Editing Delia Derbyshire (section)

==Biography==
===Early life===
Derbyshire was born in [[Coventry]], daughter of Emma ({{nee}} Dawson) and Edward Derbyshire.<ref name="Brennan">Breege Brennan, Master's Thesis in Computer Music, Dublin, 2008.</ref> of Cedars Avenue, Coundon, Coventry.<ref name=MorseCodeMusician>Christine Edge, ''[http://delia-derbyshire.net/Morse%20code%20musician Morse code musician: How Delia crashed the sound barrier]'', ''Sunday Mirror'', 12 April 1970, p. 8.</ref> Her father was a sheet-metal worker.<ref name="Dial a tune">Article by Kirsten Cubitt "Dial a tune" in The Guardian newspaper, 3 September 1970.</ref> She had one sibling, a sister, who died young.<ref name=Brennan/> Her father died in 1965 and her mother in 1994.<ref name="About Delia"/>

During the [[World War II|Second World War]], immediately after the [[Coventry Blitz]] in 1940, she was moved to [[Preston, Lancashire]] for safety. Her parents were from the town<ref name=Brennan/> and most of her surviving relatives still live in the area.<ref name="About Delia"/> She was very bright and, by the age of four, was teaching others in her class to read and write in primary school,<ref name=Brennan/> but said "The radio was my education".<ref name=Cavenagh1998>Delia Derbyshire in conversation with John Cavanagh, 4 October 1998.</ref> Her parents bought her a piano when she was eight years old. Educated at [[Barr's Hill Grammar School]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.barrshill.coventry.sch.uk/index.php/general-news-newsmenu-37/392-did-you-know |title=Did You Know? &#124; Barr's Hill School and Community College |access-date=2016-05-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160604033717/http://www.barrshill.coventry.sch.uk/index.php/general-news-newsmenu-37/392-did-you-know |archive-date=4 June 2016 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> from 1948 to 1956, she was accepted at both [[University of Oxford|Oxford]] and [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]], "quite something for a working class girl in the 'fifties, where only one in 10 [students] were female",<ref name=Brennan/> winning a scholarship to study mathematics at [[Girton College, Cambridge]] but, apart from some success in the mathematical theory of electricity, she claims she did badly.<ref name=Brennan/> After one year at Cambridge she switched to music, graduating in 1959 with a BA in mathematics and music, having specialised in medieval and modern music history.<ref name=Brennan/> Her other principal qualification was [[LRAM]] in pianoforte.<ref name="About Delia">{{cite web |last=Blackburn |first=Clive |title=About Delia |url=http://www.cblackburn.fslife.co.uk/about_delia.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911230845/http://www.cblackburn.fslife.co.uk/about_delia.htm |archive-date=11 September 2011 |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

She approached the careers office at the university and told them she was interested in "sound, music and acoustics, to which they recommended a career in either [[deaf aids]] or [[depth sounding]]".<ref name=Brennan/> Then she applied for a position at [[Decca Records]], only to be told that the company did not employ women in their recording studios.<ref name="Scotsman Article">{{cite news |last=Mansfield |first=Susan |title=Variations on the Dr Who theme |newspaper=[[The Scotsman]] |date=25 September 2004 |url=http://news.scotsman.com/doctorwho/Variations-on-the-Dr-Who.2567025.jp |access-date=25 July 2008}}</ref><ref name=Surface>Interview with Delia Derbyshire, conducted by Sonic Boom and published in ''Surface Magazine'' (May 2000).
</ref> Instead, she took positions at the [[United Nations]] in Geneva,<ref name="Guardian Obit"/> from June to September, teaching piano to the children of the British Consul-General and mathematics to the children of Canadian and South American diplomats.<ref name=Brennan/> Then from September to December, she worked as an assistant to Gerald G. Gross,<ref name=Brennan/> Head of Plenipotentiary and General Administrative Radio Conferences at the [[International Telecommunication Union]]. She returned to [[Coventry]] and from January to April 1960 taught general subjects in a primary school there. Then she went to London, where from May to October she was an assistant in the promotion department of music publishers [[Boosey & Hawkes]].<ref name="About Delia"/>

