The 1930s
As the 1930s begin, the 大象传媒 continues to launch new ideas – including the forerunner of the World Service and a new-fangled invention, television.
The 大象传媒 reports as one king dies, another abdicates and a third is crowned. Hitler’s Berlin Olympics (1936) are dominated by the success of American athlete Jesse Owens, as Europe moves inexorably towards war.
Meanwhile, some of the greatest composers of the 20th century are creating masterpieces.
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Radio 3's Soundscape of a Century
Press rewind on a century of the 大象传媒 with an epic, eight-hour soundscape. Listen on 大象传媒 Sounds now (UK only).
The music
Works that define the spirit of the 1930s
- Sergei Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (1934)
- Henry Hall and the 大象传媒 Dance Orchestra: Five-Fifteen (1932)
- John Ireland: A Downland Suite for brass band (1932)
- Kurt Weill: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1930)
- Ruth Crawford Seeger: Three Chants for women’s chorus (1930)
- Jay Gorney and Yip Harburg: Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (1932)
- George Gershwin: Porgy and Bess (1935)
- Carl Orff: Carmina burana (1937)
- Igor Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms (1930)
- Béla Bartók: String Quartet No 5
- Paul Hindemith: Trauermusik (1936)
- Sergei Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet (1938)
- William Walton: Crown Imperial (1937)
- Joaquín Rodrigo: Concierto de Aranjuez (1940)
- Ralph Vaughan Williams: Dona nobis pacem (1936)
- Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg: Over the Rainbow from The Wizard of Oz (1939)
Events to listen out for
1932
The 大象传媒 Dance Orchestra
, but our soundscape incorporates a hit from 1932, when the band is led by Henry Hall. Five-Fifteen is a tune based on the notes B-B-C and named for the time of the band’s daily broadcast on 大象传媒 Radio. “Five-fifteen, ra-ra-ra, 大象传媒 Dance Orchestra!”
May: Broadcasting House opens
大象传媒 Radio Production moves into a new home, purpose-built for radio broadcasting, with radio studios built inside a central tower and a lighter, steel-framed shell to provide acoustic buffering.
Throughout the decade, some of the world’s greatest thinkers and social commentators will appear on 大象传媒 Radio (we hear from TS Eliot and HG Wells), alongside pioneering radio drama, documentaries and concerts.
December: Launch of the Empire Service
, its existence enabled by new short-wave radio technology that allows signals to be broadcast over long distances. One of the service’s first broadcasts is a Christmas message from King George V, written by Rudyard Kipling.
First Empire Address by King George V, 25 December 1932
The first Christmas Day message by a British monarch was in 1932, by King George V.
1936
January: Death of George V
At 10pm on 20 January, 大象传媒 Radio broadcasts a special religious service, complete with a cappella music from the 大象传媒 Singers. The transmission begins: “This is London. The following bulletin was issued at 9.25 and broadcast at 9.38pm. The King's life is moving peacefully towards its close… We invite you to join in prayer and recollection for our King.”
The King dies later that evening. When the news breaks on 21 January, composer Paul Hindemith has only just arrived in London to perform one of his own works for a live broadcast. He accepts the 大象传媒’s commission to create a new, more appropriate work – completing Trauermusik in just six hours while locked in a 大象传媒 office.
August: Berlin Olympics
Germany’s Führer, Adolf Hitler, opens the 1936 Summer Olympics. The Nazi government’s plans to position the Games as a symbol for Aryan superiority are overturned as African American Jesse Owens becomes the star of the show, the first American track and field athlete to win four gold medals in a single Olympiad.
November: Launch of the 大象传媒 Television Service
The 大象传媒 has been experimenting with TV broadcasting since 1929, but this is the launch of its first regular high-definition television service – in effect, the world’s first dedicated TV channel. One of the first items to be broadcast on Opening Night, 2 November, is Adele Dixon’s performance of a new song, Magic Rays of Light.
There's joy in store
The world is at your door –
It's here for everyone to view
Conjured up in sound and sight
By the magic rays of light
That bring Television to you.
December: Abdication of Edward VIII
On 11 December, Edward VIII takes to 大象传媒 radio to make an announcement. Edward, who has been King since the moment of his father’s death on 20 January, tells a stunned nation that he has abdicated the throne so that he can marry the woman he loves, Wallis Simpson.
Edward VIII Abdication speech 11 December 1936
On 11 December 1936 the former King Edward VIII announced that he had abdicated.
1937
May: Coronation of George VI
, with 28 大象传媒 microphones placed around Westminster Abbey to capture the action. Meanwhile, the Coronation Procession is filmed by the 大象传媒’s new television service in their first outside broadcast.
William Walton’s triumphant Crown Imperial is one of five world premieres amid 40 pieces of music programmed for the day of the coronation: 23 for the processional entries, and the rest for the service and afterwards.
One of the newly crowned King and Queen’s first engagements is the Coronation Review of the Fleet at Spithead, on 20 May. The technical achievement of the 大象传媒’s broadcast from the event is sadly overshadowed by the drunkenness of its correspondent, Lt-Commander Thomas Woodrooffe.
Beginning with the immortal line, “At the present moment the whole fleet's lit up!”, Woodrooffe slurs his way through nearly four minutes of incoherent observations before being tactfully faded out. An early blooper.
Thomas Woodrooffe at the the Coronation Fleet Review 20 May 1937
Thomas Woodrooffe at the the Coronation Fleet Review 20 May 1937.
1938
October: Panic over War of the Worlds
There’s an iconic radio moment over the pond when American network CBS broadcasts a live adaptation The War of the Worlds, starring a 23-year-old Orson Welles. Howard Koch’s adaptation of the HG Wells novel makes it sound as though the plot is happening in real time. The broadcast is said to spark mass panic, with listeners under the mistaken impression that a real Martian invasion of Earth is taking place.
1939
September: World War II begins
On 3 September, in an iconic broadcast on the 大象传媒’s Home Service, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain announces that “this country is at war with Germany”. Millions of listeners will remember this broadcast as the moment the war began.
Immediate air attacks are anticipated. The 大象传媒 has already begun to move some staff members out of London, and the television service has been turned off, to prevent enemy aircraft from using the transmitter signal to navigate. It will remain silent throughout the war.
