Desmond Briscoe
Encyclopedia
Harry Desmond Briscoe was an English composer
, sound engineer and studio manager. He was the co-founder and original manager of the pioneering BBC Radiophonic Workshop
.
Born in Birkenhead
, and a drama studio manager for the BBC
in the 1950s, Briscoe began to develop an interest in the use of electronic and electroacoustic techniques as a source of material for productions. Along with Daphne Oram
, he worked on the BBC Radio production of Samuel Beckett
’s All That Fall (Tx:13 January 1957), Giles Cooper
's The Disagreeable Oyster (Tx:15 August 1957), and Frederick Bradnum's Private Dreams and Public Nightmares (Tx:7 October 1957). These works featured some of the earliest electronic effects used by the BBC and highlighted the need for a facility to provide such material. In 1958, Briscoe and Oram founded the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, with a remit to provide material for use in BBC radio and television programmes. Some of his first work with the workshop involved providing sounds for the popular science-fiction serial Quatermass and the Pit
. Under his direction the Workshop grew from being a small back room department to being one of the most acclaimed electronic studios in the world. He remained with the Workshop until 1983, although he stepped back from organisation duties in 1977. In 1983, with Roy Curtis-Bramwell, he wrote a retrospective of the Workshop entitled The First 25 Years: The BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
The 1969 BBC album "Narrow Boats - Voices, Sounds and Songs of the Canals" (REB 56M) was arranged and produced by Desmond Briscoe, and edited by Dick Mills
of the Radiophonic Workshop, using recordings from the BBC Sound Archives.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, sound engineer and studio manager. He was the co-founder and original manager of the pioneering BBC Radiophonic Workshop
BBC Radiophonic Workshop
The BBC Radiophonic Workshop, one of the sound effects units of the BBC, was created in 1958 to produce effects and new music for radio, and was closed in March 1998, although much of its traditional work had already been outsourced by 1995. It was based in the BBC's Maida Vale Studios in Delaware...
.
Born in Birkenhead
Birkenhead
Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
, and a drama studio manager for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
in the 1950s, Briscoe began to develop an interest in the use of electronic and electroacoustic techniques as a source of material for productions. Along with Daphne Oram
Daphne Oram
Daphne Oram was a British composer and electronic musician. She was the creator of the "Oramics" technique for creating electronic sounds....
, he worked on the BBC Radio production of Samuel Beckett
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
’s All That Fall (Tx:13 January 1957), Giles Cooper
Giles Cooper
Giles Stannus Cooper was an Anglo-Irish playwright and prolific radio dramatist, writing over sixty scripts for BBC radio and television. He was awarded the OBE in 1960 for "Services to Broadcasting"...
's The Disagreeable Oyster (Tx:15 August 1957), and Frederick Bradnum's Private Dreams and Public Nightmares (Tx:7 October 1957). These works featured some of the earliest electronic effects used by the BBC and highlighted the need for a facility to provide such material. In 1958, Briscoe and Oram founded the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, with a remit to provide material for use in BBC radio and television programmes. Some of his first work with the workshop involved providing sounds for the popular science-fiction serial Quatermass and the Pit
Quatermass and the Pit
Quatermass and the Pit is a British television science-fiction serial, originally transmitted live by BBC Television in December 1958 and January 1959. It was the third and last of the BBC's Quatermass serials, although the character would reappear in a 1979 ITV production simply entitled Quatermass...
. Under his direction the Workshop grew from being a small back room department to being one of the most acclaimed electronic studios in the world. He remained with the Workshop until 1983, although he stepped back from organisation duties in 1977. In 1983, with Roy Curtis-Bramwell, he wrote a retrospective of the Workshop entitled The First 25 Years: The BBC Radiophonic Workshop.
The 1969 BBC album "Narrow Boats - Voices, Sounds and Songs of the Canals" (REB 56M) was arranged and produced by Desmond Briscoe, and edited by Dick Mills
Dick Mills
Dick Mills is a British sound engineer, specialising in electronic sound effects which he produced at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop....
of the Radiophonic Workshop, using recordings from the BBC Sound Archives.
External links
- Obituary from The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
- Obituary from The TimesThe TimesThe Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
- Obituary from The StageThe StageThe Stage is a weekly British newspaper founded in 1880, available nationally and published on Thursdays. Covering all areas of the entertainment industry but focused primarily on theatre, it contains news, reviews, opinion, features and other items of interest, mainly to those who work within the...
- Obituary from Last Word (BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
) - Obituary from The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...