Elizabeth Parker (composer)

Last updated

Elizabeth Parker is a British film and television composer who worked at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop from 1978 until the workshop's closure. [1]

Contents

Biography

Parker graduated from the University of East Anglia with a degree in music, after which she completed a master's degree in electronic music. [2] When she first started working at the BBC she was training to become a studio manager. [2] She later joined the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. [2]

The BBC Radiophonic Workshop became redundant in the 1990s as electronic music equipment became cheaper, [3] and the workshop was ultimately shut down in 1998. Parker worked at the workshop "right until the very end". In the final years, the BBC could not justify the expense of upgrading the workshop's equipment, leading Parker to describe the obsolete workshop in its final days as "horrendous" and "horrible". [3] After the workshop shut down, Parker set up her own studio and began working as a freelance composer. [3]

Works

During her time at the Radiophonic Workshop, Parker worked on hundreds of BBC productions for both television and radio. [2] These productions included:

Parker also arranged Gabriel Fauré's short work Pavane for choir, which the BBC used as their theme tune for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. [5]

Parker continued to work on various television productions as a freelance composer. She wrote music for the BBC One documentary The Human Body and was commissioned to write new music for the soundtrack of a re-release of the comedy film Monty Python and the Holy Grail . [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Radiophonic Workshop</span> Produced sound effects and programme scores from 1958-1998

The BBC Radiophonic Workshop was one of the sound effects units of the BBC, created in 1958 to produce incidental sounds and new music for radio and, later, television. The unit is known for its experimental and pioneering work in electronic music and music technology, as well as its popular scores for programmes such as Doctor Who and Quatermass and the Pit during the 1950s and 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daphne Oram</span> British composer and electronic musician (1925–2003)

Daphne Blake Oram was a British composer and electronic musician. She was one of the first British composers to produce electronic sound, and was an early practitioner of musique concrète in the UK. As a co-founder of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, she was central to the development of British electronic music. Her uncredited scoring work on the 1961 film The Innocents helped to pioneer the electronic soundtrack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delia Derbyshire</span> English musician and composer of electronic music (1937–2001)

Delia Ann Derbyshire was an English musician and composer of electronic music. She carried out notable work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop during the 1960s, including her electronic arrangement of the theme music to the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. She has been referred to as "the unsung heroine of British electronic music", having influenced musicians including Aphex Twin, the Chemical Brothers and Paul Hartnoll of Orbital.

The Doctor Who theme music is a piece of music written by Australian composer Ron Grainer and realised by Delia Derbyshire at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Created in 1963, it was one of the first electronic music signature tunes for television. It is used as the theme for the science fiction programme Doctor Who, and has been adapted and covered many times.

Paddy Kingsland is a composer of electronic music best known for his incidental music for science fiction series on BBC radio and television whilst working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Educated at Eggar's Grammar School in Alton, Hampshire, he joined the BBC as a tape editor before moving on to become a studio manager for BBC Radio 1. In 1970 he joined the Radiophonic Workshop where he remained until 1981. His initial work was mostly signature tunes for BBC radio and TV programmes before going on to record incidental music for programmes including The Changes, two versions of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, as well as several serials of Doctor Who. His work on the latter series included incidental music for several serials in the early 1980s.

The Sea Devils is the third serial of the ninth season of the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts on BBC1 from 26 February to 1 April 1972. It was written by Malcolm Hulke and directed by Michael E. Briant. The serial is notable as the first appearance of the Sea Devils and features extensive location filming in cooperation with the Royal Navy, as well as an experimental electronic score by Malcolm Clarke.

Malcolm Clarke was a British composer and experimental electronic musician. He was a member of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, which was based in Maida Vale, London, for 25 years from 1969 to 1994.

Brian Hodgson is a British television composer and sound technician. Born in Liverpool in 1938, Hodgson joined the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in 1962 where he became the original sound effects creator for the science fiction programme Doctor Who. He devised the sound of the TARDIS and the voices of the Daleks, which he created by distorting the actors' voices and feeding them through a ring modulator. he also effectively scored four serials under the credit of "Special Sound". He continued to produce effects for the programme until 1972 when he left the Workshop, leaving Dick Mills to produce effects for the remainder of the show's run.

