Fourscore
Encyclopedia
Fourscore was the signature tune used by Channel 4
in the United Kingdom
for 10 years, from 1982 to 1992. It was composed by Lord David Dundas
. Various short excerpts from the piece, which were the various orchestrations of the same four note melody, in the key of F Major
, were used to accompany the channel ident used between programmes. For each time the music was used for the ident, Dundas received a royalty of £3.50, which totalled approximately £1000 per week. At the time, the sequence of four notes was the shortest musical piece to be copyrighted.
A related piece with the same four-note theme, Fourscore II, was used by the channel to accompany stills in the event of technical faults, and was played during commercial breaks (and thus was only heard by viewers if their regional ITV
franchise had not sold enough advertising to fill the timeslot. This was fairly common occurrence during the first few months of Channel 4's existence due to an industrial dispute which meant that no advertisements featuring Equity
members could be broadcast).
The two pieces were issued on a single by Polydor Records
, credited to The Airwave Orchestra.
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
for 10 years, from 1982 to 1992. It was composed by Lord David Dundas
Lord David Dundas
Lord David Paul Nicholas Dundas is an English musician known for his film and television scoring, having previously had chart success in the rock genre.-Biography:...
. Various short excerpts from the piece, which were the various orchestrations of the same four note melody, in the key of F Major
F major
F major is a musical major scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat . It is by far the oldest key signature with an accidental, predating the others by hundreds of years...
, were used to accompany the channel ident used between programmes. For each time the music was used for the ident, Dundas received a royalty of £3.50, which totalled approximately £1000 per week. At the time, the sequence of four notes was the shortest musical piece to be copyrighted.
A related piece with the same four-note theme, Fourscore II, was used by the channel to accompany stills in the event of technical faults, and was played during commercial breaks (and thus was only heard by viewers if their regional ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
franchise had not sold enough advertising to fill the timeslot. This was fairly common occurrence during the first few months of Channel 4's existence due to an industrial dispute which meant that no advertisements featuring Equity
British Actors' Equity Association
Equity is the trade union for actors, stage managers and models in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1930 by a group of West End performers....
members could be broadcast).
The two pieces were issued on a single by Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
, credited to The Airwave Orchestra.