4. The Beatles

On 24^th October 1962, LOVE ME DO, entered the British Top Thirty. It was the first single by an unknown group from Liverpool called the Beatles. It was the first of a number of big hits that would make Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr the most successfull pop group the world has ever known.

Paul McCartney (born in 1942), John Lennon (1940), George Harrison (1945), Ringo Starr (1940) were all from Liverpool, an industrial port on the north-west coast of England. At Quarry Bank Grammar School with his school friends, John formed a group called the Quarrymen. In 1957 he met Paul McCartney. One year later, they had already written about fifty songs. They called themselves Johnny and the Moondogs. George Harrison joined the group as a guitarist. In I960 together with two other boys, Stu Sutcliffe - bass - and Pete Best - drums - the group became The Beatles. Stu and Pete left the group, Richard Starkey joined them as drummer. Because he used to wear a lot of rings, they nicknamed him Ringo Starr!

There they were: the Fab Four. It all started in The Cavern, a rather shabby night club near the Liverpool docks. Their first record "Love Me Do", has become a col­lector's item. In 1965 they were made members of the Order of the British Empire. In April 1970, Paul announ­ced that the group was splitting up.

The story never really came to an end until one December night when John Lennon was assassinated in New York in 1980,

The surviving Beatles are still deeply involved in music and film projects, but many fans still long for the music of the 60s.

Born in Newcastle, in 1952, Gordon Matthew Sumner was nicknamed Sting because of a black and yellow striped T-shirt he used to wear.

Sting got his first guitar when he was nine and soon became a bass guitarist in small jazz bands. Later on he met Steward Copeland in London and together with Andy Summer they formed the world-famous group Police.

The group gave its first concert in Birmingham in 1977. Then he produced an album on his own and sang with famous jazz musicians such as Philip Collins and Miles Davis. He is also a first class actor and a great sportsman. He has never forgotten that he comes from a working-class family and is very generous and interested in today's social and political problems.

As far as Agatha Christie is concerned everyone knows her as the "Mistress of Mystery". She was born in Torquay in 1890. She was a nurse and became a world-famous writer of detective novels by chance.

She wrote 77 detective novels which were translated into 103 languages. A great number of them also became films. She died in January, 1976. The centenary of her birth was celebrated in 1990.

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5. Concerts in London

Though classical music is a minority interest in Great Britain, London is said to be a very musical capital. Every evening you can see or hear opera, or classical music, ballet or rock music. The Royal Opera House, also known, from its location, as Govern Garden, is internationally known for its opera and ballet productions, as well for its dancers and singers. During the performances the house is always full though seat prices are comparatively high. There are three concert halls near the National Theatre in the South Bank are of London: the Queen Elizabeth Hall, used chiefly for performances of classical music. Royal Festival Hall and the smaller Purcell Room, used mainly for performances of chamber music. In the summer, there are sometimes one or two free open-air rock concerts in Hyde Park where an audience of a quarter of a million people is a usual thing. Every summer, from July to September, concerts are held in the Royal Albert Hall, including the famous Promenade concerts where serious music-lovers stand in the arena or the top gallery. In fact, you don't have to stand because there are plenty of seats but this is a kind of tradition dating back to the first concerts held in 1895.

The largest provincial centres also have orchestras giving regular concerts in their home cities and sometimes visiting other places.

Musical London.

1. 1. What do “proms” mean? Could you tell their history?

2. What are famous London orchestras?

3. What do you know about British pop-music?

4. What famous British pop-groups do you know?

5. What are your favorite British groups or vocalists?

2. Topics for discussion:

1. Classical Music

2. Opera in London

3. Pop-music in Britain

4. Promenade concerts

3. Choose the topic and write the report.