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The spy, the songbird and the sham that wasn’t: how I restored broadcasting history

In 1924, cellist Beatrice Harrison caused a sensation when her duet with a nightingale in her garden was broadcast live. When the truth of this groundbreaking event was questioned, I decided to investigate

Photograph: Harrison Sisters Trust/Museum of Music HistoryFurther claims fanned the flames of the rumour when in 2022 the ornithologist Tim Birkhead was interviewed on Radio 3’s Private Passions, and called into question the authenticity of the birds’ song, having mistakenly listened to a recording that was not the first broadcast but one from three years later. Photograph: Harrison Sisters Trust/Museum of Music HistoryThe cello and the nightingale broadcasts became an annual fixture in the BBC calendar and the live event was repeated for the next 12 years, and in 1927 HMV issued recordings of the duet. A century ago there were 90% more nightingales visiting the UK than now, but even so, few people who lived in cities would have had the privilege of hearing one of these mysterious, shy birds who choose to project their stream of song from hiding places in dense thickets.

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