CleanupBot II: Removed empty portal template using script

2023-08-14T15:49:51Z

Removed empty portal template using script

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:19, 14 August 2023
Line 22:		Line 22:

	== References ==		== References ==
	~~{{Portal\|Cornwall}}~~
	{{Reflist}}		{{Reflist}}

UpdateBot: robot: Update article (please report if you notice any mistake or error in this edit)

2022-01-16T14:37:03Z

robot: Update article (please report if you notice any mistake or error in this edit)

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:07, 16 January 2022
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{short description\|British organist}}		{{short description\|British organist}}
	{{Use dmy dates\|date=July 2021}}		{{Use dmy dates\|date=July 2021}}
	'''William Dudley Savage''' [[Order of the British Empire\|MBE]] (20 March 1920 – 25 November 2008) was a ~~[[United Kingdom\|~~British]] organist and broadcaster who for many years broadcast a hospital request programme from the Royal (ABC) cinema in Plymouth. He both introduced and played requests on the Royal organ. When it was axed, the resultant petition was said at the time to be the largest the [[BBC]] had ever encountered.		'''William Dudley Savage''' [[Order of the British Empire\|MBE]] (20 March 1920 – 25 November 2008) was a British organist and broadcaster who for many years broadcast a hospital request programme from the Royal (ABC) cinema in Plymouth. He both introduced and played requests on the Royal organ. When it was axed, the resultant petition was said at the time to be the largest the [[BBC]] had ever encountered.

	==Early life==		==Early life==

>Dawnseeker2000: date format audit, minor formatting

2021-07-08T09:16:17Z

date format audit, minor formatting

New page

{{short description|British organist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
'''William Dudley Savage''' [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] (20 March 1920 – 25 November 2008) was a [[United Kingdom|British]] organist and broadcaster who for many years broadcast a hospital request programme from the Royal (ABC) cinema in Plymouth. He both introduced and played requests on the Royal organ. When it was axed, the resultant petition was said at the time to be the largest the [[BBC]] had ever encountered.

==Early life==
Savage was born on 20 March 1920 near [[Penzance]], in the village of [[Gulval]].<ref name=telegraph /> His mother played the organ there in the village church and taught him in their home how to play the piano. He moved on to study the [[organ (music)|organ]] under the instruction of organists at [[Truro Cathedral]] and with other instructors in [[Cornwall]] and [[Plymouth]].<ref name=BBCObit>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7747828.stm |title=Organist Dudley Savage dies at 88: veteran BBC radio broadcaster Dudley Savage MBE has died at the age of 88 in Cornwall after a long illness|publisher=[[BBC News]]|date= 25 November 2008|accessdate=26 November 2008}}</ref>

==Theatre organist and soldier==
In 1938, as an 18-year-old, he was chosen as the organist for the ABC Royal Cinema in Plymouth which had been constructed that year and included a [[John Compton (organ builder)|Compton]] [[theatre organ]] with eight ranks of pipes plus a [[Compton Melotone]] unit. With a break for military service, he remained at the ABC organ until the cinema was converted into a bingo hall in 1976.<ref>[http://www.ssfweb.co.uk/abc-organ/html/history.html History], The [[Blackheath Halls]] Compton organ. Retrieved 26 November 2008.</ref>

During [[World War II]], Savage was called up for military service in 1940, serving in [[India]].<ref name=BBCObit/> He was a [[Bombardier (rank)|lance bombardier]] prior to being commissioned as a [[second lieutenant]] on 12 August 1943,<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=36264|page=5201|date=26 November 1943}}</ref> later rising to the rank of [[captain (land)|captain]].<ref name=telegraph>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3534820/Dudley-Savage.html|title=Dudley Savage—Organist whose BBC Radio programme was so popular that 43,000 complained when it was axed|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=28 November 2008|accessdate=28 November 2008}}</ref> After his discharge from military service in 1946, he returned to his position at Royal Cinema.<ref name=BBCObit/>

==''As Prescribed'' on BBC Radio==
His hospital request radio programme ''As Prescribed'' started in June 1948 as a weekly broadcast from ABC's Royal Cinema in Plymouth.<ref>[http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/radio/musicprog.htm BBC Music Programmes], whirligig-tv.co.uk. 26 Accessed November 2008.</ref> Savage not only presented the hour-long show, but played requests on the organ from listeners who were sick in hospital or housebound. After the BBC cancelled the show following the 22 September 1968 broadcast, more than 43,000 signatures were collected on a petition submitted to the BBC, in addition to letters sent to the Chairman of Governors of the BBC and the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]. The petition was submitted, accompanied by protesters carrying banners in what was described as "perhaps the biggest demonstration of its kind the BBC has known".<ref name=BBCObit/><ref>James, Francis. [http://www.ssfweb.co.uk/abc-organ/Radio_Times_1968.jpg "As Prescribed — by public demand!"], ''Radio Times'', 19 December 1968. Retrieved 26 November 1968.</ref> After a brief hiatus, the BBC reinstated it as a monthly show in 1969, continuing ''As Prescribed'' for another decade, and later moving the programme to [[BBC Radio 2|Radio 2]].<ref name=BBCObit/> He was appointed a [[Member of the Order of the British Empire]] (MBE) in the 1978 [[Queen's Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=47418|pages=13–17|date=26 November 1943}}</ref>

==Death and eulogies==
He went on concert tours throughout the UK and Europe, displaying for his audiences what author and organist Jonathan Mann described as "an incredibly distinctive style with a particular gift for harmony."<ref name=BBCObit/>

In response to his death, the Cinema Organ Society eulogised Savage as someone who had "delighted organ fans up and down the country as well as in Europe" and as "one of the last surviving organists from the great days when cinema organs were to be heard constantly on the wireless".<ref name=BBCObit/>

Savage died at age 88 on 25 November 2008 at a nursing home near [[Liskeard]] after a long illness.<ref name=BBCObit/>

== References ==
{{Portal|Cornwall}}
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savage, Dudley}}
[[Category:1920 births]]
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:British male organists]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:British Indian Army officers]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Theatre organists]]
[[Category:People from Cornwall]]
[[Category:20th-century organists]]
[[Category:20th-century British male musicians]]

Dudley Savage - Revision history

CleanupBot II: Removed empty portal template using script

UpdateBot: robot: Update article (please report if you notice any mistake or error in this edit)

>Dawnseeker2000: date format audit, minor formatting