Charles Shadwell (musician)
{{Short description|British conductor and bandleader}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2019}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| honorific_prefix =
| name = Charles Shadwell
| honorific_suffix =
| image = The Laugh!- the Recording of the Radio Comedy 'itma', London, England, UK, 1945 D24418.jpg
| caption = Shadwell in 1945, conducting the BBC Variety Orchestra
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| birth_name = Charles Murray Winstanley Shadwell
| alias =
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1898|3|26|df=y}}
| birth_place = Dormans Park, Surrey, England
| origin =
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1979|7|28|1898|3|26|df=y}}
| death_place = Pershore, Worcestershire, England
| genre = Classical, light orchestral
| occupation = Conductor, composer
| instrument =
| years_active = 1920–1970s
| label =
| associated_acts =
| website =
}}
Charles Murray Winstanley Shadwell (26 March 1898 – 28 July 1979){{Cite web|url=http://www.r2ok.co.uk/yearb.htm|title=jabw_vintage/british music yearbook|website=www.r2ok.co.uk}} was a British conductor and bandleader.
Biography
Born in Dormans Park, Surrey, he saw military service in the Prince of Wales's Own (West Yorkshire) Regiment before studying at the Royal Academy of Music. He started his professional career playing piano to accompany silent films, before working as a musical director at theatres in Portsmouth, Brighton, and Coventry. From 1932, he conducted the Coventry Hippodrome Orchestra in regular weekly concerts on BBC radio, and in 1936 he was appointed as conductor of the BBC Variety Orchestra in succession to Kneale Kelly.[http://www.musicweb-international.com/garlands/23rd.htm Philip L. Scowcroft, "A Twenty-Third Garland of British Light Music Composers", Music Web International]. Retrieved 25 March 2021
The BBC Variety Orchestra performed in countless radio broadcasts under Shadwell's control between 1936 and 1946. As well as programmes such as Music Hall, which featured his music and ended with his theme tune, "Down with the Curtain", his own composition, he actively participated in the tradition, started in Britain by variety stars Bebe Daniels and Ben Lyon, of banter between the comedians and their shows' bandleader. Charlie Shadwell became a well-known public figure through this, which peaked with the interchanges between Shadwell and Tommy Handley on ITMA, when Shadwell "virtually became one of the cast of characters" and was jokingly insulted on a regular basis by Handley.Denis Gifford, The Golden Age of Radio, B.T. Batsford Ltd, London, 1985, {{isbn|0-7134-4235-2}}, pp.258-260 Shadwell also came up with the idea for the wartime radio variety series Garrison Theatre, based on his experiences as an entertainments officer in the First World War.[https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/november/garrison-theatre "Garrison Theatre", History of the BBC]. Retrieved 27 March 2021
In 1948 Shadwell formed his own orchestra, which played in theatres and in BBC broadcasts. During the 1950s he appeared with the orchestra regularly during the summer season at Paignton in Devon. He subsequently became landlord of the Green Man, Trumpington and President of the Cambridge Concert Orchestra.{{Cite web|url=http://cambridgeconcertorchestra.org/about-us/|title=About Us – Cambridge Concert Orchestra}}
He died in Pershore, Worcestershire, in 1979, aged 81.{{fact|date=March 2025}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.britishpathe.com/video/charlie-shadwell "Pathe visits radio star Charlie Shadwell at his home"], British Pathe, 1945
- Full biography page: http://www.r2ok.co.uk/shadwell.htm
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Category:Musicians from Surrey
Category:English conductors (music)
Category:British male conductors (music)
Category:20th-century British conductors (music)
Category:20th-century English musicians
Category:20th-century British male musicians
Category:Military personnel from Surrey