===BBC Radiophonic Workshop===
In November 1960, she joined the BBC as a trainee assistant studio manager<ref name=Brennan/> and worked on ''Record Review'', a magazine programme where critics reviewed classical music recordings. She said: "Some people thought I had a kind of second sight. One of the music critics would say, 'I don't know where it is, but it's where the trombones come in', and I'd hold it up to the light and see the trombones and put the needle down exactly where it was. And they thought it was magic."<ref name=Brennan/> She then heard about the [[BBC Radiophonic Workshop|Radiophonic Workshop]] and decided that was where she wanted to work. This news was received with some puzzlement by the heads in Central Programme Operation because people were usually "assigned" to the Radiophonic Workshop. But in April 1962, she was assigned there<ref name="About Delia"/> in [[Maida Vale]], where for eleven years she would create music and sound for almost 200 radio and television programmes.<ref name="CMJ obituary">{{cite web |url=http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/computer_music_journal/v025/25.4news.pdf |title=obituary |work=[[Computer Music Journal]], Vol 25, No. 4, Winter 2001, p. 13 |publisher=[[MIT Press]]/[[Project MUSE]] |access-date=26 July 2011}}</ref>

In August 1962, she assisted composer [[Luciano Berio]] at a two-week [[Dartington International Summer School|summer school]] at [[Dartington Hall]], for which she borrowed several dozen items of BBC equipment.<ref name=Papers>Delia Derbyshire's papers at Manchester University.</ref> One of her first works, and most widely known, was her 1963 electronic realisation of a score by [[Ron Grainer]] for the [[Doctor Who theme music|theme of the ''Doctor Who'' series]],<ref name="BBC28112016" /> one of the first television themes to be created and produced entirely with electronics.

When Grainer heard it, he was so amazed by her arrangement of his theme that he asked: "Did I really write this?", to which Derbyshire replied: "Most of it".<ref>{{cite web |title=Delia Derbyshire Electronic Music Pioneer |work=Official Delia Derbyshire website |url=http://www.delia-derbyshire.org |access-date=30 January 2010}}</ref> Grainer attempted to credit her as co-composer, but was prevented by the [[BBC]] bureaucracy because they preferred that members of the workshop remain anonymous.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ayres |first=Mark |author-link=Mark Ayres |title=Doctor Who—The Original Theme |work=A History of the Doctor Who Theme |url=http://markayres.rwsprojects.co.uk/DWTheme.htm#Original |quote=The story goes that on listening to playback, he enquired of Delia, "Did I write that?". To which she replied, "Most of it!". |access-date=15 January 2010}}</ref> She was not credited on-screen for her work until ''Doctor Who''<nowiki/>'s 50th anniversary special, ''[[The Day of the Doctor]]''. Derbyshire's original arrangement served as the Doctor Who main theme for its first seventeen series, from 1963 to 1980. The theme was reworked over the years, to her horror, because the only version that had her approval was the original.<ref name="Delia Derbyshire Radio Scotland interview 1997">{{cite web |title=Delia Derbyshire Radio Scotland interview 1997 |website=[[YouTube.com]] |date=13 May 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-Fw5aTz_2I&si=bwt2QUPU0xf4irjx&t=490 |access-date=11 November 2023}}</ref> Delia also composed music for other BBC programmes, including ''Blue Veils and Golden Sands'' and ''The Delian Mode''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/e71ca197-4808-4132-b1cc-0078d8066fee |title=BBC Music – Classic photos from the golden days of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop |date=20 July 2018 |website=BBC |access-date=14 December 2018}}</ref> The Doctor Who story Inferno reused some of Derbyshire's music originally composed for other productions.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/top-10-classic-doctor-who-scores/|title = Top 10 classic Doctor Who scores|date = 28 June 2010}}</ref>

In 1964–65, she collaborated with the British artist and playwright [[Barry Bermange]] for the BBC's [[Third Programme]] to produce four ''[[Inventions for Radio]]'', a series of collages of people describing their thoughts on dreams, belief in God, the possibility of life after death, and the experience of old age, voiced over an electronic soundscape.<ref>{{cite web |last=Deacon |first=Nigel |title=Barry Bermange Plays |url=http://www.suttonelms.org.uk/BB.HTML |access-date=25 July 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Guy |first=Martin |title=Delia Derbyshire – An audiological chronology |date=10 November 2007 |url=http://delia-derbyshire.net/#TheDreams |access-date=25 July 2008 }}</ref> 
In 1966, working with composer [[George Newson]], she collaborated on the BBC experimental radio drama, ''The Man Who Collected Sounds'' with producer [[Douglas Cleverdon]].<ref>[https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/289e0e9244204242bfbc539baf3edf16 ''Radio Times'' Issue 2224, 25 June 1966]</ref><ref>'Games for players and spectators', ''The Times'', 11 June 1966, p. 7</ref>

