I never heard of Shostakovich responding to his music being used on the show, but Aram Khatchaturian definitely did. Back in Tony Isaac's time (I think around Series 3), the Soviet Embassy gave a reception for the cast and crew of The Onedin Line, with Khatchaturian as guest of honour. Spartacus was a total obscurity until it was picked up (by Tony Isaac) for The Onedin Line; it was known, if at all, as being on the other side of the LP that had the composer's recording of the Saber Dance. The sales of the LP skyrocketed because of The Onedin Line, giving the aged and very infirm composer a very welcome retirement present.
I tended to use mainly British music, by composers like Moeran and Bantock. I tried as hard as I could to make the music sound specially-composed; my offline edits were legendary for their length! We always got shoals of mail asking where to find particular music cues. I also did things like playing the piano for the actors when they needed to be shown playing. One show I did had me wearing the sleeves from an actress's dress so that my hands could be shot at the piano; I expect many viewers wondered why she had such hairy arms ….
Bill Scanlan Murphy
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