Classical Music Radio in the United Kingdom, 1945–1995

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

   PDF

2. Introduction: The Music we are accustomed to call Classical

   • Tony Stoller

   Pages 1-29

3. The Forties: A Pyramid of Taste

   • Tony Stoller

   Pages 31-65

4. The Fifties: Defending the Elite

   • Tony Stoller

   Pages 67-93

5. The Sixties: Simple and Conservative Tastes

   • Tony Stoller

   Pages 95-126

6. The Seventies: Breaking the Monopoly

   • Tony Stoller

   Pages 127-154

7. The Eighties: Keeping the Philistines at Bay

   • Tony Stoller

   Pages 155-186

8. The Nineties: Saga Louts and Dumbing Down

   • Tony Stoller

   Pages 187-226

9. Conclusions: Engaging on Equal Terms?

   • Tony Stoller

   Pages 227-245

10. Back Matter

    Pages 247-297

    PDF

This book is the first comprehensive account of classical music on all British radio stations, BBC and commercial, between 1945 and 1995. It narrates the shifting development of those services, from before the launch of the Third Programme until after the start of Classic FM, examining the output from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives, as well as recounting some of the stories and anecdotes which enliven the tale. During these fifty years, British classical music radio featured spells of broad, multi-channel classical music radio, with aspirational and mainstream culture enjoying positive interactions, followed by periods of more restricted and exclusive output, in a paradigm of the place of high culture in UK society as a whole. The history was characterised by the recurring tensions between elite and popular provision, and the interplay of demands for highbrow and middlebrow output, and also sheds new light on the continuing relevance of class in Britain. It is an important and unique resource for those studying British history in the second half of the twentieth century, as well as being a compelling and diverting account for enthusiasts for classical music radio.

• Third Programme
• Classic FM
• BBC
• Home Service
• highbrow culture

“Tony Stoller confidently and expertly challenges the current understanding of the history of classical music radio in the UK. This impressive book offers an original perspective on an important topic, and is certain to be the definitive book on the subject.”(Kate Murphy, Bournemouth University, UK)

“Tony Stoller is a passionate observer of who we are and what can change the way we live.  His account of how, through commercial radio, classical music has reached unexpectedly varied and loyal mass audiences, radically challenges many traditional cultural assumptions.  An early enabler of Britain’s radio revolution, here he becomes a powerful advocate for why breaking the monopoly of the BBC became an unexpected signifier of profound social change.” (Gillian Reynolds MBE is the radio critic of the Daily Telegraph)

• Bournemouth University, Poole, United Kingdom

  Tony Stoller

Tony Stoller is Visiting Professor at Bournemouth University, UK. He was Chief Executive of the Radio Authority from 1995 until it was succeeded by Ofcom, where he helped establish the new regulator. In 2004 he was awarded a CBE for services to broadcasting, and he was elected a Fellow of the Radio Academy in 2003. He is the author of Sounds of Your Life: The History of Independent Radio in the UK (2010), and researches, writes and lectures about the history of sound broadcasting in the UK.

Policies and ethics