Friday Night is Music Night
Encyclopedia
Friday Night is Music Night is a long running live BBC
radio concert programme featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra
, broadcast most Fridays on BBC Radio 2
at 8.00pm. It is the world's longest-running live music radio programme.
The programme regularly features many types of music from classical music, light music
, film music, theatre music
, songs from the musical
s, opera
and operetta
. It is also notable for its arrangements of popular standards
swing, jazz
, and folksongs. One of its biggest appeals is its unpredictable playlist, which is left unrevealed until broadcast.
The programme usually features guest artistes between the orchestral pieces, who sing with full orchestral accompaniment. Occasionally, artistes such as Donny Osmond
and Alanis Morissette
perform in the larger venues. The programme also showpieces certain sections of the orchestra and features guest instrumentalists, for example the BBC Big Band
.
's High Adventure. After the fanfare, the compère (today usually Ken Bruce
, Aled Jones
, Paul Gambaccini
, Clare Teal
or Russell Davies
, but formerly Richard Baker
, Jimmy Kingsbury, Robin Boyle, or Brian Kay
) gives a summary of the programme, before reciting the slogan of the title. This happens again at the close of the programme, with the announcer usually ending on "I hope that once again we have proved that Friday Night is Music Night"
It is broadcast live from many theatres and concert halls throughout the UK, although regularly from the Mermaid Theatre
in London
or the Watford Colosseum. The show is not recorded live every week, but instead previous shows are repeated later in the year when the orchestra is on tour.
and now on its successor, BBC Radio 2
, making it the world's longest-running 'live music' radio programme. Many attribute the programme's format to the composer and conductor Sidney Torch
. In particular, it is notable for now being one of the few programmes to feature light music
on Radio 2.
In 2005, the programme was televised for the first time on BBC Four
as part of a 1940s and 1950s theme night, with a playlist concentrating on classic light music
by composers such as Eric Coates
, Trevor Duncan
, Ronald Binge
and Leroy Anderson
. The compère was actor and comedian Roy Hudd
. On Friday 19th March 2010, the programme was broadcast from the BBC Television Centre
in Shepherds Bush for the first time.
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...
radio concert programme featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra
BBC Concert Orchestra
The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five which is not a full-scale symphony orchestra....
, broadcast most Fridays on BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
at 8.00pm. It is the world's longest-running live music radio programme.
The programme regularly features many types of music from classical music, light music
Light music
Light music is a generic term applied to a mainly British musical style of "light" orchestral music, which originated in the 19th century and had its heyday during the early to mid part of the 20th century, although arguably it lasts to the present day....
, film music, theatre music
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, songs from the musical
Musical film
The musical film is a film genre in which songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, though in some cases they serve merely as breaks in the storyline, often as elaborate...
s, opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
. It is also notable for its arrangements of popular standards
Great American Songbook
The Great American Songbook is a hypothetical construct that seeks to represent the best American songs of the 20th century principally from Broadway theatre, musical theatre, and Hollywood musicals, from the 1920s to 1960, including dozens of songs of enduring popularity...
swing, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and folksongs. One of its biggest appeals is its unpredictable playlist, which is left unrevealed until broadcast.
The programme usually features guest artistes between the orchestral pieces, who sing with full orchestral accompaniment. Occasionally, artistes such as Donny Osmond
Donny Osmond
Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond is an American singer, musician, actor, dancer, radio personality, and former teen idol. Osmond has also been a talk and game show host, record producer and author. In the mid 1960s, he and four of his elder brothers gained fame as the Osmond Brothers on the long...
and Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Nadine Morissette is a Canadian-American singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination...
perform in the larger venues. The programme also showpieces certain sections of the orchestra and features guest instrumentalists, for example the BBC Big Band
BBC Big Band
The BBC Big Band, originally known as the BBC Radio Big Band is a British big band run under the auspices of the BBC. Widely regarded as the UK’s leading and most versatile jazz orchestra, the band broadcasts exclusivley on BBC Radio, particularly on BBC Radio 2's long running series Big Band Special...
.
Format
Friday Night is Music Night traditionally begins with the orchestra playing the first bars of an adapted version of Charles WilliamsCharles Williams (composer)
Charles Williams was a British composer and conductor, contributing music to over 50 films...
's High Adventure. After the fanfare, the compère (today usually Ken Bruce
Ken Bruce
Kenneth Robertson Bruce is a British broadcaster known for his programme on BBC Radio 2, which is broadcast on weekdays from 9:30am until 12 noon.-Early life and career:...
, Aled Jones
Aled Jones
Aled Jones is a Welsh singer and television/radio personality, broadcaster and television presenter who first came to fame as a treble...
