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Village Minstrel

Texts and music inspired by John Clare's poetry, with readings by Karl Johnson and David Annen. With poems by Clare and Steinbeck, plus music by Britten and Haydn.

Village Minstrel. John Clare won fame in his own lifetime as the 'peasant poet', but has long been appreciated in his own right as one of the most important poetic voices of the 19th century. Karl Johnson and David Annen are the readers in a selection of Clare's own poems and writings by John Steinbeck, Gilbert White, Richard Jefferies and others chosen to reflect his life as a farm labourer, his intense ability to observe the natural world, and his eventual mental deterioration. With folk music from Paddy Tunney and Fred Jordan, singer-songwriters Vikki Clayton and Chris Wood, fiddler Giles Lewin and The Imagined Village, plus works by Britten, Haydn, Tippett, Thomas Linley and others.

Part of Radio 3's Folk Connections weekend, celebrating folk music and the influence of folk on classical music.

1 hour, 15 minutes

Last on

Sun 31 Jan 2016 17:30
麻豆约拍 Radio 3

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:00

    Giles Lewin

    Playford Set

    Music Arranger: Giles Lewin.
    • PARK RECORDS.
    • PRKCD 103.
  • 00:00

    Traditional English

    Playford Set

    Music Arranger: Giles Lewin.
    • PARK RECORDS : PRKCD 103.
    • PARK RECORDS.
    • 1.

  • John Clare

    To the Rural Muse, read by Karl Johnson

  • 00:02

    Thomas Linley (the younger)

    The Lark sings high in the cornfield for voice and keyboard

    Performer: Emma Kirkby. Performer: Timothy Roberts.
    • HYPERION.
    • CDA-66497.
  • 00:02

    Thomas (1) Linley

    The Lark Sings High In The Cornfield For Voice And Keyboard

    Performer: Timothy Roberts. Singer: Emma Kirkby.
    • William Jackson: Time has not thinn''d my flowing hair.
    • HYPERION.
    • 5.

  • John Clare

    In the hedge I pass a little nest, read by Karl Johnson

  • Gilbert White

    The Natural History of Selborne (excerpt), read by David Annen

  • 00:09

    Trad.

    The Lark in the Morning

    Performer: Paddy Tunney.
    • TOPIC.
    • TSCD-655.
  • 00:09

    Trad.

    The Lark In The Morning

    • TOPIC : TSCD-655.
    • TOPIC.
    • 15.

  • John Clare

    I love thee, Mary, read by Karl Johnson

  • 00:11

    Frederick Delius

    The Walk to the Paradise Garden, arr. Beecham [from 'A village Romeo and Juliet']

    Conductor: Vernon Handley. Performer: London Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • CFP.
    • CD-CDFP-4304.
  • 00:11

    Frederick Delius

    The Walk To The Paradise Garden, Arr. Beecham [from 'A Village Romeo And Juliet'

    Performer: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vernon Handley.
    • CFP : CD-CDFP-4304.
    • CFP.
    • 7.

  • Richard Jeffries

    Wild Life in a Southern County (excerpt), read by David Annen

  • 00:22

    John Jeffreys

    Litle trotty wagtail for voice and piano

    Performer: Ian Partridge. Performer: Jennifer Partridge.
    • Meridian.
    • CDE-84343.
  • 00:22

    John Jeffreys

    Litle Trotty Wagtail For Voice And Piano

    Performer: Jennifer Partridge. Singer: Ian Partridge.
    • Meridian : CDE-84343.
    • Meridian.
    • 24.

  • John Clare

    In Hilly-Wood, read by Karl Johnson

  • 00:24

    Benjamin Britten

    5 Flower songs Op.47 for chorus

    Conductor: Harry Christophers. Performer: The Sixteen.
    • COLLINS CLASSICS.
    • 1286-2.
  • 00:25

    Benjamin Britten

    5 Flower Songs Op.47 For Chorus

    Performer: The Sixteen. Director: Harry Christophers.
    • COLLINS CLASSICS : 1286-2.
    • COLLINS CLASSICS.
    • 11.

