The A Orchestra Initially, the Radio Orchestra had 56 full-time staff players, comprising: • 20 violins • 6 violas • 6 cellos • 2 orchestral basses • Flute/piccolo/bass flute • Flute/clarinet/alto saxophone • Oboe/Cor Anglais • 5 Saxophones, all doubling woodwinds • 4 Trumpets • 4 Trombones (including 1 bass trombone) • 2 Percussion (drums and auxiliary percussion) • Piano • Rhythm /jazz bass • Harp • Guitar In addition, the Radio Orchestra was often augmented with extra strings, four French Horns, Tuba, bassoons and extra percussion making the full ensemble up to almost 70 players. The only studio large enough for the A1 orchestra was the Camden, and in May 1967 a series of recording sessions with a range of conductors – one each week – was scheduled. Titled "This is the Radio Orchestra", the series was produced by John Billingham and introduced by
Michael Aspel. The Studio Manager was John Andrews, and the conductors, who brought their own arrangements, included
Ron Goodwin,
John Fox, John Gregory,
Roland Shaw,
Frank Chacksfield, "Monty" Mantovani,
Johnny Harris,
Geoff Love and, with his Frank Sinatra arrangements, Nelson Riddle. The orchestra's first staff conductor was
Malcolm Lockyer, who had previously conducted the Revue Orchestra. When the Camden studios closed, the Radio Orchestra and Big Band moved operation to the BBC's
Maida Vale Studios, namely studio MV3, alongside the BBC Symphony Orchestra.
The B1 and B2 Orchestras The B1 Orchestra, with a complement of 30, was effectively a big band with strings in the
Billy May/
Nelson Riddle style, with 5 saxes, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones, piano, guitar, bass, drums, 10 violins, 2 violas and 2 cellos. All the players in the sax section played one or more other instruments including flutes, piccolo, clarinets and different varieties of saxophones, and the pianist was surrounded by a celeste, an upright "jangle" piano and often an electric organ. This totals 31, as the guitar was an official "augmentation". This lineup was unofficially titled the
Radio Showband by radio producers and music staff, as it had the same instrumentation as the
BBC Showband of the late 1950s. This was also the full line up of the
BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra. The B2 Orchestra, with a complement of 26, used the components of the A Orchestra not required for the B1, which resulted in a line-up of 10 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 2 basses, 2 flutes, oboe, percussion, harp and guitar.
The C1 and C2 Orchestras The C1's 16 players formed the same big band as that which was the basis of the B1, augmented by a guitar, and was known as the
BBC Radio Big Band. This left 40 players for the C2, which gave a very good
Frank Chacksfield style orchestra of 20 violins, 6 violas, 6 cellos, 2 basses, 2 flutes, oboe, percussion, harp and guitar, with the augmentation of a piano. One of the basses would be a jazz 'rhythm' player. The Strings of the Radio Orchestra were often conducted by arrangers including
John Fox, John Gregory, Ronnie Aldrich and
Neil Richardson D1, D2 and D3 Orchestras The D1 orchestra was identical to the C1, and the D2 was the same combination as the B2 but less one bass and plus a piano. This left the D3 comprising the string section of the B1 orchestra (10 violins, 2 violas and 2 cellos) plus a bass – not a particularly useful combination. In practice, BBC producers moved four of the violins into the D2 to match the arrangements used by
Semprini, and the "leftover" strings were utilised by pianist/arranger Ken Moule, with the addition of a drummer.
E1, E2 and E3 Orchestras These three combinations were proposed during the planning of the re-organisation but were never implemented. The E1 (7 players) was to comprise 4 trumpets, an electric organ, bass and drums. The E2 (29 players) was the largest combination, with 10 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 2 flutes, oboe, 4 trombones, percussion, harp, guitar and piano, with the addition of a bass. The E3 (20 players) would have 10 violins, 2 violas, 2 cellos, bass and 5 saxes. A footnote suggested that the trombone and sax sections could be interchanged between the combinations. It does not seem surprising that no E orchestra sessions ever took place! Arrangements for various sections of the Radio Orchestra were utilised across BBC's Regional Radio Orchestras: The B1, B2, C1, C2 and D combinations matched the line up of the largest regional orchestra, the
BBC Scottish Radio Orchestra, which would occasionally receive augmentation to A size. The
BBC Northern Radio Orchestra (previously the
BBC Northern Dance Orchestra) utilised C and D combinations, as did the
BBC Midland Radio Orchestra.
Closure In a change of musical policy at the BBC, the corporation disbanded many of its light orchestras in 1979, including the regional Radio Orchestras, resulting in a dispute with the
Musicians' Union that disrupted
the Proms that year. The BBC Radio Orchestra survived, but no Principal Conductor had ever been appointed to the orchestra. In 1988, the Controller of Radio 2, Frances Line, decided that such a position should be created, and
Iain Sutherland, who had been the regular conductor of
Friday Night Is Music Night, and many other shows, was appointed. New, regular programmes were created showcasing the versatility and range of the Radio Orchestra with great success, but quite suddenly, it was disbanded in 1991. The BBC Big Band was, however, retained as a full-time staff ensemble until 1994, when the staff musicians were made freelance players, and the management of the band was moved outside the BBC. ==References==