0:00:18 > 0:00:22Hello, and welcome to the Royal Festival Hall on London's South Bank
0:00:22 > 0:00:26for what promises to be a fabulous and wonderfully nostalgic programme
0:00:26 > 0:00:28of British light music.
0:00:33 > 0:00:372011 marks the 60th anniversary of the Festival of Britain
0:00:37 > 0:00:41the party that was centred here on the South Bank of the Thames,
0:00:41 > 0:00:45in 1951, and was designed to cheer up austere post-war Britain.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47Light music was in its heyday,
0:00:47 > 0:00:50and in this concert the BBC Symphony Orchestra will play
0:00:50 > 0:00:55a selection of music from the full range of its history
0:00:55 > 0:01:00back to Sir Arthur Sullivan, and up to the golden age in the 1950s.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04So what is light music?
0:01:04 > 0:01:09Think Mantovani, think Music While You Work, Palm Court Orchestras,
0:01:09 > 0:01:11Friday Night Is Music Night.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13We have a real feast of it for you today.
0:01:13 > 0:01:17Conducting, a man who, I think, can really take the credit
0:01:17 > 0:01:20for reigniting interest in light music, John Wilson.
0:01:20 > 0:01:25It's very difficult to come up with a comprehensive definition
0:01:25 > 0:01:27of what light music is,
0:01:27 > 0:01:32because it's such an enormous field, but my personal favourite definition
0:01:32 > 0:01:37belongs to Andrew Gold, a one-time BBC radio producer.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41He said, "Light music is where the tune is more important than
0:01:41 > 0:01:44"what you do with it."
0:01:44 > 0:01:49It puts that melodic element of the music to the forefront,
0:01:49 > 0:01:54and the fact that at the heart of all great light music
0:01:54 > 0:01:59are these smashing tunes, tunes with a capital T.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03Here to conduct the BBC Symphony Orchestra is John Wilson.
0:02:03 > 0:02:07We start with the Overture di Ballo by Sir Arthur Sullivan.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11Famous for the operettas he wrote with WS Gilbert.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14APPLAUSE
0:14:20 > 0:14:23APPLAUSE
0:14:26 > 0:14:31The Overture di Ballo from 1870 by Sir Arthur Sullivan,
0:14:31 > 0:14:35played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of John Wilson.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42In the last years of his life, Sir Arthur Sullivan said,
0:14:42 > 0:14:46"There's only one man to follow me who has genius,
0:14:46 > 0:14:48"and that is Edward German."
0:14:48 > 0:14:52German was best known for his hit 1902 operetta Merry England,
0:14:52 > 0:14:55but also wrote lots of incidental music for the theatre,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58in particular for productions of Shakespeare's plays.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02Next, we're going to hear some of his music for Romeo & Juliet.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10APPLAUSE
0:25:10 > 0:25:13The incidental music for Romeo & Juliet by Sir Edward German,
0:25:13 > 0:25:17conducted by John Wilson, long a great champion of his music.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29Probably the most famous and certainly most successful
0:25:29 > 0:25:31composer of light music was Eric Coates.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35He was born in Nottinghamshire and came to London to make his fortune,
0:25:35 > 0:25:39where he played viola for Sir Henry Wood's Queen's Hall Orchestra.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43Then he gave up his instrument, took up composing full-time, and never looked back.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47Coates became a household name.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50We're going to continue with a work that was hugely popular
0:25:50 > 0:25:53during the Second World War - the Three Elizabeths by Eric Coates.
0:25:53 > 0:25:58The Elizabeths in question were Queen Elizabeth I, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother,
0:25:58 > 0:26:00and the then Princess Elizabeth,
0:26:00 > 0:26:04who was 15 when the work was written in 1941.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56APPLAUSE
0:46:55 > 0:46:58APPLAUSE
0:46:58 > 0:47:01The Three Elizabeths by Eric Coates,
0:47:01 > 0:47:04culminating in a portrait of our own Queen Elizabeth as a young girl.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07It was played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra,
0:47:07 > 0:47:10conducted by John Wilson, in this celebration of British light music.
0:47:10 > 0:47:15APPLAUSE
0:47:19 > 0:47:24In the 1940s and the 1950s, BBC radio was central in spreading
0:47:24 > 0:47:28interest in light music to all corners of the United Kingdom.
0:47:28 > 0:47:32The BBC was based here in London, so many composers made the capital their home,
0:47:32 > 0:47:37and were ultimately inspired to write about the city's charms.
0:47:37 > 0:47:42The next piece was commissioned by the BBC for its children's' overseas programme,
0:47:42 > 0:47:44London Calling, by Eric Coates.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47It's followed by a suite by Hayden Wood called London Cameos.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51It's the royal associations of London that Hayden Wood portrays.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55The city, St James's Park, and Buckingham Palace.
0:47:56 > 0:48:00So here's John Wilson with the BBC Symphony Orchestra
0:48:00 > 0:48:02and London Calling.
0:50:52 > 0:50:56APPLAUSE
0:50:56 > 0:50:58London Calling by Eric Coates.
0:50:58 > 0:51:02Next, it's those London Cameos by Hayden Wood.
0:55:47 > 0:55:51APPLAUSE
1:00:34 > 1:00:38APPLAUSE
1:07:01 > 1:07:03APPLAUSE
1:07:03 > 1:07:05London Cameos by Hayden Wood.
