Beatrice and the Nightingale

In 1924, an audience of more than one million listeners across the world listened in amazement to the first live radio broadcast of a nightingale accompanying the young cellist Beatrice Harrison.

On May 19, 1924, a duet between a young cellist and a nightingale was broadcast across the British Commonwealth as far away as Canada, India, and Australia to over one million listeners. It was an unprecedented collective experience made possible by the invention of the radio and a new microphone that picked up sounds of nature.

Beatrice Harrison, one of the greatest cellists of the 20th century, showed a singular dedication to music from a very early age. Attending her first concert when she was only eighteen months old, Beatrice was bewitched by the sound of the cello and immediately began asking to play it. When she was eight, she got her first cello, and her family traveled the world so she could study with the best teachers, and her career began to take off.

One evening while practicing her cello in the garden, Beatrice heard a creature repeating the music she was playing—a nightingale! Night after night, she played together with the bird, completely enthralled.

Wanting to share the experience, she convinced the head of the BBC to take a chance on a live broadcast from her garden. The resulting duet was a smashing success, and Beatrice became known as the Lady of the Nightingales.

This biography shares the fascinating story behind a broadcast that became an annual tradition, and highlights the way art, technology, and nature can work together to create new and lasting beauty. Young musicians and birders alike will be inspired by this incredible story!