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Peer-reviewed article

Capturing the song of the nightingale

October 19, 2015 | Exhibitions
The first outside broadcast ever made by the British Broadcasting Company from a natural location was the Nightingale broadcast of 19 May 1924, in which the world-famous virtuoso cellist Beatrice Harrison performed a ‘duet’ with nightingales in her garden. The broadcast was made possible by the Marconi-Sykes magnetophone, an improved microphone developed for the early BBC. This paper explores the historical and cultural significance of the Nightingale broadcasts, with a particular emphasis on the emotive aspects, and explains the role of the magnetophone in this context. This paper was inspired by two recent acquisitions by the National Media Museum, two magnetophones donated by the BBC in 2012, and the personal archive of Captain A G D West, the BBC engineer who coordinated the first Nightingale broadcast, donated by his descendants in 2015.

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  • Iain Logie Baird
    Author
    National Media Museum
  • Citation

    DOI : 10.15180/150402/001
    Publication Name: Science Museum Group Journal
    Volume: Autumn 2015
    Number: 4
    Resource Type: Research Products
    Discipline: Art, music, and theater | Engineering | History/policy/law | Technology
    Audience: General Public | Museum/ISE Professionals
    Environment Type: Exhibitions | Museum and Science Center Exhibits

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