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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra Celebrating 60

Ken Bruce salutes the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra on their 60th anniversary - featuring an archive concert celebrating the 30th anniversary of Friday Night is Music Night in 1983.

Celebrating 60 - Ken Bruce salutes the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra on their 60th anniversary. This week's featured archive concert dates from September 1983 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Radio 2's weekly live music show - Friday Night is Music Night.

1953 was a very busy music year in the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ. The previous year saw the formation of the "new" Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra - "an orchestra capable to putting over the finest light music to great effect". The following summer the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ broadcast a series of light music concerts from the Royal Festival Hall - entitled Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ International Festival of Light Music. Then that September a new programme was commissioned specifically to show off the talents of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra. Its brief was "to create a Friday-night show which would help people relax after the week's hard work and put them in the right mood for a happy weekend". It was called Friday Night Is Music Night and 59 years later it remains one of Radio 2's longest running programmes.

The 30th anniversary concert took place on 23rd September 1983 at the Fairfield Hall in Croydon - the orchestra is conducted by Kenneth Alwyn with guests Rosemary Ashe; Cynthia Glover, John Lawrenson, Robert Docker(piano) and the Band of the Grenadier Guards. The presenter is Robin Boyle and the programme includes music from the Legend of the Glass Mountain(Miklos Rozsa); Robert and Elizabeth(Ron Grainer); Oklahoma(Rodgers and Hammerstein) and songs from a what was a new show in 1983 - yet to be staged in London - Follies by Stephen Sondheim.

In this 11-part series, Ken Bruce is trawling the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra archives for some classic performances from their first 60 years.

A feast for light music fans - each week the series will broadcast a show from the orchestra archives. The series will feature archive performances from the likes of light music legends Sidney Torch; Vilem Tausky; Robert Farnon; Eric Coates; Willi Boskovsky; Stanley Black; and Ron Goodwin. Plus concert performances from Matt Monro and Dudley Moore as well as more recent collaborations with Michael BublΓ©; Lionel Richie and Peter Gabriel.

1 hour, 57 minutes

Last on

Fri 16 Mar 2012 20:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 2

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Music Played

  • Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra CB Kenneth Alwyn

    High Adventure

    (Williams)

    • Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ.

  • Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra

    Fighter Command March

    (Kenneth Alwyn )

    • RCA.

  • Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra

    Tabarinage

    (Docker)

    • Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Records.

  • Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra

    High Adventure

    (Williams)

    • Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ.

  • The Band of the Grenadier Guards

    Semper Fidelis

    (Sousa)

    • NA.

  • Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra

    Vergnugungszug

    (Strauss)

    • N/A.

  • Cynthia Glover, John Lawrenson

    Song Of Songs

    (Moya) (Ft. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra/Kenneth Alwyn)

  • Cynthia Glover, John Lawrenson

    Legend Of Glass Mountain

    (Nino Roto) (Ft. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra/Kenneth Alwyn)

  • Rosemary Ashe

    Stage Struck

    (Previn, Mercer) (Ft. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra/Kenneth Alwyn)

  • Rosemary Ashe

    Woman And Man

    (Millar, Grainer) (Ft. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra/Kenneth Alwyn)

  • The Band of the Grenadier Guards

    Bavarian Bugle Boy

    (Simms)

  • Cynthia Glover

    The Nightingale and The Rose

    (Rimsky-Korsakov) (Ft. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra/Kenneth Alwyn)

  • John Lawrenson

    Ladies Have Such Variations

    (Mozart) (Ft. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra/Kenneth Alwyn)

  • The Band of the Grenadier Guards

    Ride Of The Valkyries

    (Wagner) (Ft. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra/Kenneth Alwyn)

  • Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra

    Gopak

    (Tchaikovsky) (Conducted by Kenneth Alwyn)

  • Cynthia Glover

    Il Bacio

    (Arditi) (Ft. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra/Kenneth Alwyn)

  • Cynthia Glover

    When I Grow Too Old to Dream

    (Hammerstein/Romberg) (Ft. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra/Kenneth Alwyn)

  • John Lawrenson

    John Lawrenson - Sunshine Of Your Smile

    (Lillian Ray) (Ft. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra/Kenneth Alwyn)

  • The Band of the Grenadier Guards

    Rossini's Birthday Party

    (Henk Van Lijnschooten)

  • Rosemary Ashe

    Losing My Mind

    (Sondheim) (Ft. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra/Kenneth Alwyn)

  • Rosemary Ashe

    The Boy From…

    (Sondheim/Rogers) (Ft. Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra/Kenneth Alwyn)

  • Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra CB: /Kenneth Alwyn

    Dreaming

    (Joyce) (Arr Torch)

  • The Band of the Grenadier Guards

    Procession Of The Nobles

    (Rimsky Korsakov)

  • Cynthia Glover, Rosemary Ashe, John Lawrenson

    Oklahoma

    (Rodgers and Hammerstein) (Ft. The John McCarthy Singers)

  • Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Concert Orchestra

    High Adventure

    (Williams)

    • Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ.

Broadcast

  • Fri 16 Mar 2012 20:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 2