{{Short description|Theme music to the BBC Radio 4 soap opera The Archers}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} [[File:Barwick Maypole.jpg|thumb|Barwick Maypole]] "'''Barwick Green'''" {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ær|ɪ|k}} is the [[theme music]] to the long-running [[BBC Radio 4]] [[soap opera]] ''[[The Archers]]''. A "[[maypole dance]]" from the suite ''My Native Heath'' written in 1924 by the [[Yorkshire]] composer [[Arthur Wood (composer)|Arthur Wood]], it is named after [[Barwick-in-Elmet]] in Yorkshire's West Riding.<ref>{{cite episode|title=Feedback|series=Autumn 2007|network=BBC Radio 4|airdate=2007-10-05}}</ref> {{listen|filename=Barwick Green.ogg|title=Barwick Green|description=A piece of Barwick Green as used in ''The Archers''|format=[[Ogg]]}} The recording used between 1950 and the 1990s was played by [[Sidney Torch]] and his orchestra. It was produced by [[George Martin]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Sidney Torch & Orchestra - Barwick Green (Archers Theme) |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gj2tq |website=bbc.co.uk |date=21 April 2011 |publisher=BBC |access-date=12 May 2022 |archive-date=12 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512065636/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00gj2tq |url-status=live }}</ref> Sidney Torch recorded a commercial version of "Barwick Green" in the 1950s, but it was not used on ''The Archers'' itself.{{Citation needed|date=January 2009}}
The familiar opening 7 notes are echoed in the pizzicato in [[Benjamin Britten]]'s ''[[Simple Symphony]]'', written in 1934.
The Sunday [[Omnibus (broadcast)|omnibus]] broadcast of ''The Archers'' starts with a more [[Pastoral|rustic]], [[accordion]]-arranged rendition by [[The Yetties]],<ref>{{cite book|last=The Yetties|title=Upmarket|year=1997|id=Decca SKL 5282|no-pp=true|page=Track 1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/60-things-you-never-knew-you-wanted-to-know-about-the-archers-2173365.html|title=60 things you never knew you wanted to know about The Archers|last=Gonsalves|first=Rebecca|date=1 January 2011|work=[[The Independent]]|publisher=Independent Print Limited|access-date=1 July 2011|archive-date=4 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110104053312/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/60-things-you-never-knew-you-wanted-to-know-about-the-archers-2173365.html|url-status=live}}</ref> while [[BBC Radio 4 Extra]]'s former spinoff, ''[[Ambridge Extra]]'', used a version arranged by [[Bellowhead]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/apr/05/tv-theme-tunes|title=TV theme tunes: don't mess with the best|last=Heritage|first=Stuart|date=5 April 2011|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=28 June 2011|archive-date=1 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001001212/http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2011/apr/05/tv-theme-tunes|url-status=live}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links == *[https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b012078w Item about Wood and "Barwick Green"] on [[BBC Radio 4]]'s ''[[Front Row (radio programme)|Front Row]]'', 24 June 2011, at 18m27s. By chance, the clip begins with the final seconds of the evening's ''The Archers'', so ''Barwick Green'' is heard.
{{The Archers}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Radio theme songs]] [[Category:The Archers]] [[Category:Light music compositions]] [[Category:1924 compositions]]