Peter Howell is a musician and composer. He is best known for his work on Doctor Who as a member of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Dudley George Simpson was an Australian composer and conductor. He was the Principal Conductor of the Royal Opera House orchestra for three years and worked as a composer on British television. He worked on the BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who, for which he composed incidental music during the 1960s and 1970s. When Simpson died aged 95 in 2017, The Guardian wrote that he was "at his most prolific as the creator of incidental music for Doctor Who in the 1960s and 1970s, contributing to 62 stories over almost 300 episodes – more than any other composer."

Don Harper was an Australian jazz violinist and composer. During his long and diverse career, both in his native Australia, and the UK, he was a regular on radio and TV music shows, and recorded many albums, as a solo performer, or leader of a group. He also composed themes for TV shows including “World of Sport” and “Champion House”, as well as incidental music for “The Invasion "

Roger James Limb is a British composer, specialising in electronic music. He was born in 1941 in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, UK. He is best known for his work on the television series Doctor Who whilst at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. He joined the BBC as a studio manager, before going on to become a television announcer. In 1972 he left this position to join the Radiophonic Workshop, where he remained until 1995. Although he had received formal music training, he also spent much time in pop and jazz bands, the influence of which can be heard in much of his music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Mills</span> British sound engineer

Dick Mills is a British sound engineer, specialising in electronic sound effects which he produced at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Richard Yeoman-Clark was a British composer and sound engineer who worked at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop from 1970 to 1978.

<i>Doctor Who: The Music</i> 1983 compilation album by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop

Doctor Who: The Music is a 1983 compilation of music from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop featuring incidental music from the popular science-fiction television series Doctor Who. The album was the first full-length to feature solely music from the programme. The collection was produced by Workshop member and long-time Doctor Who sound-effects creator Dick Mills. It featured the original Delia Derbyshire arrangement of Ron Grainer's theme tune and music by Malcolm Clarke from the 1972 serial "The Sea Devils", which was only the second to have an incidental score provided completely by the Radiophonic Workshop. Most of the music included came from serials from the previous three years to demonstrate the recent composers' works. For the album, each serial's incidental music was reassembled into short "suites" and although most of the music had been recorded in mono it was, for this compilation, remixed into stereo with sound effects added on to some tracks. The album was re-released in 1992 by Silva Screen records as Earthshock - Classic Music From The BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 1, with bonus tracks including "The Worlds of Doctor Who", a track recorded by Mills as a B-side to Dudley Simpson's 1973 "Moonbase 3" single, which featured a mix of music with sound effects from Planet of the Daleks before following with Simpson's "Master's Theme" and finishing with music from the serial The Mind of Evil. Selections from both this compilation and its follow-up, Doctor Who: The Music II, were also re-used on the 1994 Silva Screen compilation The Best of Doctor Who Volume 1: The Five Doctors.

<i>Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 1: The Early Years 1963–1969</i> 2000 compilation album by BBC Radiophonic Workshop

Doctor Who at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop Volume 1: The Early Years 1963–1969 is the first in a series of compilations of Doctor Who material recorded by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. Compiled and remastered by Mark Ayres, the album features mostly sound effects and atmospheres from the first six years of the programme. Although some incidental music tracks do appear, most of the album's content is by original Doctor Who sound effects creator Brian Hodgson. The compilation also features three Radiophonic Workshop realisations of early Doctor Who composer Dudley Simpson's work.

Harry Desmond Briscoe was an English composer, sound engineer and studio manager. He was the co-founder and original manager of the pioneering BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

John William Baker was a British musician and composer who worked in jazz and electronic music.

This is the discography of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, a British electronic music group. It consists of releases of music and sound effects.

References

  1. "Classic photos from the golden days of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop - BBC Music". 17 March 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Elizabeth Parker". British Music Collection. 18 January 2018. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Inglis, Sam (February 2001). "Elizabeth Parker: Flexible Working". Sound on Sound. Retrieved 2 January 2023.
  4. "BBC - History of the BBC, Elizabeth Parker interviewed for Blakes 7 DVD". 9 November 2018.
  5. Pound, Jeremy (24 October 2022). "World Cup TV theme tunes: 5 famous melodies from previous tournaments". Classical Music. Retrieved 2 January 2023.