[Afamilyatwar-list] Vaughan Williams

Sat Apr 14 15:47:12 CDT 2018

On 2018-04-14 15:48, Tim Douglas via Afamilyatwar-list wrote:
> My dad was in a1968  production of the stage play CLOSE THE COALHOUSE
> DOOR ,which told the story of the political struggles of the Northern
> mining community through the device of song and music hall (eg  I
> remember seeing it at the Vaudeville theatre (I think )and one of the
> miners suddenly become. Groucho Marx with grease moustache  and they
> all break into  a song !  )The play was by Alan Plater (who also wrote
> some great TV plays including The Beiderbecke Affaair - which I think
> has already been mentioned as recommended ) but the songs in the show
> are by ALEX GLASGOW   I believe it was seeing my dad in a performance
> of this in Newcastle (?) that convinced John Finch and the producer of
> AFAW that he was right for the part of Edwin . CLOSE THE COALHOUSE
> DOOR was subsequently made as a TV play by the BBC, with the original
> theatre cast playing their parts .
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Christine Kendell via Afamilyatwar-list
> <afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu>
> To: afamilyatwar-list <afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu>; 'Scott
> Filderman' <scottfilderman at yahoo.com>; 'Brian Renforth'
> <renforthb at live.co.uk>
> Sent: Sat, 14 Apr 2018 14:17
> Subject: Re: [Afamilyatwar-list] Vaughan Williams
> 
> About the song: that’s the tune, and those are the words, I’ve
> always known. I believe it to be authentic.  This is something about
> it
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_the_Boat_Comes_In_(song)
> 
> I think Alex Glasgow was a well-known folk singer at the time, but
> they could have used Bob Davenport, come to think of it!
> 
> Christine
> 
> FROM: afamilyatwar-list-bounces at baylor.edu
> [mailto:afamilyatwar-list-bounces at baylor.edu] ON BEHALF OF Scott
> Filderman via Afamilyatwar-list
> SENT: 14 April 2018 13:44
> TO: afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu; Brian Renforth
> SUBJECT: Re: [Afamilyatwar-list] Vaughan Williams
> 
> Once again, insightful/insider information that this DVD viewer cant
> access Alerted to the existence of the bumpers, I do hear 3-second
> snatches now and again and now know why they occur (bumper music not
> excised due to sloppy editing). What I do hear is that opening/closing
> theme; I wasn’t aware (DVDs being my only reference) that a
> different part of the music was used for the first bumpers.
> 
> Given my disgust with Donald Trump, I just may move to Merrie Olde; I
> understand there’s some pretty wonderful television over there,
> nationalized medicine, fresh air.....
> 
> When the Boat Comes In is strikingly political. Brian, can you tell me
> how (in)accurately it presents the regional politics of the time? It
> seems correct to me, but your viewpoint would, yet again, be
> instructive. The theme IS a little cute, but it is a real song
> (however reduced from the original lyrics). Which makes me wonder if
> the tune itself is authentic or just the (reduced) words.
> 
> On Saturday, April 14, 2018, 3:07 AM, Brian Renforth via
> Afamilyatwar-list <afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu> wrote:
> 
>> Absolutely, a good theme can make or break a programme. In AFAW's
>> case the way the theme merging with the episodes at the start and
>> end works so well, recently most noticeable at the end of, "The
>> Things You Never Told Me".
>> 
>> The earlier episodes used a different extract of the theme on the
>> "End of Part One/Two" bumpers not otherwise heard with "Part
>> Two/Three" accompanied with the start of the main theme. Very common
>> arrangement on other programmes, "Coronation Street" for example.
>> 
>> When I first saw AFAW (Channel 4 in the late '80s) I was taken aback
>> by the unique ending on many episodes with the final caption not
>> being the expected Granada one, but a AFAW caption card. This was
>> followed by the theme starting again with the film of the sandcastle
>> for a few seconds to be followed by the fade up of the Granada end
>> caption to note the programme really had ended!
>> I don't know who thought of this but I thought it was wonderful.
>> 
>> The DVDs and the current Talking Pictures TV repeats omit these
>> extended endings bar a couple of exceptions on the latter. I guess
>> in the modern world showing the ending in full would take up
>> valuable advertising/sponsorship time!
>> 
>> Yes, an outstanding theme certainly contributes to an excellent
>> programme.
>> 
>> When they changed the Doctor Who theme to that hideous synthesised
>> arrangement in 1980 that ended any liking of the programme for me!
>> 
>> I like, "When the Boat Comes In" but can't stand the theme song
>> which I find very cringe worthy. I guess being from North East
>> England contributes to that feeling!
>> 
>> Cheers
>> Brian
>> 
>> Sent from my Windows Phone
>> 
>> -------------------------
>> 
>> FROM: Veit, Richard via Afamilyatwar-list
>> SENT: ‎13/‎04/‎2018 22:48
>> TO: Afamilyatwar-list
>> SUBJECT: Re: [Afamilyatwar-list] Vaughan Williams
>> 
>> Yes, Scott, you are right on target about the impact of the Vaughan
>> Williams excerpt in A FAMILY AT WAR. I am stirred anew each time I
>> hear it. Another instance of classical usage that comes to mind are
>> the closing credits for the 1979 film, ALIEN, which used the
>> glorious first movement of Howard Hanson's Symphony No. 2
>> ("Romantic").
>> 
>> Stanley Kubrick must have been quite knowledgeable about classical
>> music. For his A CLOCKWORK ORANGE from 1971, he borrowed (and
>> ruthlessly "modernised") themes from no fewer than four composers:
>> Purcell, Rossini, Beethoven, and Elgar.
>> 
>> Richard Veit
>> 
>> FROM: <afamilyatwar-list-bounces at baylor.edu> on behalf of
>> AFAMILYATWAR-LIST <Afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu>
>> REPLY-TO: AFAMILYATWAR-LIST <Afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu>, Scott
>> Filderman <scottfilderman at yahoo.com>
>> DATE: Friday, April 13, 2018 at 4:22 PM
>> TO: AFAMILYATWAR-LIST <Afamilyatwar-list at baylor.edu>
>> SUBJECT: [Afamilyatwar-list] Vaughan Williams
>> 
>> Whoever had the truly inspired idea to use the end of the first
>> movement of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Sixth Symphony as the theme
>> for AFAW did as great a service to that wonderful composer as did
>> whoever chose the last section of Rossini’s William Tell overture
>> for the Lone Ranger radio/television program here in the USA. As a
>> lifelong Vaughan Williams admirer, I never tire of hearing that
>> plaintive hymn that opens and closes every episode. Stanley Kubrick
>> did a similar favor for Richard Strauss by choosing Also Sprach
>> Zarathustra to open his epic 2001: A Space Odyssey. Sometimes ya
>> just gotta go classical!
>> 
>> Always a favorite game to Name That Tune as episodes of The Onedin
>> Line roll by! MORE Vaughan Williams! Fifth Symphony, right?
>> 
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Hi TIM,    You are right.  Casting Dept at Granada advised me to go and 
see Colin in Close the Coalhouse Door, with Edwin in view.  I went with 
Richard Doubleday and we both agreed Colin was dead right for the part.  
A couple of years later Colin sent me a photograph on which he had 
written; "To John, who made it all come true."   He was one of my 
staunchest supporters, bless him, but it was his talent that made it 
come true.    JOHN