Monitor
Season 6
Fortnightly arts show from the BBC, covering the worlds of theatre, film, literature, painting, sculpture, architecture and music.
Where to Watch Season 6
33 Episodes
- African ArtE1
African ArtAfrican Art A special report from the first International Congress of African Culture, held last month in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. A Master Class by Nadia Boulanger Today is the 75th birthday of Nadia Boulanger, who as conductor, teacher of composers, and trainer of musicians has been one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century music with David Wilde (piano), Jerzy Gajek (piano), The Ambrosian Singers and a class of students from the Royal College of Music. - Poet in a SocietyE3
Poet in a SocietyA fortnightly magazine of the arts. Introduced by Huw Wheldon. Tonight's programme includes: Poet in a Society A film study of Roy Fuller. Poet, novelist, and solicitor to one of the 'Big Five' Building Societies Poems should be defendable like prose; Like blood, unclotted; even like a nose Not half an inch too long - Elgar
E5ElgarFor its 100th programme A film biography written and directed by Ken Russell. Commentary by Huw Wheldon. Behind the public image of pomp and circumstance lies the extraordinary story of the piano-tuner's son from Worcester who, unknown and unsung until he was past forty, became the authentic voice of Edwardian England - 'he has reached the hearts of the people' - yet remained through all his public triumphs and private pains an enigmatic, powerful, and mysterious figure. - Lawrence of ArabiaE6
Lawrence of ArabiaA fortnightly magazine of the arts. Introduced by Huw Wheldon. Tonight's programme includes: Peter O'Toole talking with Kenneth Griffith about his approach to the part of T. E. Lawrence. Filmed on location in Spain during the final stages of the shooting of Lawrence of Arabia - A Sculpture in the MakingE7
A Sculpture in the MakingA fortnightly magazine of the arts. Introduced by Huw Wheldon. Tonight's programme includes: A Sculpture in the Making David Wynne recently finished a 16 ft. 6 in. marble statue called 'The Breath of Life', now outside Hammersmith House in London. A camera recorded each stage in its construction and with the use of 'rushes' from this filming the sculptor describes the whole process. - New Art from AfricaE13
New Art from AfricaA fortnightly magazine of the arts. Introduced by Huw Wheldon. Tonight's programme includes: New Art from Africa Introduced by Frank McEwen, Director of the National Gallery of Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. 'Traditional African art is dead; the tragedy of contemporary African art is that it can find no proper outlet..... It faces three destructive dangers: "airport art" for the tourist trade; Christian Mission School art; and European Art School art..... But I am also witness to what I believe to be a completely new African art'. - A sight so touching in its majesty...? The New Face of LondonE15
A sight so touching in its majesty...? The New Face of LondonA fortnightly magazine of the arts. Introduced by Huw Wheldon. Tonight's programme includes: A sight so touching in its majesty...? The New Face of London Those taking part include: Richard Llewellyn Davies Professor of Architecture, University College, London John Stillman, Architect - Kenneth WilliamsE16
Kenneth WilliamsA fortnightly magazine of the arts. Introduced by Huw Wheldon. Tonight's programme includes: Kenneth Williams Group Improvisation - A New Approach to Composition A discussion between Lukas Foss and Hans Keller with the Lukas Foss Ensemble of Los Angeles, California who play examples of their collective musical improvisations. - Portrait of Margaret EvansE17
Portrait of Margaret EvansA fortnightly magazine of the arts. Introduced by Huw Wheldon. Tonight's programme includes: Portrait of Margaret Evans A film by David Storey author of This Sporting Life. Margaret Evans is a painter; her first solo exhibition opened in London this month. She was born in Wigan, is married with four children, and lives in Hampstead. - Georg Solti of Covent GardenE19
Georg Solti of Covent GardenA fortnightly magazine of the arts. Introduced by Huw Wheldon. Tonight's programme includes: Georg Solti of Covent Garden An interview with the Musical Director of the Royal Opera House on the eve of its new production of The Marriage of Figaro. - Mozart from ViennaE20
Mozart from ViennaA Eurovision relay direct from the Vienna Festival. Rudolf Serkin and The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Conducted by Karl Bohm) play Mozart's Piano Concerto in C major (K.467) Presented by the Austrian Television Service Introduced from the Monitor studio in London by Antony Hopkins who talks about Mozart and his piano concertos. - Farewell to the VicE22
Farewell to the VicTonight the Old Vic Company, the 'Home of Shakespeare' in London since 1914, gives its last performance in the Waterloo Road. Looking back on the story of a remarkable theatre in tonight's programme are: Robert Atkins, Michael Benthall, John Blatchley, Richard Burton, Michael Elliott, Edith Evans, John Gielgud, Alec Guinness, Tyrone Guthrie, John Neville, Laurence Olivier, Michael Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, Tommy Steele, Sybil Thorndike, Ninette de Valois.Introduced by Michael Flanders. With Outside Broadcast cameras at the Old Vic for the closing moments of Measure for Measure with The Old Vic Company In the presence of their President H.R.H. The Princess Marina Duchess of Kent A Monitor presentation - Eugene O'NeillE23
