Civilisation 1969

[Ezilda Newnam]

Thethirteen programmes in the series outline the history of Western art, architecture and philosophy since the Dark Ages. The series was produced by the BBC and aired from February to May 1969 on BBC2. Then, and in later transmissions in Britain, the US and other countries it reached an unprecedented number of viewers for an art series. Clark's book of the same title, based on the series, was published in 1969. Its production standards were generally praised and set the pattern for subsequent television documentary series. The New Yorker magazine described it as revelatory for the general viewer.

Clark had pioneered British television series about art, beginning in 1958, with Is Art Necessary?, an experimental series for Associated Television, a commercial broadcaster. Over the next eight years Clark wrote and presented series and one-off programmes on the visual arts, ranging from Caravaggio to Bruegel the Elder, Rembrandt, Goya, Van Gogh and Picasso, and a co-production for commercial television and the BBC, Royal Palaces.[1]

In 1966 David Attenborough, the controller of the BBC's new second television channel, BBC2, was in charge of introducing colour broadcasting to the UK, He conceived the idea of a series about great paintings as the standard-bearer for colour television, and had no doubt that Clark would be much the best presenter for it.[2] Clark was attracted by the suggestion, but at first declined to commit himself. He later recalled that what convinced him that he should take part was Attenborough's use of the word "civilisation" to sum up what the series would be about.[3]

The series consists of thirteen programmes, each fifty minutes long, written and presented by Clark, covering western European civilisation from the end of the Dark Ages to the early twentieth century. As the civilisation under consideration excludes Graeco-Roman, Asian and other historically important cultures, a title was chosen that disclaimed comprehensiveness: Civilisation: A Personal View by Kenneth Clark. Clark later commented, "I didn't suppose that anyone would be so obtuse as to think that I had forgotten about the great civilisations of the pre-Christian era and the East. However, I confess the title has worried me. It would have been easy in the eighteenth century: Speculations on the Nature of Civilisation as illustrated by the Phases of Civilised Life in Western Europe from the Dark Ages to Present Day. Unfortunately, this is no longer practicable."[3] Although the series focused chiefly on the visual arts and architecture, there were substantial sections about drama, literature, music, philosophy and socio-political movements. Clark wanted to include more about law and philosophy, but "I could not think of any way of making them visually interesting."[5]

After initial mutual antipathy, Clark and his principal director, Michael Gill, established a congenial working relationship. They and their production team spent three years from 1966 filming in a hundred and seventeen locations in thirteen countries.[6] The filming was to the highest technical standards of the day, and quickly went over budget; it cost 500,000 by the time it was complete.[7] Attenborough rejigged his broadcasting schedules to spread the cost, transmitting each episode twice during the thirteen-week run.[8]

Clark tells of the sudden reawakening of European civilisation in the 12th century. He traces it from its first manifestations in Cluny Abbey to the Basilica of St Denis and finally to its high point, the building of Chartres Cathedral in the early 13th century.

Beginning at a castle in the Loire and then travelling through the hills of Tuscany and Umbria to the cathedral baptistry at Pisa, Clark examines the aspirations and achievements of the later Middle Ages in 14th century France and Italy.

Visiting Florence, Clark argues that European thought gained a new impetus from its rediscovery of its classical past in the 15th century. He visits the palaces at Urbino and Mantua and other centres of (Renaissance) civilisation.

Clark talks of the harmonious flow and complex symmetries of the works of Bach, Handel, Haydn, and Mozart and the reflection of their music in the architecture of the Rococo churches and palaces of Bavaria.

Clark discusses the Age of Enlightenment, tracing it from the polite conversations of the elegant Parisian salons of the 18th century to subsequent revolutionary politics, the great European palaces of Blenheim and Versailles, and finally Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

Belief in the divinity of nature, Clark argues, usurped Christianity's position as the chief creative force in Western civilisation and ushered in the Romantic movement. Clark visits Tintern Abbey and the Alps and discusses the landscape paintings of Turner and Constable.

