The 1990s
New Labour and Cool Britannia become buzzwords while Pavarotti and Górecki take the pop charts by storm. The United Kingdom loses a beloved princess, while South Africa gains a new president. There's hope in Northern Ireland on Good Friday, but horror in Kosovo.
The UK hears new music by Adès, Birtwistle causes a rumpus at the 大象传媒 Proms… and every Sunday night the country stops to spend time with Mr Darcy on the 大象传媒.
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The music
Works that define the spirit of the 1990s
- Michael Torke: Javelin (1994)
- Jan Garbarek and The Hilliard Ensemble: Procedentem sponsum from Officium (1994)
- Thomas Adès: Arcadiana (1994)
- John Tavener: Song for Athene (1993)
- Ladysmith Black Mambazo: Shosholoza (recorded 1995)
- Edward Elgar: Symphony No 3 (completed by Anthony Payne in 1998)
- Harrison Birtwistle: Panic (1995)
- James MacMillan: Veni Veni Emmanuel (1992)
- Meredith Monk: Book of Days (1990)
- Carl Davies: Pride and Prejudice (1995)
- Henryk Górecki: Symphony No 3, “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs” (1977)
- Giacomo Puccini: Nessun Dorma from Turandot (1926; recorded by Pavarotti in 1973)
1990
February: Nelson Mandela is freed
South African anti-apartheid activist Nelson Mandela is released from prison after 27 years. Apartheid is dismantled over the next few years and Mandela is elected president of South Africa in 1994. Listen to him interviewed by the World Service after his release in 1990.
June: Puccini in the charts
A recording of Puccini’s aria Nessun Dorma is chosen as the theme tune for 大象传媒 Sport coverage of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, with Des Lynam promising viewers: “You'll be humming it soon – you'll know the words by July the eighth.”
The singer, Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, is already well-regarded in the opera world, but this makes him a worldwide star. The 1972 recording reaches Number Two in the UK charts, and Bobby Charlton presents Pavarotti with a Platinum Disc after it sells 600,000 copies.
1992
April: A symphony enters the pop charts
Henryk Górecki’s Symphony No 3, also known as the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, premiered in Górecki’s native Poland in 1977, but remained little known until 1992 – when a new recording by the London Sinfonietta, conducted by David Zinman with soloist Dawn Upshaw, becomes a runaway success in Britain and the USA. The CD tops not only the classical charts but comes in at Number Six on the UK mainstream charts, too.
It’s not clear exactly why the music strikes such a chord with audiences in 1992. The music is profoundly mournful in character, its three movements dwelling on the relationship between mother and child.
The composer himself is by all accounts somewhat taken aback by the Symphony's newfound success, but suggests: “Somehow I hit the right note, something they were missing. Something, somewhere, had been lost to them. I feel that I instinctively knew what they needed.”
1995
August: The Battle of Britpop
Are you team Blur or team Oasis? The media are calling it The Battle of Britpop, but the divide can also be framed as a divide between north and south. The two bands go head-to-head in the charts in August, with Blur’s Country House beating Oasis’s Roll With It to the top spot.
September: Pride and Prejudice
and the nation is well and truly hooked. The adaptation has all the addictive power of a soap opera romance, while remaining true to Jane Austen’s novel. Ten million viewers tune in to watch the culmination of the smouldering chemistry between Jennifer Ehle’s Lizzie Bennett and Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy in the final episode. 100,000 video box sets of the series are sold before it has even finished airing.
Carl Davis’s elegant soundtrack fizzes with charm. You need only hear the opening notes of the main theme to be transported to a world of ballrooms, empire lines… and lakes.
1997
May: Labour Landslide
The Conservatives have been in power for 18 years when the Labour Party wins the 1997 general election in a landslide, winning 418 seats and a 179 seat majority. John Major leaves Ten Downing Street and Tony Blair takes over as Prime Minister. D:Ream’s song Things Can Only Get Better is the soundtrack for New Labour after the party uses it in their successful election campaign.
June: Harry Potter
The world-famous boy wizard first appears in UK bookshops in June, with an initial run of 500 hardback copies of JK Rowling's Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. The first book in a series of seven, it is a runaway success and will be translated into 80 languages. In 2021, a copy of the first edition will sell for $471,000.
August: Death of Princess Diana
In the early hours of 31 August, Princess Diana is killed in a car crash in Paris with her partner, Dodi Al Fayed, and driver Henri Paul. Her death prompts an unprecedented outpouring of national grief. Thousands of flowers and tributes are left outside her home at Kensington Palace, and people all over the country queue for hours to sign Books of Condolence in public places.
Over 19 million people watch the state funeral on 大象传媒 One. The service concludes with a haunting performance of John Tavener’s choral work Song for Athene as Diana's coffin is carried out of Westminster Abbey.
1998
February: Elgar’s final symphony is completed
When Edward Elgar died in 1934, he left behind an unfinished third symphony, commissioned by the 大象传媒. Elgar himself is reported to have said: “If I can't complete the Third Symphony, somebody will complete it.”
In the 1990s, composer Anthony Payne rises to the challenge, working with 130 pages of Elgar’s notes to come up with a complete version. It is premiered by the 大象传媒 Symphony Orchestra and Sir Andrew Davis on 15 February, to great acclaim.
April: The Good Friday Agreement
After decades of The Troubles, politicians in Northern Ireland make a deal to bring peace. The deal is approved by a public vote and the Northern Ireland Assembly is established.
1999
June: The end of the Kosovo War
Serbian president Slobodan Miloševi膰 agrees to withdraw troops from Kosovo, following 78 days of NATO bombing of Serbia. Over 10,000 people have been killed and 800,000 displaced by the war. In 2001, Miloševi膰 will be arrested on suspicion of corruption, abuse of power and embezzlement. He will die before the end of his trial for crimes against humanity.
December: Countdown to the Millennium Bug
As the world counts down to the beginning of a new century and a new millennium, fear grows that a “Millennium Bug” could cause crashes in computer and data systems as the date switches from 99 to 00. Governments around the world came up with action plans to prevent the bug from biting.
