Your Hundred Best Tunes was a BBC radio music programme, always broadcast on Sunday evenings, which presented popular works which were mostly classical excerpts, choral works, opera and ballads. The hundred tunes which made up the playlist were initially selected by the creator and presenter, Alan Keith. Subsequently, tunes were suggested by requests and polls of listeners.[1]
Your Hundred Best Tunes
1975 album of music from the show selected by Alan Keith (pictured)
The Hundred Best Tunes in the World was broadcast on the BBC Light Programme from 15 November 1959 until 7 February 1960, when Alan Keith's personal list of one hundred had all been played. The title was changed from 14 February 1960. At this point it ran for half an hour from 10 to 10.30 pm, but from 25 December 1960 it was extended and moved to earlier in the evening, running from 7.35 to 8.30 pm. From 12 March 1961 it adopted the 9 to 10 pm time slot which it would occupy for the rest of its life, on four different networks: it moved from the Light Programme to the Home Service from 5 January 1964, and remained there after it became Radio 4 from 1 October 1967, but returned to what had been the Light Programme, now renamed Radio 2, from 5 April 1970.
The last show was transmitted on 21 January 2007 – a run of over 47 years. For most of this time, it was presented by the original creator, Alan Keith, who continued up to the age of 94. After his death in 2003,[2]Richard Baker presented the show.[3] Holiday guest presenters included Evelyn Barbirolli, Rosalind Runcie, Earl Spencer and Ursula Vaughan Williams.[4][5]
The show was cancelled by Lesley Douglas, Controller of Radio 2, who replaced it with a longer Melodies for You, presented by Alan Titchmarsh, which continued to play music from the same repertoire until it too was cancelled in 2011.[6] A special edition of the format was aired on 30 December 2011, presented by Alfie Boe, who played a selection from the 2003 poll plus some of his own favourites.[7][8]
The hundred best tunesedit
Polls were taken to confirm the choice of the hundred best tunes. The results of the last poll in 2003 are below. The previous poll was in 1997 and the position of each work in that earlier poll is shown in the right hand column.[9]
Alan Keith published a book about the music played in the show in 1975.[11]The Decca Record Company published a successful ten-volume series of records with the title The World of Your 100 Best Tunes.[12] The BBC published a six-CD collection of the music selected by the final poll listed above.
^Plunkett, John (10 January 2007). "Titchmarsh replaces Radio 2's Your Hundred Best Tunes". The Guardian. London: Guardian Media Group. eISSN 1756-3224. ISSN 0261-3077.
Your Hundred Best Tunes – presented by Alan Keith on 21 April 2002
December 15, 2023
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Your Hundred Best Tunes was a BBC radio music programme always broadcast on Sunday evenings which presented popular works which were mostly classical excerpts choral works opera and ballads The hundred tunes which made up the playlist were initially selected by the creator and presenter Alan Keith Subsequently tunes were suggested by requests and polls of listeners 1 Your Hundred Best Tunes1975 album of music from the show selected by Alan Keith pictured GenreMusicRunning time60 minutes 9 00 pm 10 00 pm Country of originUnited KingdomLanguage s EnglishHome stationBBC Light ProgrammeBBC Home ServiceBBC Radio 4 1967 1970 BBC Radio 2 1970 2007 Hosted byAlan Keith 1959 2003 Richard Baker 2003 2007 Alfie Boe 2011 special Created byAlan KeithOriginal release15 November 1959 1959 11 15 21 January 2007 2007 01 21 No of episodesapproximately 2500 Contents 1 History 2 The hundred best tunes 3 Other media 4 See also 5 References 6 External linksHistory editThe Hundred Best Tunes in the World was broadcast on the BBC Light Programme from 15 November 1959 until 7 February 1960 when Alan Keith s personal list of one hundred had all been played The title was changed from 14 February 1960 At this point it ran for half an hour from 10 to 10 30 pm but from 25 December 1960 it was extended and moved to earlier in the evening running from 7 35 to 8 30 pm From 12 March 1961 it adopted the 9 