| Biography | The BBC Variety Orchestra was a small orchestra, very much of the same size and make up as the BBC Revue Orchestra, with three trumpets, two trombones, a woodwind section of three or four doubling saxes, clarinets, flutes, oboe etc., and a small string section plus piano, bass, guitar and drums, with percussion. The arrangements were mostly in light music style, as were the balances, and the results compared very poorly with the sounds being produced by the likes of Nelson Riddle, Billy May and Gordon Jenkins in Hollywood at that time. Paul Fenhoulet was its conductor in the late 50s early 60s. It was amalgamated with the BBC Revue Orchestra in 1964 to form the BBC Radio Orchestra. |