===Unit Delta Plus===
In 1966 while working at the BBC, Derbyshire, fellow Radiophonic Workshop member [[Brian Hodgson]] and [[Electronic Music Studios (London) Ltd|EMS]] founder [[Peter Zinovieff]] set up Unit Delta Plus,<ref name="Guardian Obit"/> an organisation which they intended to use to create and promote electronic music. Based in a studio in Zinovieff's townhouse in [[Putney]], they exhibited their music at experimental and electronic music festivals, including the 1966 ''The Million Volt Light and Sound Rave'', at which [[The Beatles]]' "[[Carnival of Light]]" had its only public performance.

In 1966, she recorded a demo with [[Anthony Newley]] entitled "Moogies Bloogies", but Newley moved to the United States and the song was left unreleased until 2014. After a troubled performance at the [[Royal College of Art]], in 1967, the unit disbanded.<ref name="Unit Delta Plus">{{cite web |title=Unit Delta Plus |website=Delia-derbyshire.org |url=http://www.delia-derbyshire.org/unitdeltaplus.php |access-date=25 July 2008}}</ref>

===Kaleidophon and Electrophon years===
In the late 1960s she again partnered with Hodgson to set up the Kaleidophon studio in [[Camden Town]] with fellow electronic musician [[David Vorhaus]].<ref name="Guardian Obit"/> The studio produced electronic music for London theatre productions, and in 1968 the three produced their first album there as the band [[White Noise (band)|White Noise]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cuttingsarchive.org/index.php/Delia_Derbyshire_(1937-2001) |title=Delia Derbyshire (1937–2001) – The Doctor Who Cuttings Archive |website=Cuttingsarchive.org}}</ref> Their debut, ''[[An Electric Storm]]'', is considered an influential album in the development of electronic music.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mixmag.net/feature/the-50-most-influential-dance-music-albums-of-all-time |title=The 50 Most Influential Dance Music Albums of All Time |website=mixmag.net |access-date=9 January 2019}}</ref> Derbyshire and Hodgson subsequently left the group, and future White Noise albums were solo Vorhaus projects.

The trio, under pseudonyms, contributed to the Standard Music Library.<ref>{{discogs release|id=435907|name=Standard Music Library ESL 1104}}.</ref> Many of these recordings, including compositions by Derbyshire using the name "Li De la Russe" (from an anagram of the letters in "Delia" and a reference to her auburn hair) were used on the 1970s [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] science fiction rivals to ''Doctor Who'': ''[[The Tomorrow People]]''<ref name="The Tomorrow People">{{cite web |title=The Tomorrow People – Themes and Incidentals |publisher=[[Trunk Records]] |url=http://www.trunkrecords.com/turntable/tomorrow_people.shtml |access-date=25 July 2008 |archive-date=13 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513030555/http://www.trunkrecords.com/turntable/tomorrow_people.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> and ''[[Timeslip]]''.<ref name="Timeslip">{{cite web |title=The Music of Timeslip |website=Timeslip.org.uk |url=http://www.timeslip.org.uk/production/music.php |access-date=25 July 2008}}</ref>

In 1967, Derbyshire provided sound design alongside [[Guy Woolfenden]]'s score for [[Peter Hall (theatre director)|Peter Hall]]'s production of ''[[Macbeth]]'' with the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]].<ref name="Guardian Obit"/> The two composers also contributed the music to Hall's film ''[[Work Is a Four-Letter Word]]'' (1968).<ref name="IMDb page">{{IMDb name|0220262}}.</ref> Her other work during this period included taking part in a performance of electronic music at [[The Roundhouse]],<ref name="Guardian Obit"/> which also featured work by [[Paul McCartney]], the score for an [[Imperial Chemical Industries|ICI]]-sponsored student fashion show<ref name="Guardian Obit"/> and the sounds for [[Anthony Roland]]'s award-winning film of Pamela Bone's photography, entitled ''Circle of Light''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Circle of Light |publisher=The Roland Collection of Films & Videos on Art |url=http://www.roland-collection.com/rolandcollection/section/29/660.htm |access-date=25 July 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914075457/http://www.roland-collection.com/rolandcollection/section/29/660.htm |archive-date=14 September 2008 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> She composed a score for [[Yoko Ono]]'s short film ''Wrapping Event'', but no copy of the film with the soundtrack is known to exist.<ref>{{cite web |last=Guy |first=Martin |title=Delia Derbyshire – An audiological chronology |date=10 November 2007 |url=http://delia-derbyshire.net/#WrappingEvent |access-date=25 July 2008}}</ref>

