Tripping the ...

'Music While You Work' organiser Mr Wynford Reynolds on a factory visit in 1942 to receive feedback on the programmes. © BBC

On your way to finding this blog entry, via the Radio 3 Home Page, you can't have failed to notice the central promotion for Light Fantastic. As the text of the promo begins by calling on users to click through 'if you play in a band', you would be entirely forgiven for passing over this invitation if you do not fall into this category! Had you nevertheless done so, you'd have alighted on the Light Fantastic index page which tells you something more of the event. I'd like to take this opportunity to expand on the information about Light Fantastic and explain what it's all about.

The reason we're starting early with Light Fantastic, in the sense that the broadcast schedule associated with the project doesn't kick off until June, is that we're keen to encourage as many people as possible who play in bands to engage (or re-engage) with the delightful, rewarding and historic genre of British light music.

Repertoire throughout the Light Fantastic festival will shine a light on major orchestral works by the principal composers of the genre including Eric Coates, Haydn Wood, Robert Farnon, Ernest Tomlinson, Ronald Binge and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.

Radio 3 could, of course, assemble a festival such as this for broadcast, merely by tapping in to its library of recordings and sheet music, and by deploying the BBC performing groups to give some concerts – and that is indeed part of the plan.

But there is a sense in which we're keen to introduce (or remind) listeners of a fascinating genre of quality music which has been superseded in musical history; as you'll find out from the programmes and documentaries we're preparing, this is very much tied up with the history of broadcasting itself: from the BBC Light Programme to 'Music While You Work' during and after WWII, and, eventually, the establishment of Radio 1 as a response to the new wave of popular music.

That's why we are taking these immediate steps (in partnership with Making Music) to involve the huge community of people in Britain who play instruments in bands: they will be able to download sheet music, use the BBC Music Library free-of-charge, send in recordings for possible broadcast, and also have the chance to come in and record withBBC engineers in a BBC studio.

Looking ahead, the Southbank Centre’s Light Fantastic weekend will include a gala event with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and John Wilson at the Royal Festival Hall on June 25.The previous evening Gavin Sutherland joins Radio 3 and Radio 2 to conduct the BBC Concert Orchestra live from the RFH for the first ever simultaneous broadcast on both Performance on 3 and Friday Night is Music Night.Elsewhere, live from Salford, the BBC Philharmonic explores Light Music’s cultural heritage by recreating 'Music while you Work' and the BBC Concert Orchestra presents a special 'seaside special' concert in Plymouth on June 26.

Suffice it to say that if you are a fan of light music, or think you might become one, it would be unwise to be out of the country at the end of June: as well as the live concerts, Radio 3 programming will take up the light music theme and you'll have a chance to hear recordings made by the bands and ensembles we're recruiting to the cause now.

Watch this space!

Graeme Kay is an interactive producer for BBC Radio 3 and BBC Classical Music TV

Find further details of Light Fantastic from the BBC Press Office