, Paul Gambaccini
Paul Gambaccini
Paul Matthew Gambaccini is a radio and television presenter in the United Kingdom...
, Clare Teal
Clare Teal
Clare Teal is an English jazz singer who has become famous not only for her singing, but also for having signed the biggest ever recording contract by a British jazz singer.-Biography:...
or Russell Davies
Russell Davies
Robert Russell Davies , known as Russell Davies, is a British journalist and broadcaster. He presents a Sunday radio programme on BBC Radio 2 which spotlights popular song, as well as Brain of Britain on Radio 4.-Background:...
, but formerly 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...
, Jimmy Kingsbury, Robin Boyle, or Brian Kay
Brian Kay
Brian Kay is an English radio presenter, conductor and singer. He is well known as the bass in the King's Singers during the group's formative years from 1968 until 1982, and as such is to be heard on many of their 1970s LP recordings...
) gives a summary of the programme, before reciting the slogan of the title. This happens again at the close of the programme, with the announcer usually ending on "I hope that once again we have proved that Friday Night is Music Night"
It is broadcast live from many theatres and concert halls throughout the UK, although regularly from the Mermaid Theatre
Mermaid Theatre
The Mermaid Theatre was a theatre at Puddle Dock, in Blackfriars, in the City of London and the first built there since the time of Shakespeare...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
or the Watford Colosseum. The show is not recorded live every week, but instead previous shows are repeated later in the year when the orchestra is on tour.
History
The programme has been running since 1952, first on the BBC Light ProgrammeBBC Light Programme
The Light Programme was a BBC radio station which broadcast mainstream light entertainment and music from 1945 until 1967, when it was rebranded as BBC Radio 2...
and now on its successor, BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...
, making it the world's longest-running 'live music' radio programme. Many attribute the programme's format to the composer and conductor Sidney Torch
Sidney Torch
Sidney Torch MBE was a British pianist, cinema organist, conductor, orchestral arranger and a composer of light music.Born Sidney Torchinsky of a Ukrainian Father and an Estonian Mother in London, Torch learned the rudiments of music very quickly from his father, an orchestral trombonist...
. In particular, it is notable for now being one of the few programmes to feature light music
Light music
Light music is a generic term applied to a mainly British musical style of "light" orchestral music, which originated in the 19th century and had its heyday during the early to mid part of the 20th century, although arguably it lasts to the present day....
on Radio 2.
In 2005, the programme was televised for the first time on 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....
as part of a 1940s and 1950s theme night, with a playlist concentrating on classic light music
Light music
Light music is a generic term applied to a mainly British musical style of "light" orchestral music, which originated in the 19th century and had its heyday during the early to mid part of the 20th century, although arguably it lasts to the present day....
by composers such as Eric Coates
Eric Coates
Eric Coates was an English composer of light music and a viola player.-Life:Eric was born in Hucknall in Nottinghamshire to William Harrison Coates , a surgeon, and his wife, Mary Jane Gwynne, hailing from Usk in Monmouthshire...
, Trevor Duncan
Trevor Duncan
Trevor Duncan was an English composer, particularly noted for his light music compositions. Born in London, and largely self-taught, he originally composed as a sideline while working for the BBC...
, Ronald Binge
Ronald Binge
Ronald Binge was a British composer and arranger of light music.-Biography:He was born in a working-class neighbourhood in Derby in the English Midlands. In his childhood he was a chorister at Saint Andrews Church , London Road, Derby - 'the railwaymens church'...
and Leroy Anderson
Leroy Anderson
Leroy Anderson was an American composer of short, light concert pieces, many of which were introduced by the Boston Pops Orchestra under the direction of Arthur Fiedler...
. The compère was actor and comedian Roy Hudd
Roy Hudd
Roy Hudd, OBE is an English comedian, actor, radio host and author, and an authority on the history of music hall entertainment.- Early life :...
. On Friday 19th March 2010, the programme was broadcast from the BBC Television Centre
BBC Television Centre
BBC Television Centre at White City in West London is the headquarters of BBC Television. Officially opened on 29 June 1960, it remains one of the largest to this day; having featured over the years as backdrop to many BBC programmes, it is one of the most readily recognisable such facilities...
in Shepherds Bush for the first time.
External links
- BBC Friday Night is Music Night website
- BBC Concert Orchestra website
- Friday Night Is Music Night Again Welcomes Diana YukawaDiana Yukawais an Anglo-Japanese solo violinist. She has had two solo albums with BMG Japan, one of which opened to #1.-Early life:Diana Yukawa was born in Tokyo, Japan to English ballet dancer Susanne Bayly and Japanese banker Akihisa Yukawa one month after her father died in the 1985 Japan Airlines Flight...
- Biography of BBC Concert Orchestra