The 20th of February 1972
Official U.K. Singles Chart results from Sunday the 20th to Saturday the 26th of February 1972
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 19th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 20th,
announced on Tuesday the 22nd,
and broadcast on B.B.C. Radio 1 on Sunday the 27th of February 1972.
The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
The “Onedin Line” Theme
At No.33, on the the U.K. Top 50 Singles Chart the day I am born, is The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra with “The “Onedin Line” Theme”.
Due to the popularity of one of TV’s latest evening dramas,..
…this release was still enjoying it’s 14 week run in the UK Chart by the time I turned up in the world.
The track, and the B side,..
…were actually pulled from a couple of recordings.
“Spartacus” for Side 1 and “Gayaneh” on Side 2, which were both composed and conducted by Aram Khachaturian, were first released on LP in their complete form back in 1962, but more from that album will be divulged later in another post.
Now let’s get some facts about The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.
Well, it goes without saying they are one of the world’s finest orchestras which has a very strict membership outline.
For instance, nobody over the age of 35 is permitted to join. If you do get past that first hurdle, then be prepared for a lengthy probation process, where you will be put through your paces to prove your capability to perform at your musical best with operas and ballets, for at least 3 years, and only after then can you request – that’s request, not be selected – to apply for a position in the orchestra from the Vienna Philharmonic’s board.
Their heritage is illustrious.
Founded in 1842, they’ve had a fair amount of famous conductors over the years, including Johannes Brahms who conducted his 1st Symphony in 1873, Gustav Mahler, who became subscribed conductor between 1898 and 1901, and Richard Strauss, who conducted the first Annual Ball in 1924.
They began the traditional New Years Day Concerts in 1939, also heavily featuring the music of the Strauss family. Although, when you notice the year, and who had occupied their country by that time, this seemingly perfect orchestra’s ethics start to take a controversial turn for the worse.
The inaugural New Years Day Concert was approved by Joseph Goebbels as it served the Reich’s purposes of “propaganda through entertainment.”
During World War II, nearly half of the orchestra (49%) had connections to the Nazi’s, with 2 members being members of the SS. Not a good look when you compare, in the whole of Austria itself, the percentage which had affiliations with the Hitler’s regime was around 10%.
At the time of Germany’s occupation with Austria, 13 Jewish musicians were fired, with only 6 of them eventually escaping with their lives. The other 7 were eventually murdered, 5 of those in concentration camps.
Still, as Basil Fawlty once said “Forgive and Forget eh Major..?”
And sticking with Basil for a moment and putting a different spin on another sore subject of the VPO’s ..Just don’t mention…(no, not the war, but…) the women. I’ll get to that soon.
Anyway…After the war…
They played the first ever Edinburgh Festival in 1947.
Other honorary conductors since then have been Herbert Von Karajan and Leonard Bernstein.
The orchestra even adorn one of the most famous coins on earth. A 999.9 per cent pure gold coin named the ‘Vienna Philharmonic Coin’ which is issued every year.
And up until 1997 they hadn’t accepted any women, (blast – I did it agai), and it took the prospect of confronting a large protest, when landing in the U.S for a scheduled tour, to change that black mark against them, and even then it was only one lady, a harpist, Anna Lelkes. Since then though, there have been many more who have joined her.
And as for ethnic minorities, when you’ve got an existing member of the orchestra (at around the same time the first woman was only just joining them onstage) being on record saying “The soul does not let itself be separated from the cultural roots that we have here in central Europe.” Then it makes me wonder if any progress has been made since that guy in the bunker with that Charlie Chaplin moustache put a bullet in his own head in 1945.
The Orchestra finally buckled on that rule too when, in 2001 (yes, that’s right, in this 21st century), a half-Asian violinist became a member.
Again, since then, many others have since been accepted in, and you can take a look at who they are by visiting the orchestra’s official website.
https://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at/en/orchester-mitglieder
So, let me also briefly nudge another door, so as to get to know the composer a little better.
These brief highlights of both pieces of music were for some, a gateway into the works of one of the big ‘3’ 20th century composers (the other two being Sergei Prokofiev and Dmitri Shostakovich), who’s music had once been denounced by the Stalin regime in 1948 as being “Anti-People”, due to the alleged use of some western phrases hinted at in their composing habits.
Aram Khachaturian was born in the village of Kojori. An idyllic part of the world, due to the clean mountain air, fresh meadows, pine trees, plenty of warm sunlight and breezes, which creates a climate of healing and restoration of the body and soul. It’s situated less than 20 miles southwest of Georgia’s capital city of Tbilisi (once known as Tiflis by many before 1936).
Georgia itself, due to bordering today such countries as some Republics of Russia, including Chechnya to the north, and to the south, the countries Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Turkey, with the Black Sea to the west, lays claim to multi-culturally diverse influences, going as far back as ancient Greek and Roman, including music, theatre and art.
Although, it was envisaged at the time by Aram’s parents, that he would, and should, become (and he himself considered a career in) either engineering or medicine. However, with his love of Armenian culture, with Armenia itself becoming his spiritual home, and where Aram felt he truly belonged, his heart followed a desire for music.
As Aram himself explained:
“I grew up in an atmosphere rich in folk music: popular festivities, rites, joyous and sad events in the life of the people always accompanied by music, the vivid tunes of Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian songs and dances performed by folk bards [ashugs] and musicians — such were the impressions that became deeply engraved on my memory, that determined my musical thinking.
They shaped my musical consciousness and lay at the foundations of my artistic personality… Whatever the changes and improvements that took place in my musical taste in later years, their original substance, formed in early childhood in close communion with the people, has always remained the natural soil nourishing all my work”.
I will dive deeper into his life and works further along my musical road, but for now I will return to this release.
The single’s journey had started a couple of weeks before Christmas 1971…
…when it entered the chart at No.36 on the 12th of December, and after a several weeks of modest sales (sails?) it coasted up to it’s highest position of No.15 in mid January this year before drifting back down through the chart.
From here, it will stay buoyant for another few weeks before finally sailing out of the chart altogether after the 18th of March.
Personally, I do remember this music in the title sequence to this programme but, considering the series ran up to 1980, it could have been taken in anytime during the 1970’s.
The “A” Side
The “B” Side
“The Onedin Line” TV Drama (Opening and Closing Titles)
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