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Everyone knows that familiar gentle lilt, with strings accompanied by a soft oboe. Switch on your radio on a Sunday morning and you immediately know you\u2019re in the right place. Lauren Laverne is about to whisk her castaway guest off to a desert island, in a tradition that has enticed Radio 4 listeners since\u00a0Desert Island Discs\u00a0<\/em>first began in 1942.<\/p>\n The theme tune to Desert Island Discs <\/em>is Eric Coates\u2019s By the Sleepy Lagoon<\/em>, a light orchestral piece written in 1930.<\/p>\n In 2012, the piece was even played by the BBC Concert Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall as part of the BBC Proms season. It was featured in a concert celebrating the 70th anniversary of\u00a0Desert Island Discs<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, in which the programme\u2019s then presenter Kirsty Young interviewed guests from the series and introduced the most popular Desert Island Discs <\/em>musical choices<\/strong><\/a>. Included in the line-up was another piece by Eric Coates: \u2018The Dam Busters\u2019 March, as well as Beethoven\u2019s \u2018Emperor\u2019 Concerto, Coleridge-Taylor\u2019s The Death of Minnehaha<\/em>, Elgar\u2019s Cello Concerto, Handel\u2019s Messiah<\/em>, Puccini\u2019s\u00a0Madam Butterfly\u00a0<\/em>and Tosca<\/em>, plus arrangements of Beatles songs.<\/p>\n We named the best\u00a0Desert Island Discs\u00a0<\/em>interviews with composers and classical musicians<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\nBut what\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>that orchestral tune that opens every episode of Desert Island Discs<\/em>?<\/h2>\n