to 10 pm time slot which it would occupy for the rest of its life on four different networks it moved from the Light Programme to the Home Service from 5 January 1964 and remained there after it became Radio 4 from 1 October 1967 but returned to what had been the Light Programme now renamed Radio 2 from 5 April 1970 The last show was transmitted on 21 January 2007 a run of over 47 years For most of this time it was presented by the original creator Alan Keith who continued up to the age of 94 After his death in 2003 2 Richard Baker presented the show 3 Holiday guest presenters included Evelyn Barbirolli Rosalind Runcie Earl Spencer and Ursula Vaughan Williams 4 5 The show was cancelled by Lesley Douglas Controller of Radio 2 who replaced it with a longer Melodies for You presented by Alan Titchmarsh which continued to play music from the same repertoire until it too was cancelled in 2011 6 A special edition of the format was aired on 30 December 2011 presented by Alfie Boe who played a selection from the 2003 poll plus some of his own favourites 7 8 The hundred best tunes editPolls were taken to confirm the choice of the hundred best tunes The results of the last poll in 2003 are below The previous poll was in 1997 and the position of each work in that earlier poll is shown in the right hand column 9 Number Piece Composer Previous1 Au fond du temple saint from The Pearl Fishers Georges Bizet 12 Nimrod from Enigma Variations Edward Elgar 163 Va pensiero from Nabucco Giuseppe Verdi 224 Violin Concerto No 1 in G Minor Max Bruch 125 Canon in D Johann Pachelbel 526 Clarinet Concerto in A Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 337 Symphony No 6 in F Pastoral Ludwig van Beethoven 278 Piano Concerto No 2 in C Minor Sergei Rachmaninoff 89 Intermezzo from Cavalleria rusticana Pietro Mascagni 2310 The Lark Ascending Ralph Vaughan Williams 11 Finlandia Jean Sibelius 212 Symphony No 9 in D Minor Choral Ludwig van Beethoven 513 The Planets Gustav Holst 914 Ombra mai fu from Serse George Frideric Handel 1715 Piano Concerto No 21 in C Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 2516 Adagio for Strings Samuel Barber 1417 Piano Concerto No 5 in E Flat Emperor Ludwig van Beethoven 2418 Meditation from Thais Jules Massenet 3919 Symphony No 9 in E Minor From the New World Antonin Dvorak 3620 Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis Ralph Vaughan Williams 21 Ave Verum Corpus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 2822 Miserere mei Deus Psalm 51 Gregorio Allegri 23 Hallelujah from Messiah George Frideric Handel 3224 Laudate Dominum from Solemn Vespers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 25 Romance from The Gadfly Suite Dmitri Shostakovich 2926 Zadok the Priest one of the Coronation Anthems George Frideric Handel 6827 Arrival of the Queen of Sheba from Solomon George Frideric Handel 3828 Piano Concerto in A minor Edvard Grieg 29 Jesu Joy of Man s Desiring Johann Sebastian Bach 8530 Cello Concerto in E Minor Edward Elgar 631 What is Life from Orfeo ed Euridice Christoph Willibald Gluck performed by Kathleen Ferrier 3033 Bailero from Songs of the Auvergne Joseph Canteloube 1833 The Blue Danube Johann Strauss II34 Listen to the Mocking Bird Septimus Winner as Alice Hawthorne 4235 Song to the Moon from Rusalka Antonin Dvorak 436 Bells Across the Meadows Albert Ketelbey 37 Symphony No 3 Organ Camille Saint Saens 38 Pomp and Circumstance No 1 Edward Elgar 3139 Violin Concerto in E Minor Felix Mendelssohn 4040 Che gelida manina from La boheme Giacomo Puccini 8941 The Four Seasons Antonio Vivaldi 42 Symphony No 5 Ludwig van Beethoven 43 Panis angelicus Cesar Franck 1344 I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls from The Bohemian Girl Michael William Balfe 45 Piano Concerto No 1 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 46 Grand March from Aida Giuseppe Verdi 2647 A Londonderry Air this was the theme tune traditional arranged Percy Grainger 5948 The Merry Widow Franz Lehar 6749 Nessun dorma from Turandot Giacomo Puccini 5150 Cantique de Jean Racine Gabriel Faure 51 In Paradisum from Requiem Gabriel Faure 52 Symphony No 7 Ludwig van Beethoven 53 Toccata and Fugue in D minor Johann Sebastian Bach 54 Adagio in G minor Tomaso Albinoni 