Music Makers (radio): Peregrine's Progress
Peregrine's Progress is a unit of the BBC schools radio series Music Makers from the 1980s, covering music for primary and secondary school pupils.
A comedy about an ambitious but penniless young man called Peregrine Warpbucket who dreams of being a percussionist. Armed only with a broken drum sold to him for a penny by a kindly music shop owner, he makes his way through job opportunities without losing his optimism. The friends he makes and talent for sound effects that he develops come in useful when he encounters an American millionaire, his wife who dreams of stardom, and a pair of villainous thugs.
The magazine features and quiz times in the programmes cover percussion music.
Songs
- Aladdin's Cave
- Some Day...
- Maestro
- No Need to...
- The Sound Man in the Wings
- Bending the Rules
Broadcasts
Credits
| Written by | Derek Farmer |
| Music by | Max Brittain |
| Producer | Peter Hutchings |
Resources
Pupils' pamphlet
A 24 page pamphlet containing the words and music to the songs, with cartoon illustrations by Paul Cemmick outlining the story in between, and photos of different percussion instrument to accompany the magazine features in the broadcasts.
The pamphlets were sold for 25p each in 1981, and 50p each in 1983.
Teachers' notes
A 12 page booklet containing an outline of each broadcast and the piano accompaniment to the songs.
The notes were sold for 33p in 1981, and 65p in 1983.
Melodic instrument parts
A stapled set of accompaniments to each song for tuned percussion instruments was available free to schools sending a stamped addressed envelope to the producer during the term of broadcast.
Music Makers units, especially those in the autumn and spring terms, were often also accompanied by an acting script adapted for school performances of the musical story. No such script was made available for Peregrine's Progress, a summer term unit, with the teachers' notes explaining that "the story has been designed primarily as a radio entertainment, so no acting scripts are available for distribution to schools.
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