In 1973, Derbyshire left the BBC and worked briefly at Hodgson's Electrophon studio,<ref name="Guardian Obit"/> where she contributed to the soundtrack to the film ''[[The Legend of Hell House]]''.<ref name="IMDb page"/>

In 1975, she stopped producing music. Her final works included two soundtracks for video artists [[Madelon Hooykaas]] and [[Elsa Stansfield]] on their short films ''{{lang|nl|Een van die dagen}}'' ("One of These Days") in 1973 and ''{{lang|nl|Overbruggen}}'' ("About Bridges") in 1975.<ref>{{cite web |last=Guy |first=Martin |title=Delia Derbyshire – An audiological chronology |date=10 November 2007 |url=http://delia-derbyshire.net/#EenVanDieDagen |access-date=25 July 2008}}</ref>

===Later years===
Following her music career, Derbyshire worked as a radio operator for a [[British Gas]] pipelaying project, in an art gallery, and in a bookshop.<ref name="Guardian Obit"/> In late 1974 she married David Hunter.<ref name="bmd-marriage">{{cite book |publisher=[[General Register Office for England and Wales]] |title=Register of Marriages |volume=Northumberland West 1 |page=1761 |date=Oct–Dec 1974}}</ref> The relationship was brief, although the couple never divorced.{{clarify|date=May 2024}} She also frequented the LYC Museum and Art Gallery established by Chinese artist [[Li Yuan-chia]] at his stone farmhouse in [[Cumbria]] and worked there as his assistant.<ref>{{Cite web|title=John Rylands Research Institute and Library: Delia Derbyshire Papers|url=https://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands/special-collections/exploring/a-to-z/collection/?match=Delia+Derbyshire+Papers|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-24|website=www.library.manchester.ac.uk|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420035429/https://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands/special-collections/exploring/a-to-z/collection/?match=Delia+Derbyshire+Papers |archive-date=20 April 2021 }}</ref> In 1978, she returned to London<ref name="About Delia"/> and met Clive Blackburn. In January 1980 she bought a house in Northampton, where four months later Blackburn joined her. He remained her partner for the rest of her life.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.covmm.co.uk/2016/the-delian-way/ |title=Doing things the Delian Way |author=Pete Chambers, Dean Eastment, Tony Seaton |website=THE COVENTRY MUSIC MUSEUM |date=21 March 2016 |access-date=27 October 2019 |archive-date=21 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921063848/http://www.covmm.co.uk/2016/the-delian-way/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2001, she returned to music, providing sounds used as source material by [[Peter Kember]] on ''Sychrondipity Machine (Taken from an Unfinished Dream)'', a 55-second track for the compilation ''Grain: A Compilation of 99 Short Tracks'', released by Dot Dot Dot Music in 2001. In the liner notes, she is credited with "liquid paper sounds generated using [[Fourier synthesis]] of sound based on photo/pixel info (B2wav – bitmap to sound programme)".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://dotdotdotmusic.com/fulltrack1.html |title=Fulltrack3 |access-date=15 June 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704131547/http://www.dotdotdotmusic.com/fulltrack1.html |archive-date=4 July 2017 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> The track was released posthumously and dedicated to her.

Derbyshire's later life was chaotic due to struggles with [[alcoholism]]. She died of [[renal failure]] brought on by cancer, aged 64, in July 2001.<ref name="Guardian Obit" /><ref>Jonny Mugwump, "[http://thequietus.com/articles/00768-the-bbc-radiophonic-workshop-review The BBC Radiophonic Workshop]", The Quietus, 25 November 2008.</ref>