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Clip description
This audio clip is from the original recording, made in London by the Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra, of Charles Williams’s 'Majestic Fanfare’.
Curator’s notes
This was not the first ABC news theme – but the fourth. Before the Second World War, the tune ‘By Land, Sea and Air’ was used, then ‘The British Grenadiers’ served until February 1942, when it was replaced by an abridged version of ‘Advance Australia Fair’. The ‘Majestic Fanfare’ was used in Australia to introduce parliamentary broadcasts only. It replaced ‘Advance Australia Fair’ as the radio news theme from 31 December 1952. It became the TV news theme as well from the start of broadcast television in 1956.
This 1943 Fanfare has become synonymous with great events, which is not surprising given the recording’s air of authority and gravity. Although the purpose for which it was written is not clear, its grandeur suggests a royal occasion, as does the title.
The theme was edited several times, with an 18-second version introducing extended radio bulletins in the 1970s, and a nine-second version used for other TV and radio bulletins. It was replaced in 1985 when television news and current affairs were reorganised, only to be brought back in 1988, the year of the Bicentenary, in a new modernised form arranged by Australian composer Richard Mills. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Stuart Challender, recorded the new Mills version, which has been used since then as the radio news theme on most networks.
The original Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra version was remixed in 1991 by John Jacobs and Paul McKercher for ABC’s youth network Triple J, where it is still used as a news theme.