  • Leo Tolstoy

    Anna Karenina (excerpt), read by David Annen

  • 00:29

    Fred Jordan

    We're all jolly fellows as follow the plough

    • TOPIC.
    • TSCD-655.
  • 00:29

    Traditional English

    We'Re All Jolly Fellows As Follow The Plough

    • TOPIC : TSCD-655.
    • TOPIC.
    • 10.

  • Jim Crace

    Harvest (excerpt), read by David Annen

  • 00:33

    Gordon Giltrap & Vikki Clayton

    The Badger

    Music Arranger: Vikki Clayton.
    • Prestige.
    • CDSGP-008.
  • 00:34

    Traditional English

    The Badger

    Music Arranger: Vikki Clayton.
    • PRESTIGE : CDSGP-008.
    • Prestige.
    • 9.

  • John Clare

    The Village Minstrel (excerpt), read by Karl Johnson

  • 00:41

    Chris Wood

    MAD JOHN

    Performer: Chris Wood.
    • RUF RECORDS.
    • RUFCD-11.
  • 00:41

    Chris Wood

    Mad John

    • TRESPASSER.
    • RUF RECORDS.
    • 5.

  • W. H. Hudson

    A Shepherd鈥檚 Life (excerpt), read by David Annen

  • 00:49

    Trad.

    Hard Times Of Old England

    Music Arranger: Martin Carthy. Music Arranger: Eliza Carthy. Music Arranger: Simon Emmerson. Music Arranger: Mass. Performer: Billy Bragg. Performer: Eliza Carthy. Performer: Simon Emmerson. Performer: The Young Coppers.
    • Realworld.
    • CDRWDDJ-147.
  • 00:49

    Trad.

    Hard Times Of Old England

    Performer: Billy Bragg. Performer: Simon Emmerson. Performer: Eliza Carthy. Performer: The Young Coppers. Music Arranger: Martin Carthy. Music Arranger: Eliza Carthy. Music Arranger: Simon Emmerson. Music Arranger: Mass.
    • The Imagined Village.
    • Realworld.
    • 9.

  • John Steinbeck

    The Grapes of Wrath (excerpt), read by David Annen

  • 00:57

    Michael Tippett

    Concerto for Double String Orchestra (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Neville Marriner.
    • EMI.
    • CDC 5-55452 2.
  • 00:57

    Michael Tippett

    Concerto for Double String Orchestra (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Neville Marriner.
    • EMI : CDC 5-55452 2.
    • EMI.

  • John Clare

    Swordy Well, read by Karl Johnson

  • 01:07

    Joseph Haydn

    The Seasons [Die Jahreszeiten]

    Conductor: Colin Davis. Performer: Heather Harper. Performer: John Shirley鈥怮uirk. Performer: Ryland Davies. Performer: 麻豆约拍 S O.. Performer: 麻豆约拍 Symphony Chorus.
    • PHILIPS.
    • 434-169-2.
  • 01:08

    Joseph Haydn

    The Seasons [die Jahreszeiten]

    Orchestra: 麻豆约拍 S O.. Conductor: Colin Davis. Singer: Heather Harper. Singer: Ryland Davies. Singer: John Shirley鈥怮uirk. Choir: 麻豆约拍 Symphony Chorus.
    • PHILIPS : 434-169-2.
    • PHILIPS.
    • 19.

