The BBC Radio 4 UK Theme is an orchestral arrangement of traditional British and Irish airs compiled by Fritz Spiegl and arranged by Manfred Arlan. It was played every morning on BBC Radio 4 between 23 November 1978 and 23 April 2006.
The piece was used as the signature theme to introduce the daily beginning of Radio 4's broadcasting following the early morning handover from the BBC World Service. The theme was immediately followed by the Shipping Forecast. In 2006, the decision by Mark Damazer (Controller of Radio 4 at the time) to drop the Radio 4 UK Theme to make way for a "pacy news briefing" caused much controversy in the United Kingdom, including extensive discussion in the British media and even in Parliament.
Austrian-born Spiegl moved to the UK as a refugee in 1939, after his parents fled Nazi persecution of Jews after the Anschluss. He had contributed several pieces of music to the BBC, including a theme for Radio 4 based on a children's skipping rhyme introduced in 1973 (called A Skipping Tune), which was replaced by the Radio 4 UK Theme.
Context and usage
The UK Theme was created in 1978 at the suggestion of Ian McIntyre, the then-new controller of Radio 4. (BBC press releases, when it was cut, wrongly stated 1973.)
McIntyre commissioned Fritz Spiegl to produce an arrangement of traditional British and Irish melodies to signify Radio 4 as a service which, from its move from medium wave to 1500 metres/200 kiloHertz long wave on 23 November 1978, would for the first time broadcast a unified service to the whole United Kingdom. Radio 4 had inherited regional opt-outs from the BBC Home Service in 1967, when the "Home", the "Light" and the "Third" were rebranded as Radio 4, Radio 2 and Radio 3 to make way for the then-new BBC Radio 1.
The piece was recorded in 1978 by the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra. The original recording was 5 minutes, 45 seconds and did not include 'Greensleeves/Drunken Sailor', having instead a longer and slower 'Londonderry Air/Annie Laurie' section, with the two pieces played separately before being combined. By 1990, the more familiar five-minute arrangement was in use, lasting until 2006.
The time at which the piece was played varied according to the time Radio 4 began broadcasting, which has become gradually earlier in the morning over the years. Initially it was played at approximately 5:54 am on weekdays (starting from Thursday 23 November 1978), before the first programme of the day (News Briefing) began at 6:00 am. At weekends it was played later than this (Saturday programmes in November 1978 starting at 6:30 am and Sunday programmes at 7:15 am). With the extension of the Today Programme to start at 6:00 am, the Shipping Forecast and the UK Theme with it were broadcast earlier. Towards the end of the UK Theme'''s life it was played at 5:30 am every day, when Radio 4 took over from the BBC World Service, which has provided overnight programming on Radio 4's radio frequency for some years.
The actual premiere of the Theme was at approximately 9:07 pm on Monday 20 November 1978, when it was played to fill a lengthy gap in the schedule and to familiarise listeners with the imminent frequency change.
In 2006 the Controller of Radio 4, Mark Damazer, announced that he was cancelling the broadcast. The decision caused much controversy, but protests did not succeed. The last regular broadcast of the UK Theme was at 5.30 am on Sunday 23 April 2006.
It was played in full at the end of Radio 4's PM programme on 11 December 2019.
Description
The Theme is a collection of traditional British and Irish folk tunes representing the four home countries of the United Kingdom and the national maritime tradition.
The piece opens with the first few bars of "Early One Morning" (English, horns and trombones), before the main theme of "Rule, Britannia!" (British, woodwind and strings) is played. In the second section, the mood changes as "A Londonderry Air" (Northern Irish, cor anglais and harp) combined with "Annie Laurie" (Scottish, violin) are played at a slower tempo. The faster third section begins with "What Shall We Do with the Drunken Sailor?" (Royal Navy, piccolo) combined with "Greensleeves" (English, strings), then "Men of Harlech" (Welsh, brass and percussion) combined with "Scotland the Brave" (Scottish, woodwind). The finale of the piece, after alluding again to "Early One Morning", ends with a full orchestral version of "Rule Britannia" over which a solo trumpet plays the "Trumpet Voluntary".