The BBC Concert Orchestra
Of the five orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Company, the BBC Concert Orchestra is the most oriented toward light music, popular music, and jazz. The orchestra's name is somewhat inaccurate: although it does often perform live concerts, the group's most important tasks are connected to radio broadcasting.
The BBC Concert Orchestra grew out of the BBC Theatre Orchestra, which was formed in 1931 and was later renamed the BBC Opera Orchestra. In 1952, that group was reorganized as the BBC Concert Orchestra. The following year, it became the house orchestra for the BBC program Friday Night is Music Night, which as of the late 2010s, remained on the air as the world's longest-running radio program. The orchestra performed a variety of other light music on BBC programs, accompanied popular singers, sometimes teamed with the BBC Big Band, and at times performed operatic and symphonic works. For two decades, the group gave live concerts at London's Camden Theatre, moving to the Hippodrome in North London in 1972. The orchestra's first conductor was Gilbert Vinter. Subsequent conductors have included Charles Mackerras (1954-1956), Vilem Tausky (1956-1966), Marcus Dods (1966-1970), Ashley Lawrence (1970-1989), Barry Wordsworth (1989-2006), Boston Pops conductor Keith Lockhart (2010-2017, remaining as the principal guest conductor), and Bramwell Tovey (2018-). Composers associated with the BBC Concert Orchestra have sometimes been associated with popular music spheres; they include Radiohead guitarist and keyboardist Jonny Greenwood, who became the orchestra's composer-in-association in 2004. The orchestra's other responsibilities have included recording jingles for BBC News programs.
The BBC Concert Orchestra has a large catalog of recordings, many of them covering British light music, film music, and symphonic music that has not been recorded elsewhere. Many of their recordings have appeared on the Bainbridge, Excalibur, Dutton Laboratories (which has issued a lengthy series of light music/easy listening recordings), Chandos, and Somm labels. In 2019, the orchestra issued an album on Regent of music by its new composer-in-residence, Dobrinka Tabakova.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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African Rhapsodies (A Work for Kora & Symphonic Orchestra)
Seckou Keita, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Mark Heron
Classical - Released by Claves Records on 26 May 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Poulenc: Orchestral Works
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Bramwell Tovey
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 4 Nov 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Swing, a Benny Goodman Story (Bonus Track Version)
Pierre Génisson, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Keith Lockhart
Classical - Released by Aparté on 24 Jan 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dorothy Howell: Orchestral Works
Rebecca Miller, The BBC Concert Orchestra
Classical - Released by Signum Records on 8 Mar 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Seldom Seen Kid (Live At Abbey Road)
Elbow, The BBC Concert Orchestra
Alternative & Indie - Released by Polydor Records on 17 Mar 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Frederick Delius - Hiawatha, Tone Poem for Orchestra
Classical - Released by Dutton Epoch on 1 Jun 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Maltworms & Milkmaids
The BBC Concert Orchestra, BBC Singers, David Hill, Ben McAteer
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by EM Records on 18 Aug 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Love Story: Piano Themes From Cinema's Golden Age
Valentina Lisitsa, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Gavin Sutherland
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 26 Aug 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Last Night of the Proms Collection
Della Jones, Robert Ferriman, The Royal Choral Society, The BBC Concert Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
La Nuit de Noël
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Stephen Fry, BBC Singers, Rebecca Turner, Barry Wordsworth
Classical - Released by Naxos on 1 Nov 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elgar: The Longed-for Light
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Simon Callow, Susan Gritton, John Wilson
Classical - Released by SOMM Recordings on 13 Nov 2012
Gramophone Editor's Choice16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Film Music of John Addison
Rumon Gamba, The BBC Concert Orchestra
Symphonies - Released by Chandos on 1 May 2007
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Howells: Missa Sabrinensis & Michael Fanfare
The Bach Choir, The BBC Concert Orchestra, David Hill
Classical - Released by Hyperion on 1 May 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Jeffes: "Still Life" at the Penguin Café; Four Pieces for Orchestra
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
British Light Music
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Philip Martin, Roderick Elms, Kenneth Alwyn
Classical - Released by Naxos on 25 Jun 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anthony Collins - Vanity Fair
Classical - Released by Dutton Epoch on 1 Feb 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cyril Scott: Piano Concerto, Cello Concerto & Overture to Pelleas and Melisanda
Classical - Released by Dutton Epoch on 1 Apr 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Edward German: Henry VIII - Incidental Music & Dances
Edward German, The BBC Concert Orchestra
Classical - Released by Dutton Epoch on 5 Mar 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chadwick: Sinfonietta in D Major
George Whitefield Chadwick, The BBC Concert Orchestra
Classical - Released by Dutton Epoch on 11 Aug 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gregson: A Song for Chris - Trombone Concerto - Music for Chamber Orchestra - 2 Pictures
The BBC Concert Orchestra, Peter Moore, Timothy Welch, Guy Johnston, Bramwell Tovey
Symphonic Music - Released by Chandos on 1 Jan 2011
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Frozen Planet (Soundtrack from the TV Series)
George Fenton, The BBC Concert Orchestra
Film Soundtracks - Released by Silva Screen Records Ltd on 28 Feb 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo