Context and Usage
The UK Theme was created in 1978 (not 1973 as BBC press releases at the time of its axing claimed) at the suggestion of Ian McIntyre, the then-new controller of Radio 4. He commissioned Fritz Spiegl to produce an arrangement of traditional British melodies to signify Radio 4 as a service which, from its move from medium wave to 1500 metres/200 kiloHertz long wave on 23 November 1978, would for the first time broadcast a unified service to the whole United Kingdom (i.e. without the regional opt-outs which it had inherited from the old Home Service in 1967). Austrian-born Spiegl came to the UK as a refugee in 1939, after his parents fled Nazi persecution of Jews following the Anschluss. He had contributed several pieces of music to the BBC, including a theme for Radio 4 based on a children's skipping rhyme introduced in 1973 (called A Skipping Tune), which was replaced by the Radio 4 UK Theme.
The time at which the piece was played varied according to the time Radio 4 began broadcasting, which has become gradually earlier in the morning over the years. Initially it was played at approximately 5:54am on weekdays (starting from Thursday 23 November 1978), before the first programme of the day (News Briefing) began at 6:00am. At weekends it was played later than this (Saturday programmes in November 1978 starting at 6:30am and Sunday programmes at 7:15am). Towards the end of the UK Theme's life it was played at 5:30am every day, when Radio 4 took over from the BBC World Service, which has provided overnight programming on Radio 4's frequencies for some years.
The actual premiere of the Theme was at approximately 9.07pm on Monday 20 November 1978, when it was played to fill a lengthy gap in the schedule and to familiarise listeners with the immiment frequency change.
In 2006 the Controller of Radio 4, Mark Damazer, announced that he was cancelling the broadcast. The decision caused much controversy, but protests were to no avail. The last broadcast of the UK Theme was at 5:30am on Sunday 23 April 2006.
Sometimes preceded, itself, by Abbey's Theme (by British composer, Simon May), the UK Theme, like Sailing By, was used before the Shipping Forecast, allowing fishermen and sailors within range to tune to the correct frequency for the gale warnings and weather forecasts which are about to be broadcast; the continuity of the music being better than spoken words as a gauge of sound quality, allowing those tuning in to find the best frequency for their location.
Read more about this topic: Radio 4 UK Theme
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