Eugene O'NeillIntroduced by Huw Wheldon. Tonight's programme includes: Eugene O'Neill Playwright extraordinary, Nobel Prize-winner, and one of the greatest figures of the American theatre. Burgess Meredith and Jack MacGowran in a scene from Hughie one of O'Neill's last plays which ten years after his death is now receiving its first English-speaking production at the Duchess Theatre, London. - Les Structures SonoresE24
Les Structures SonoresNew instruments... new sounds... A fabulous new world of music created and explored by the Lasry-Baschet Group from Paris, now making a return visit to England after their successful debut in Monitor last December. The Inventors: Francois and Bernard Baschet The Musicians: Jacques Lasry (crystal organ and echogrill), Yvonne Lasry (crystal organ), Jacques Chollet (bass tubes), Daniel Ouzounov (percussion) A Monitor presentation - The SermonE25
The SermonA fortnightly magazine of the arts. Introduced by Huw Wheldon. Tonight's programme includes: The Sermon Specially written for Monitor by Peter Redgrove. [Starring] Michael Hordern and A Viking at the Chateau of Louis XVI A visit to the home of one of the new Europeans, Robert Jacobsen, Danish by birth, one-time tramp, collector of African art, and sculptor in iron. - Orchestra to the OrientE26
Orchestra to the OrientThe London Symphony Orchestra in Japan Conducted by Pierre Monteux, Antal Dorati, Georg Solti Recently the L.S.O. completed the first tour of Japan ever made by a British orchestra, a gruelling schedule of fifteen concerts in five towns in three weeks. The Japanese described their visit as a triumph and a revelation. A Monitor presentation - Art in a Cold ClimateE27
Art in a Cold ClimateNikita Khrushchev, 1963: 'The artist's talent should be wholly dedicated to the struggle of the people for the building of Communism' Russian Revolutionary Leader, 1923: 'There is only the undying fidelity of the artist to his own internal Me' New painting, poems, music, and film material from the Soviet Union highlight the forty year conflict between art and the party line with contributions from Jack Lindsay, Ronald Hingley, Stanley Mitchell and Stephen Spender. A Monitor presentation - The Muse in S.W.1E28
The Muse in S.W.1Throughout this week poets and actors are taking part in a special Poetry Festival at the Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square. Tonight's programme includes some of the highlights of the Festival with Alan Dobie, Christopher Logue, William Plomer and John Betjeman on Tennyson. Introduced by Robert Robinson. A Monitor presentation - Nobody Loves a Man in JailE29
Nobody Loves a Man in JailWritten and directed by John Duncan and Melvyn Bragg. A review of jail birds and jail life through its records its literature and its songs. Introduced by Robert Robinson. with Donal Donnelly, Bryan Pringle, Brian Miller, Antony Selby, Sam Walters Music by Carter-Lewis and The Southerners A Monitor presentation - Go Tell It on the MountainE30
Go Tell It on the MountainGospel singing has reached a new popularity in Europe with the highly successful tour of the Black Nativity company. In tonight's programme Alex Bradford talks to Kenneth Griffith about the origins of gospel singing in the early spirituals and jubilee songs; shows how it has drawn on the reels, the blues, and even Gershwin for its inspiration; and sings some of his own gospel songs with Princess Stewart, The Bradford Singers. A Monitor presentation - Yehudi Menuhin and His GuruE31
Yehudi Menuhin and His GuruIntroduced by David Attenborough. The practice of Yoga is older than Christianity. Until this century, its disciplines and purpose have been known to few people in the Western world. Yehudi Menuhin has practised Yoga for thirteen years. Tonight he talks about its value, and the effect it has had on him personally, with his Guru, or teacher, Shri. B. K. S. Iyengar. A Monitor presentation - Summer in SalzburgE32
Summer in SalzburgImpressions of the city and the festival of Salzburg, the birthplace of Mozart. Those taking part include: Herbert von Karajan, Graziella Sciutti, Oskar Kokoschka, The Salzburg-Marionette-Theatre and Donald Grobe, Renate Holm, Ludwig Welter in scenes from Mozart's Die Entfiihrung aus dem Serail recorded in the open-air theatre of the Residenz in Salzburg by courtesy of the Austrian Television Service A Monitor presentation - Tomorrow's TheatreE33
Tomorrow's TheatreThroughout last week leading dramatists, directors, actors, and designers from all over the world have been taking part in the Edinburgh International Drama Conference at the McEwan Hall, Edinburgh. Tonight's programme is a shortened version of yesterday's final session on The Theatre of the Future Is theatre design about to be permanently revolutionised? Is theatre moving back to its origins in dance and music? Is improvisation going to replace even more the settled text? Among those expected to take part: Lionel Bart, Jack Gelber, Eugene Ionesco, Joan Littlewood, Erwin Tiscator, J. B. Priestley, Jerome Robbins. Session chairman, Peter Hall Conference chairman, Kenneth Tynan A Monitor presentation