1:07:05 > 1:07:09Portraits of the city of London, St James's Park in the spring,
1:07:09 > 1:07:13with beautiful birdsong represented by flautist Daniel Pailthorpe,
1:07:13 > 1:07:17and lastly, a state ball at Buckingham Palace, complete with quirky waltz.
1:07:17 > 1:07:21The BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Wilson.
1:07:23 > 1:07:26It was the universal reach of BBC Radio in the first half
1:07:26 > 1:07:31of the 20th century that gave light music its universal popularity.
1:07:31 > 1:07:34Radio programmes needed distinctive theme tunes,
1:07:34 > 1:07:38variety shows of every kind cried out for original music.
1:07:38 > 1:07:42After the Second World War, the BBC gave light music lovers their own
1:07:42 > 1:07:45dedicated radio channel - the Light Programme - and the opportunities
1:07:45 > 1:07:50for a new generation of musicians and composers became enormous.
1:07:50 > 1:07:51In the next part of our concert,
1:07:51 > 1:07:56we're going to focus on some of the most popular tunes of the 1950s.
1:07:56 > 1:08:00The BBC had eight bands and orchestras in the '40s and '50s.
1:08:00 > 1:08:04The influence of the American dance band sound generated huge enthusiasm,
1:08:04 > 1:08:07and the recording industry was booming.
1:08:07 > 1:08:10British light music was in the finest health,
1:08:10 > 1:08:14and so long as a composer could write a catchy tune that would fit
1:08:14 > 1:08:17on one side of a 78RPM record, success was sure to come.
1:08:17 > 1:08:22In the next part of the concert, we'll hear some of those pop hits of their day.
1:08:22 > 1:08:27We'll be hearing the frenzied Scrub Brother Scrub, and follow that
1:08:27 > 1:08:31with a depiction of the fastest train on the West Coast line, the Coronation Scot.
1:08:31 > 1:08:37But we start with Jumping Bean, by Canadian Robert Farnon.
1:13:28 > 1:13:31APPLAUSE
1:16:48 > 1:16:51APPLAUSE
1:16:51 > 1:16:55Coronation Scot by Vivian Ellis,
1:16:55 > 1:16:58expressing the excitement of high-speed steam travel.
1:16:58 > 1:17:01In a moment, Angela Morley pays a very personal tribute
1:17:01 > 1:17:04to Farnon in her Canadian In Mayfair.
1:17:04 > 1:17:07Then a charming dance by the great Ernest Tomlinson,
1:17:07 > 1:17:09guardian of British light music.
1:17:09 > 1:17:12His Waltz For A Princess.
1:17:12 > 1:17:16First we create a gentler mood with music by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs.
1:17:16 > 1:17:18The slow waltz Dusk.
1:20:51 > 1:20:55APPLAUSE
1:24:23 > 1:24:28APPLAUSE
1:27:41 > 1:27:43APPLAUSE
1:27:43 > 1:27:46Dusk by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, A Canadian In Mayfair
1:27:46 > 1:27:50by Angela Morley, and Waltz For A Princess by Ernest Tomlinson.
1:27:53 > 1:27:56If our concert today hasn't given you a taste for all those
1:27:56 > 1:28:00gems of British light music, then I'm not quite sure what will.
1:28:00 > 1:28:03We're going to finish with a wonderful piece by Eric Coates
1:28:03 > 1:28:07that beautifully evokes a particular area of this great capital city,
1:28:07 > 1:28:09his Knightsbridge March, for years,
1:28:09 > 1:28:14used as the theme tune for the BBC radio series In Town Tonight.
1:32:23 > 1:32:27APPLAUSE
1:32:27 > 1:32:29Knightsbridge March by Eric Coates,
1:32:29 > 1:32:34played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by John Wilson.
1:32:34 > 1:32:38That was the piece that launched Coates to fame and fortune
1:32:38 > 1:32:42after being used as the theme to the radio programme In Town Tonight.
1:32:42 > 1:32:45Coates's London home was beseiged after the first broadcasts.
1:32:45 > 1:32:49The police had to guard his front door.
1:32:49 > 1:32:53BBC Symphony Orchestra, led by Andrew Haveron,
1:32:53 > 1:32:58and conducted with great passion and panache by John Wilson,
1:32:58 > 1:33:01surely the cheerleader of British light music.
1:33:01 > 1:33:05Ladies and gentlemen, the name John Malcolm won't mean much
1:33:05 > 1:33:11to many of you, and the title Non-Stop will mean even less.
1:33:11 > 1:33:13LAUGHTER
1:33:13 > 1:33:15But most of you will know this piece.
1:33:15 > 1:33:18LAUGHTER
1:36:09 > 1:36:13APPLAUSE
1:36:13 > 1:36:17Non-Stop by composer John Malcolm, which you may recognise
1:36:17 > 1:36:21as the theme music to ITN's news bulletins in the '60s and '70s.
1:36:21 > 1:36:25Ending this concert of light music from the Royal Festival Hall
1:36:25 > 1:36:29in what is the 60th anniversary year of the Festival of Britain.
1:36:29 > 1:36:33I hope you've enjoyed either reminiscing or maybe hearing
1:36:33 > 1:36:35this music for the very first time.
1:36:35 > 1:36:39From me, Petroc Trelawny, for now, goodbye.
1:36:39 > 1:36:43APPLAUSE
1:36:50 > 1:36:53Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
1:36:53 > 1:36:56E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk