成人快手

Donald Macleod explores how light music emerged from the theatre pits of late-19th-century Britain and began to find audiences in concert halls, music halls and at home, focusing on the composers Edward German and Haydn Wood.

The names of the composers of British light music - Coates, Ket猫lby, Farnon, Dring or Tomlinson - might not be as well known as those of Mozart, Beethoven or Bach, but some of their music will be just as familiar to most listeners, and it still provides the soundtrack to many people鈥檚 everyday lives through, among other things, the theme music to their favourite TV and radio programmes. Over the course of this week, Donald Macleod tracks the rise and fall of light music in Britain over roughly 100 years, from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th. He鈥檒l be exploring the social history which led to this genre flourishing, from the late-Victorian theatre crowds in want of more popular fare after the successes of Gilbert and Sullivan鈥檚 operettas, to the orchestras which sprang up to entertain the burgeoning UK seaside resorts. Along the way, Donald will examine the explosion of music in people鈥檚 homes, as at first pianos and other instruments, and then radio and television sets, became affordable to households across the country, and the transition from silent movies to the talkies. Donald will also explore the challenges which the genre faced as audiences moved towards new ways of listening in the 20th century and the pioneers who have sought to keep this music alive.

In Monday鈥檚 episode, Donald explores the music of Edward German and Haydn Wood, who emerged from the theatres of Victorian Britain to bring a new, lighter, more tuneful style of music to concert halls and music halls up and down the country. He also explores the impact of the new, more affordable upright piano - a 鈥渕ust have鈥� for every home.

Ronald Binge
Elizabethan Serenade
New London Orchestra
Ronald Corp, conductor

Edward German
鈥淚f You Wish to Appear As An Irish Type鈥� from Emerald Isle
Richard Suart, baritone
The National Symphony Orchestra
David Steadman, conductor

Edward German
Nell Gwyn Suite: Overture
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
John Wilson, conductor

Edward German
Welsh Rhapsody
Scottish National Orchestra
Sir Alexander Gibson, conductor

Haydn Wood
Roses of Picardy
Gerald Finley, bass-baritone
Stephen Higgins, piano

Haydn Wood
Mannin Veen
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra
Adrian Leaper, conductor