, tavern, theatre and countryside - the music of the common man. They appeal to a wide general audience as well as scholars...
, pioneering klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
band The Burning Bush and presenter of BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
's Early Music Show, a programme dedicated to the early music
Early music
Early music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...
repertoire. She is married to Roddy Skeaping, also a founder member of the City Waites and Burning Bush.
Skeaping is a noted exponent of the broadside ballad repertoire, popular songs from the seventeenth century, and also plays baroque violin
Baroque violin
A baroque violin is, in common usage, any violin whose neck, fingerboard, bridge, and tailpiece are of the type used during the baroque period. Such an instrument may be an original built during the baroque and never changed to modern form; or a modern replica built as a baroque violin; or an...
, fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
and rebec
Rebec
The rebecha is a bowed string musical instrument. In its most common form, it has a narrow boat-shaped body and 1-5 strings and is played on the arm or under the chin, like a violin.- Origins :The rebec dates back to the Middle Ages and was particularly popular in the 15th and 16th centuries...
, among other instruments. Her involvement with the often profane mediaeval ballad repertoire led to The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
describing her as "the bawdy babe of Radio 3".
She began her training as a violinist at the Royal College of Music
Royal College of Music
The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...
, developing an interest in early music as a result of a chance meeting there and cultivating an interest in the lute and viol, among other instruments. After graduation she formed The City Waites, a four-piece group specialising in the broadside ballads of 17th-century England, before being attracted to theatre and thence to presenting children's TV programmes for the BBC, including Play School. She moved back to music full time, working with the City Waites, the Consort of Musick, the Martin Best Ensemble, the Michael Nyman Band
Michael Nyman Band
The Michael Nyman Band, formerly known as the Campiello Band, is a group formed as a street band for a 1976 production of Carlo Goldoni's 1756 play, Il Campiello directed by Bill Bryden at the Old Vic...
, the Sadista Sisters and the English Consort of Viols before eventually forming her own band The Burning Bush.
As a solo artist and with her groups she has toured extensively and recording over 30 CDs, and has collaborated with musicians and broadcasters including Ken Dodd
Ken Dodd
Kenneth Arthur Dodd OBE is a British comedian and singer songwriter, famous for his frizzy hair or “fluff dom” and buck teeth or “denchers”, his favourite cleaner, the feather duster and his greeting "How tickled I am!", as well as his send-off “Lots and Lots of Happiness!”...
, Simon Schama
Simon Schama
Simon Michael Schama, CBE is a British historian and art historian. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University. He is best known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC documentary series A History of Britain...
and Michael Nyman
Michael Nyman
Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
. She was commissioned by the BBC to present music documentaries, and developed the weekly series Music Restored which became The Early Music Show. She sings in English, Yiddish and Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish
Judaeo-Spanish
Judaeo-Spanish , in Israel commonly referred to as Ladino, and known locally as Judezmo, Djudeo-Espanyol, Djudezmo, Djudeo-Kasteyano, Spaniolit and other names, is a Romance language derived from Old Spanish...
), and is of Jewish extraction.
Other work
During the 1980s, Skeaping also worked as a children's television presenter. This included not only the BBC SchoolsBBC Schools
BBC Schools, also known as BBC for Schools and Colleges, is the educational programming strand set up by the BBC in 1957, broadcasting a range of educational programmes for children aged 5–16. From launch until June 1983, programming was based on BBC One during the daytime, before programming was...
programme The Music Arcade between 1979 and 1986 alongside Tim Whitnall
Tim Whitnall
Tim Whitnall , is a British actor, musician, playwright and screenwriter probably best known for his portrayal of the alien Angelo on the British CITV sitcom Mike and Angelo....
, later of Teletubbies
Teletubbies
Teletubbies is a BBC children's television series targeted at pre-school viewers and produced from 1997 to 2001 by Ragdoll Productions. It was created by Ragdoll's creative director Anne Wood CBE and Andrew Davenport, who wrote each of the show's 365 episodes. The programme's original narrator was...
fame, but other non-musical shows such as Play School, Get Set For Summer (which Roddy Skeaping composed the theme for), Take Two and Pob's Programme
Pob's Programme
Pob's Programme was a children's television programme, which was broadcast in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 and BBC between October 1985 and 1990...
. She also appeared in Peter Greenaway
Peter Greenaway
Peter Greenaway, CBE is a British film director. His films are noted for the distinct influence of Renaissance and Baroque painting, and Flemish painting in particular...
's 1980 mock documentary The Falls
The Falls
The Falls is a 1980 film directed by Peter Greenaway. It was Greenaway's first feature-length film after many years making shorts. It does not have a traditional dramatic narrative; it takes the form of a mock documentary in 92 short parts.-Plot:...
, as subject #74, Pollie Fallory.