MUSICAL medics are tuning up for a concert to commemorate pioneering Oxford physician Dr John Radcliffe.

Members of the Radcliffe Orchestra will pay tribute to Dr Radcliffe, 300 years after his death, a man whose name is known to every Oxford resident.

Whether people are treated in the hospital named after him, or stroll past the famous Radcliffe Camera, it is down to a charitable trust set up from his will and that still runs on today.

Orchestra chairman and trumpet player Prof John Stradling said: “I think Oxford owes an enormous amount to John Radcliffe, even though it’s 300 years ago that he died, because he did leave a lot of legacies to help Oxford medics get off the ground.

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“It’s good to celebrate somebody that meant a lot to Oxford.”

The Radcliffe Orchestra is formed mainly of hospital staff from Oxford University Hospital and Oxford Mental Health NHS Foundation trusts, as well as university employees. The 70-strong group includes porters, ambulance drivers, nurses, laboratory technicians, midwives and doctors.

They have been meeting every week to practise for the Saturday, November 8, concert, at the Town Hall in St Aldate’s where they will be joined by Headington Singers, East Oxford Community Choir, East Oxford Youth Choir and Oxford Collutorium.

The concert will raise funds for the British Heart Foundation and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

Prof Stradling, a consultant chest physician, has been running the hospital orchestra for the last 10 years.

He said: “We rarely get together with a choir so the opportunity to be able to do something like this does not come round very often.”

Musical entertainment during the evening will include the premiere of Tingewick, a piece composed by orchestra member Jill Elliott.

The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra by composer Benjamin Britten and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana will also feature.

The Radcliffe Orchestra was launched in 1977 by consultant chest physician Dr Donald Lane, who was also a viola player, pianist, conductor and composer.

Prof Stradling said it is “fantastically important” for hospital staff to have the chance to get involved with an orchestra and enjoy old hobbies.

He added: “Medicine can become all consuming as a career and activities like these are very important and many people who go into medicine did play an instrument when they were youngsters.

  • Tickets cost £18 for adults and £15 for concessions but children under 10 are free. Tickets can be bought at the JR’s Cairns Library, from Tickets Oxford on 01865 305305 and at ticketsoxford.com, or on the door

AN INCREDIBLE LIFE

  •  JOHN Radcliffe was born in Wakefield in 1650.
  •  He studied at the University of Oxford at the age of 13 and later became a fellow of Lincoln College in 1669, lecturing in logic and philosophy. He later studied medicine, graduating in 1675 and working as a physician in Oxford before moving to London in 1684.
  • Dr Radcliffe was King William III’s physician until 1699 and cared for his daughter Princess Anne during her pregnancy.
  • He was elected the MP for Bramber, Sussex and for Buckinghamshire in 1713.
  • Dr Radcliffe, who died in 1740 from internal bleeding, is buried at the University Church of St Mary the Virgin, in High Street.
  • A charitable trust founded by his will in September 1714 still operates as a registered charity.

 

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