55 Judex from Mors et vita Charles Gounod 56 Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Sergei Rachmaninoff 57 Warsaw Concerto Richard Addinsell 58 Adagio from Spartacus Aram Khachaturian 59 Romeo and Juliet Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 60 Don t Be Cross from The Mine Foreman Der Obersteiger Carl Zeller 7961 Sanctus from German Mass Deutsche Messe Franz Schubert 2062 I know that my Redeemer liveth from Messiah George Frideric Handel 1063 Love Duet from Madama Butterfly Giacomo Puccini 1565 Fantasia on Greensleeves Ralph Vaughan Williams 10 65 Symphony No 2 Sergei Rachmaninoff 66 Fingal s Cave Felix Mendelssohn 67 Polovetsian Dances from Prince Igor Alexander Borodin 68 The Yeomen of the Guard Gilbert and Sullivan 69 Schindler s List Theme John Williams 70 Symphony No 5 Adagietto Gustav Mahler 71 Sanctus from St Cecilia Mass Charles Gounod 72 Scheherezade Nikolai Rimsky Korsakov 73 Old Comrades Alte Kameraden Carl Teike 1174 The Marriage of Figaro Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 75 Nuns Chorus from Casanova Ralph Benatzky based on Johann Strauss II 776 1812 Overture Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 77 Jerusalem Hubert Parry 5878 Morning Mood from Peer Gynt Suites Edvard Grieg 4779 Concierto de Aranjuez Joaquin Rodrigo 80 Dance of the Blessed Spirits from Orfeo ed Euridice Christoph Willibald Gluck 81 Casta diva from Norma Vincenzo Bellini 82 The Nutcracker Suite Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky 83 Softly Awakes My Heart from Samson and Delilah Camille Saint Saens 4984 Eine kleine Nachtmusik Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 85 Ave Maria Franz Schubert 4386 O mio babbino caro from Gianni Schicchi Giacomo Puccini 87 Moonlight Sonata Ludwig van Beethoven 88 Sheep May Safely Graze Johann Sebastian Bach 89 Where Corals Lie from Sea Pictures Edward Elgar 90 Concerto for Two Violins in D minor Johann Sebastian Bach 91 Clair de lune Claude Debussy 92 The Creation Joseph Haydn 7793 Crown Imperial William Walton 94 On the Road to Mandalay Oley Speaks 95 Romance No 2 in F major Ludwig van Beethoven 96 The Watermill Ronald Binge 3597 The Holy City Frederic Weatherly and Stephen Adams 98 Bredon Hill from A Shropshire Lad Graham Peel 99 William Tell Overture from William Tell Gioachino Rossini 100 Hear My Prayer Felix Mendelssohn Other media editAlan Keith published a book about the music played in the show in 1975 11 The Decca Record Company published a successful ten volume series of records with the title The World of Your 100 Best Tunes 12 The BBC published a six CD collection of the music selected by the final poll listed above See also editClassic FM Hall of FameReferences edit Bizet s The Pearl Fishers named nation s favourite tune BBC Press Office Press release BBC 12 October 2003 Retrieved 18 January 2020 Obituary Alan Keith The Daily Telegraph London 19 March 2003 ISSN 0307 1235 Plunkett John 10 January 2007 Titchmarsh replaces Radio 2 s Your Hundred Best Tunes The Guardian London Guardian Media Group eISSN 1756 3224 ISSN 0261 3077 Donovan Paul 21 January 2007 End Game Radio Waves The Sunday Times London News International Your 100 Best Tunes Radio Rewind Donovan Paul 9 November 2008 Ross and Brand Radio 2 clean up their act The Sunday Times London News International Pledger Laura 2011 Your One Hundred Best Tunes with Alfie Boe Radio Times Immediate Media Hear Alfie Boe s 100 Best Tunes Tonight TheatreSpy Musical Theatre News 30 December 2011 Retrieved 19 January 2020 Your 100 Best Tunes 1959 2007 The Radio 2 Preservation Society 12 January 2007 Ralph Vaughan Williams Fantasia on Greensleeves Composers Classic FM Keith Alan 1975 Your Hundred Best Tunes London J M Dent amp Sons ISBN 0 460 04214 9 OCLC 1993474 Your Hundred Best Tunes Gramophone London December 1975 p 129 ISSN 0017 310X Archived from the original on 4 June 2010 via Wayback Machine External links editYour One Hundred Best Tunes with Alfie Boe 2011 Special Edition Your 100 Best Tunes playlist on Spotify Your Hundred Best Tunes presented by Alan Keith on 21 April 2002 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Your Hundred Best Tunes amp oldid 1123245058, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
