The BBC Television Orchestra (1936–1939) was a
broadcast orchestra founded in 1936 by conductor, violinist and composer
Hyam Greenbaum and led by Boris Pecker. Greenbaum's wife
Sidonie Goossens was the first solo harpist with the Orchestra in that year.
It was disbanded in September 1939 when the outbreak of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
caused the
BBC Television service to be suspended so as not to create a VHF beacon for German bombers. After that Greenbaum used a nucleus of its players to form the BBC Revue Orchestra, playing light variety music for BBC radio from its base in
Bangor, North Wales.
Its successor, the BBC Revue Orchestra, was amalgamated with the BBC Variety Orchestra in 1964 to form the
BBC Radio Orchestra.
Performances
The orchestra played on the first ever programme broadcast when regular British television broadcasts commenced on 26 August 1936 to an estimated 123,000 viewers. The orchestra also played on the opening day of BBC Television
high-definition broadcast on Monday, 2 November 1936, with
Adele Dixon performing the song "Television" live on its launch programme. For the three years of its life the orchestra's repertoire was wide, ranging from music for drama productions through to a televised adaptation of
Wagner's
Tristan and Isolde in two, one hour sections on 24 January 1938.
''Radio Tines'', Issue 747, 23 January 1938, p 16
/ref>
See also
* List of radio orchestras
* BBC Orchestras and Singers
BBC Orchestras and Singers refers collectively to a number of orchestras, choirs and other musical ensembles, maintained by the BBC.
Current operation
All of the BBC’s Orchestras and Singers record performances primarily for BBC Radio 3, with t ...
* BBC Radio Orchestra
References
External links
*
Birth of Television
Electromusicians, BAIRD The Birth of Television
BBC: Opening Night, November, 1936
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bbc Television Orchestra
History of television in the United Kingdom
Former radio and television orchestras
Disbanded orchestras
Musical groups established in 1936
Musical groups disestablished in 1939
1936 establishments in the United Kingdom
1939 disestablishments in the United Kingdom
Television Orchestra
BBC Television