The series was co-produced by Gill and Peter Montagnon; the cinematographer was Kenneth McMillan; original music was composed by Edwin Astley. Gill directed episodes 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 and 13. Montagnon directed episodes 2, 6, 7, 9, and co-directed episode 11 with Ann Turner, who also directed episode 4.[11]

The series was replayed on BBC Four and released in the Region 2 DVD area in 2005; a Region 1 set followed in 2006. The DVD release included a short interview with David Attenborough about the commissioning and production of the series.[12]

I hold a number of beliefs that have been repudiated by the liveliest intellects of our time. I believe that order is better than chaos, creation better than destruction. I prefer gentleness to violence, forgiveness to vendetta. On the whole I think that knowledge is preferable to ignorance, and I am sure that human sympathy is more valuable than ideology.[17]

The broadcaster Huw Weldon believed that Civilisation was "a truly great series, a major work ... the first magnum opus attempted and realised in terms of TV."[19] There was a widespread view among critics, including some unsympathetic to Clark's selections, that the filming set new standards. The series was described as "visually stunning" by critics on both sides of the Atlantic, including Paul B. Harvey in the US and Mary Beard in Britain.[15][20] In 2011 Jonathan Jones wrote in The Guardian of Civilisation's "sheer visual beauty ... the camerawork and direction ... rise to the poetry of cinema".[21]

The BBC announced in 2015 that it was to make a ten-episode sequel to Clark's series, to be called Civilisations (plural), with three presenters, Mary Beard, David Olusoga and Simon Schama. A co-production with PBS in the United States, it would not cover western European civilisation in the same detail, but would additionally cover Graeco-Roman and non-European cultures.[22] The series, reduced from the planned ten to nine episodes, was trailed in February 2018, with transmission starting on 1 March in the UK and 17 April in the US on PBS.[23]

Civilisation: A Personal View by Kenneth Clark began on 23 February 1969. The ground-breaking arts documentary series was written and presented by art historian Kenneth Clark as his personal view of Western civilisation. Shown on BBC Two in thirteen parts, it provided a brilliant demonstration of the benefit of colour television. The first episode only attracted one million viewers, but by the end of the first run Civilisation was being recognised as a television masterpiece, celebrated in a leader column in The Times newspaper.

Re: BBC dcoumentary "Civilisation" (1966-1969; first broadcast 1969)

"A Personal View by Lord Clark"

available on DVD (670 minutes)I highly recommend this DVD set;it contains one of the most beautiful series of documentaries I have

ever seen.The excerpts in the ninth instalment are the followingHandel Concerto Grosso Opus 3

Bach St Matthew Passion

[organ piece:] Buxtehude Toccata and Fugue in F

Bach Christmas Oratorio

Handel Alcina

Handel Messiah

Mozart Don Giovanni

Francisque Harp music

Haydn Allegro Moderato No 77

Haydn Creation

Mozart Quartet in C Minor

Mozart Don Giovanni

--

Roland van Gaalen

Amsterdam

probably d minor K 421?> Mozart Don Giovanni

How can you reply to a posting from 1999?Actually, I first thought the question was about the computer game

Civilization (that also used some classical music since its first

installment in the early 90ties)Johannes

Kenneth Clark's "Civilisation" (1969) is a major achievement in both

historical & aesthetic terms. The scope is huge, of course, but the

enormousness doesn't bog down; polyhistors like Clark & Jacques Barzun

(& perhaps Dr. Jacob Bloody Bronowski) uncover remarkable connections

between epochs & draw analogies with an easy precision. The result is

completely engaging. Clark's text -- read by the author -- is dense

but plainspoken: I recommend watching the program with the subtitles

displayed.

Plainspoken, yes: Lord Clark is pleasantly opinionated and his asides

are often thought-provoking."ANDDD ..," as a foreigner, I find his English beautiful as well as

amusing.He was obviously not afraid of making sweeping statementsAll in all this long documentary is a piece of art itself. The footage

is gorgeous.This -- like the Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski -- is public

broadcasting at its best, as far as I can tell.

Kenneth Clark's career as early television's pre-eminent art historian started with a series of programmes made for ITV. His first attempts, such as Is Art Necessary (ITV, 1958) and Should Every Picture Tell a Story? (ITV, 1958), were based around studio debates. However, Clark was uncomfortable with the format and decided that a lecture-based presentation might better suit both his own personal style and his subject matter. The result was Five Revolutionary Painters (ITV, 1958), which effectively cast the mould for the rest of his broadcasting career.

BBC2's second controller, David Attenborough, was charged with introducing colour to British TV, and he therefore needed programmes that would demonstrate the benefits of the new service. One of his ideas was to base a series around some of the world's "most beautiful things", set into some form of context by a narrator. The obvious choice for the role was Clark, who refined Attenborough's nebulous concept by adding a clearly defined historical structure.

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