The BBC Radio 4 UK Theme is an orchestral arrangement of traditional British airs compiled by Fritz Spiegl and arranged by Manfred Arlan. It was played every morning on BBC Radio 4 between 23 November 1978 and 23 April 2006.
The piece was used as the signature theme to introduce the daily beginning of Radio 4's broadcasting following the night-time handover to the BBC World Service. The theme was immediately followed by the Shipping Forecast. In 2006, the decision by Mark Damazer (Controller of Radio 4 at the time) to drop the Radio 4 UK Theme to make way for a "pacy news briefing" caused much controversy in the United Kingdom, including extensive discussion in the British media and even in Parliament.
Austria-born Spiegl came to the UK as a refugee in 1939, after his parents fled Nazi persecution of Jews after 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),[1] which was replaced by the Radio 4 UK Theme.
Manfred Arlan's son wrote on YouTube:[2]
For the record. Fritz Spiegl had very little to do with the arranging of this music. My Dad wrote the arrangement and I delivered the finished score to Fritz on completion. I have the original score in my possession
—Robert Arlan