Archive Pioneers: Saviours of Sound at the BBC

Synopsis

The BBC was nearly ten years old when it installed its first recording machine, but tapes and discs soon began to pile up in Broadcasting House. Through broadcasts, internal BBC interviews and recordings never before released in full, some of the BBC’s archive pioneers explain how - and why - they set about collecting, selecting and organising voices and sounds in the 1930s and 40s. The department was variously named over the years, as its role in preserving the BBC’s output grew and evolved, but today it is best known as the BBC Sound Archive.

The programmes streamed on the website include A FOYLES LITERARY LUNCHEON recorded in 1941 in which Lynton Fletcher shows off the BBC Sound Library to a literary audience (37 minutes); YOU HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO A RECORDING, PART 3 - a 17-minute programme from 1942 in which Lynton Fletcher and Marie Slocombe talk about the BBC’s growing collection of historic recordings; ARTHUR PHILLIPS: BBC MEMORIES 1929-1974 - a 61-minute programme about the story of rising from page boy to producer over 45 years at the BBC; ARCHIVE HOUR: MARIE SLOCOMBE AND THE BBC SOUND ARCHIVE - 57-minute programme recorded in 2007 telling the story of the temp who started the BBC Sound Archive; LUDWIG KOCH AND THE MUSIC OF NATURE - 28-minute programme recorded in 2009 telling how a boyhood hobby led to pioneering recordings of the natural world.

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2010

Subjects

History; Media studies; Technology

Keywords

archive sound recordings; archives; radio broadcasting; BBC Archive

Online availability

URI

http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/archive_pioneers/

Price

free

Delivery

Streamed

Credits

Contributor

Arthur Phillips; Ludwig Koch; Lynton Fletcher; Marie Slocombe

Production Company

Name

BBC Television

Distributor

Name

BBC Archive

Web

http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/ External site opens in new window