  • John Clare

    I am, read by Karl Johnson

Producer's Note

John Clare is one of a clutch of poets and writers who have found their way into more than one Words and Music selection of mine, but so far he is the only one who has struck me as good for the actual subject of a programme. The insistent quality of his verse was largely responsible of course; coming late to Clare, and with many, many poems of his yet to read, I find that however unassuming a particular one may seem at first, it soon presses its way into my consciousness, its skill and depth growing ever more obvious. The pat description of Clare as a 鈥榩easant poet鈥� may have a demographical (if patronising) truth to it, but it does little to suggest the high levels of humanity, honesty and contemplative incisiveness of the man鈥檚 art.听

听

This programme, however, is not intended as a portrait of Clare, nor as an anthology of his best poems. The former is too complex a project to attempt in an hour and a quarter, and, with so many poems to choose from, the latter is too ambitious (not to mention contentious). Instead, I鈥檝e picked a small number to represent aspects of his personality that appeal to me most strongly, and then set them among prose-writings and music that reflect them. Three of the songs here 鈥� John Jeffreys鈥檚 Little Trotty Wagtail, Britten鈥檚 The Evening Primrose and Vikki Clayton鈥檚 The Badger, are also settings of Clare鈥檚 verse.

听

First among these aspects is Clare鈥檚 painterly ability to re-create in words the world about him 鈥� not just the way it looks, but the way it moves, sounds and feels. Sometimes, as in 鈥楽wordy Well鈥� and 鈥楽ometimes I pass a little nest鈥�, a poem will start this way and then broaden to take in wider considerations; elsewhere, as in 鈥楾he Rural Muse鈥� or the extract from 鈥楾he Village Minstrel鈥�, a verse concerned from the start with another subject will burst with precise and vivid descriptions of a bird鈥檚 flight, the growth pattern of a flower or the movement of the air. Others still, such as 鈥業n Hilly-Wood鈥�, amaze with their sheer evocative beauty. Descriptions like these are so penetrating and true that you are frequently left thinking, 鈥榶es, that鈥檚 exactly how it is,鈥� even though you yourself may never have realised it that way before. Here was a born observer, a man who acquired a minute knowledge and understanding of the natural world just by looking closely at it, and this is what prompted me to include prose extracts by two common spirits - one (Gilbert White) who preceded him, and one (Richard Jefferies) who came after him. White鈥檚 account of enticing a cricket safely from its home, reminded me of Clare in particular for its intense concern for, and identification with, fellow creatures.

听

Then there is the matter of enclosure. Clare lived through one of the most active periods of enclosure of English common land, and the change it wrought on his native landscape and his ability to move freely across it hits hard in the lines from 鈥楾he Village Minstrel鈥�. Though he himself expressed a distaste for political radicalism his anger is clear, and I鈥檝e chosen to echo it in songs of dispossession and protest by Chris Wood and The Imagined Village, as well as WH Hudson鈥檚 dismayed account of the punishment of rural protesters in Wiltshire in the 1830s, an extract from Jim Crace鈥檚 recent novel Harvest, and a typically rolling, Biblical-style passage from Steinbeck鈥檚 The Grapes of Wrath.听听 The dignity of labour itself also suggested a passage from Anna Karenina. By chance, a more topical political note is struck in Vikki Clayton鈥檚 setting of 鈥楾he Badger鈥� (though you will look in vain in it for hints of what Clare鈥檚 opinion of today鈥檚 culling operations might have been).听

听

Elsewhere I鈥檝e sought to evoke nothing more than a rural atmosphere, whether in a 20th-century manifestation such as Tippett鈥檚 glorious Concerto for Double String Orchestra, or through 18th-century eyes, as in Thomas Linley鈥檚 The Lark Sings High in the Cornfield. That 18th-century English view of nature was much influenced by James Thomson鈥檚 great poetic canvas, 鈥楾he Seasons鈥�, the work which Clare acknowledged as having inspired him to take up his pen. I鈥檝e included a section from Haydn鈥檚 oratorio setting of it, choosing the aria from 鈥榃inter鈥� in which the poet looks back over the changing seasons and compares them to life鈥檚 passage. After that, 鈥業 am鈥�, Clare鈥檚 heartbreaking and most famous poem written in the isolation and disorientation of his later years in the Northampton asylum, felt like the only way to end.听听

听

Lindsay Kemp (Producer)

Broadcasts

  • Sun 3 Nov 2013 17:30
    麻豆约拍 Radio 3
  • Sun 31 Jan 2016 17:30
    麻豆约拍 Radio 3

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