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Along with many others of my generation, I adored this medley when awakening in the morning. Regrettably, the BBC pulled it after 28 years, allegedly because they wanted to substitute "a pacier news briefing" - of which more below:
Background
"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".
The Music
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".
Courtesy of Wikipedia.
Images
Most are not my own in this case - I just don't have decent pictures taken by me of the whole of the UK. I'll try to credit them, where possible.
Performance
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Paul Murphy
A Naxos Recording