BBC Television Orchestra

The BBC Television Orchestra (1936-1939) was a broadcast orchestra founded in 1936 by violinist and composer Hyam Greenbaum and led by Boris Pecker. Hyam Greenbaum's wife Sidonie Goossens was the first solo harpist with the Orchestra in that year. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1479086/Sidonie-Goossens.html Telegraph.co.uk 12:05AM GMT 16/12/2004] ] It was disbanded in September 1939 when the outbreak of the Second World War caused the BBC Television service to be suspended so as not to create a VHF beacon for German bombers.

The Orchestra played on the first ever programme broadcast when regular British television broadcasts commenced on August 26, 1936 to an estimated 123,000 viewers. The Orchestra also played on the opening day of BBC Television high-definition broadcast on Monday, November 2, 1936. [ [http://www.teletronic.co.uk/tvera.htm The History of the BBC] ] [ [http://www.btinternet.com/~roger.beckwith/bh/odds/tvru.htm BBC liner notes, 1936] ]

References

See also

* List of radio orchestras

External links

*
* [http://www.xtvworld.com/tv/bbc/fools_on_the_hill.htm Birth of Television]
* [http://www.teletronic.co.uk/tvera.htm The History of the BBC: The First TV Era]
* [http://www.teletronic.co.uk/herestv2.htm The History of the BBC: Here's Television Part II]
* [http://www.transdiffusion.org/emc/baird/ally_pally.php Electromusicians, BAIRD The Birth of Television]