Comments on: And now, some music on the Light Programme ...

Question: And now, some music on the Light Programme ...

scruss — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:21:34 -0800

Trying to track down a piece of mid-20th century music. It's got a whimsical "Auntie Beeb" feel to it, a meandering woodwind (clarinet) theme and unexpected woodblock or claves usage. Last time I heard it, the piece was being used ironically. Whether the piece was actually used in 1950s BBC broadcasts, I don't know, but I'd love to get its name.

By: aswego

aswego — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:03:21 -0800

Stranger on the Shore?

By: scruss

scruss — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:24:45 -0800

not Stranger on the Shore, no.

By: Susurration

Susurration — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:32:15 -0800

The theme from the South Bank Show? It's based on a theme by Paganini.

By: Susurration

Susurration — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 19:33:40 -0800

Shoot -- misread clarinet. Not the South Bank Show theme, then ... :-)

By: scruss

scruss — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:06:06 -0800

nope, not Variations, either.

I'm looking for something a bit more Mr Cholmondely-Warner, or maybe even Pathé Newsreel.

By: chrismear

chrismear — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:24:07 -0800

Can you remember the rest of the orchestration -- strings, woodwind, brass?

By: scruss

scruss — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:05:40 -0800

woodwind and strings, I think. May not have been a clarinet - perhaps oboe, probably not flute. Got a really meandering down-the-garden path feeling to it: diddly-dum de dum de dum, diddly-dum de dum de dum de do ... and then there's a bit that goes like diddly dum CRACK! diddly-dum CRACK! dum de diddly diddly do - or something like that.

The CRACK! might be woodblocks, or a snare. It's meant to be a bit jarring.

This music was used in the same way to evoke a time period that Guiot's "Ardente Elisabeth" is used to evoke 1970s UK schools television - except this was supposed to be the 1940s-50s.

By: buxtonbluecat

buxtonbluecat — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:22:51 -0800

Might it be Barwick Green, best known as the theme music from "The Archers"? (The woodblocks are around 1:20.)

By: scruss

scruss — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:26:02 -0800

no, not the Archers theme. Similarly jolly, though, but not quite so hearty. It sounds a bit like Barwick Green but with a couple of drinks in it.

By: A189Nut

A189Nut — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:41:37 -0800

Ronald Binge?

Elizabethan Serenade

The Watermill

Sailing By

By: scruss

scruss — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:42:39 -0800

no, Binge is a bit too stringy.

By: Dr.Pill

Dr.Pill — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:08:23 -0800

Puffin' Billy?
If not that it may well be on this double CD.

By: DandyRandy

DandyRandy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:17:10 -0800

How 'bout 'On The Trail', from the Grand Canyon Suite by Grofe?

By: scruss

scruss — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:45:39 -0800

not On The Trail.

Puffin' Billy's really close - exactly the kind of twee sound. But it's still not it.

By: chrismear

chrismear — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:52:18 -0800

diddly dum CRACK! diddly-dum CRACK! dum de diddly diddly do

If that's not the 'Popular Song' from William Walton's Façade suite, I'll eat my metronome.

By: scruss

scruss — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 07:59:49 -0800

indeed, chrismear - no need to sauté the wittner. Thank you!