Writers and the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ
Henry Goodman and Grace Cookey-Gam read from authors including George Orwell, Sue Townsend, Penelope Fitzgerald, Jonathan Coe and James Fenton and music commissioned by the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ.
From wax discs to colour TV and Marshall McLuhan's "global village", a comedian's audition for the "Deputy Head of Variety" to advice on how to read a poem on radio: to go alongside the celebration of the anniversary of Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ drama marked at this year's Contains Strong Language Festival, today's programme takes its cue from fictional depictions of the corporation and references to specific programmes. Actors Henry Goodman and Grace Cookey-Gam read texts by authors who worked at the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ including George Orwell who between 1941-1943 was a Talks Producer on what was then the 'Eastern Service' and gives us here his views about poetry on the radio; PH Newby, the first winner of the Booker Prize and a former controller of the Third programme and Penelope Fitzgerald, who worked at the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ during the Blitz when she was in her twenties. Other extracts from novels include Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole, Gordon Burns's The North of England Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Service, Jonathan Coe's new book Bournville and an imagined Queen's Speech from Alan Bennett. There are archive extracts featuring John Gielgud and an unusual voice for the shipping forecast, poems written by Roger McGough, Wendy Cope and Elizabeth Burns and music commissioned by the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ, plus pieces by Britten, Debussy, FaurΓ©, Chopin, Bach, Bart Howard, Django Reinhardt and American rock from the 1960s.
Producer: Juan Carlos Jaramillo
Readings:
'A for Announcer' by Eleanor Farjeon (from 'The ABC of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ')
'Bournville' by Jonathan Coe (excerpt)
β€The North of England Service’ by Gordon Burns (excerpt)
'Three Rooms' by Jo Hamya (excerpt)
Shipping forecast, read by Alan Bennett on Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
'Listening to Bach’s B Minor Mass in the kitchen' by Elizabeth Burns
'Poetry and the Microphone' by George Orwell (excerpt)
'Sonnet 18' by William Shakespeare
'Lessons' from Ian McEwan (excerpt)
'A is for The Archers and Adultery' by Wendy Cope
'Human Voices' by Penelope Fitzgerald (excerpt)
'The Whistling Woman' by AS Byatt (excerpt)
β€Going Out Live’ by Mark Lawson (excerpt)
β€Feelings have changed’ by P.H. Newby (excerpt)
'Adrian Mole aged 13 ΒΎ' by Sue Townsend (excerpt)
'Afterwards' by Thomas Hardy
'The Uncommon Reader' by Alan Bennett (excerpt)
'To Poetry Please' by Roger McGough
Last on
Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
-
Georgia Mann
Introduction to the programme, read by Georgia Mann
Eleanor Farjeon
A for Announcer, from The ABC of the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ, read by Grace Cookey-Gam
00:01William Walton
Orb and Sceptre March
Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Adrian Boult.- EMI - CDM 565584-2.
- 13.
00:02William Walton
Orb and Sceptre March
Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Adrian Boult.Jonathan Coe
Bournville (excerpt), read by Henry Goodman
00:05William Walton
Orb and Sceptre March
Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Adrian Boult.- EMI - CDM 565584-2.
- 13.
00:06Spike Hughes & His Dance Orchestra
Tap Your Feet
- Topic Β– 888003695641.
- 1.
00:07Spike Hughes & His Dance Orchestra
Tap Your Feet
Gordon Burns
The North of England Service (excerpt), read by Grace Cookey-Gam
00:10Erich Wolfgang Korngold
4 Shakespeare Songs, Op.31, When birds do sing
Singer: Anne Sofie von Otter. Performer: Bengt Forsberg.- DG - 4596312.
- 18.
00:11Erich Wolfgang Korngold
When Birds do Sing, Op.31 no.4
Singer: Anne Sofie von Otter. Performer: Bengt Forsberg.00:13Trad.
Song of the Birds (El Cant del Ocells)
Music Arranger: Pau Casals. Performer: Sheku Kannehβ€Mason. Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Mirga GraΕΎinytΔ—β€Tyla.- Decca - 4832948.
- 3.
00:14Traditional Catalan
El cant del ocells (Song of the Birds)
Performer: Sheku Kannehβ€Mason. Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Mirga GraΕΎinytΔ—β€Tyla.00:15Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Sound Effects
Birds singing
Performer: Unknown.- Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ.
- 1.
Jo Hamya
Three Rooms (excerpt), read by Henry Goodman
00:16Claude Debussy
La Mer, I. De lΒ’aube Γ midi sur la mer (Transcribed for four-hand piano)
Performer: Alexander Melnikov. Performer: Olga Pashchenko.- Harmonia Mundi - HMM902302.
- 4.
00:17Claude Debussy
De l'aube Γ midi sur la mer (La Mer)
Performer: Alexander Melnikov. Performer: Olga Pashchenko.Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 Shipping Forecast, read by Alan Bennett
00:21Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Sound Effects
Big Ben chimes and bongs
Performer: Unknown.- Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ.
- 1.
00:22Johann Sebastian Bach
Mass in B minor (BWV 232) Pt.2, Gloria in excelsis Deo, Et in terra Pax
Choir: Monteverdi Choir. Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.- Archiv - 415514-2.
- 4.
00:23Johann Sebastian Bach
Gloria (Mass in B minor)
Elizabeth Burns
Listening to BachΒ’s B Minor Mass in the kitchen, ready by Grace Cookey-Gam
00:26Johann Sebastian Bach
Mass in B minor (BWV 232) Pt.2, Gloria in excelsis Deo, Et in terra Pax
Composer: Johann Sebastian Bach. Choir: Monteverdi Choir. Choir: Monteverdi Choir. Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists. Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.- Archiv - 415514-2.
- 4-5.
George Orwell
Poetry and the Microphone (excerpt), read by Henry Goodman
00:29John Dowland
My Lady Hunsdon's Puffe
Performer: Nigel North.- Naxos - 8557586.
- 19.
00:30John Dowland
My Lady Hunsdon's Puffe
Performer: Nigel North.William Shakespeare
Sonnet 18, read by Sir John Gielgud
00:32Doris Day
Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)
- Sony - USSM16401319.
- 2.
00:33Doris Day
Fly me to the Moon
Ian McEwan
Lessons (excerpt), read by Henry Goodman
Wendy Cope
A is for The Archers and Adultery, ready by Wendy Cope
00:36Gabriel FaurΓ©
Pavane
Orchestra: Orchestre de Paris – Philharmonie. Conductor: Paavo Järvi.00:36Gabriel Fauré
Pavane for orchestra (with chorus ad lib) (Op.50)
Orchestra: Orchestre de Paris – Philharmonie. Choir: Chœur de l'Orchestre de Paris. Choir: Chœur de l'Orchestre de Paris. Conductor: Paavo Järvi. Conductor: Paavo Järvi.- Virgin Classics - 070921 2.
- 10.
Penelope Fitzgerald
Human Voices (excerpt), ready by Henry Goodman
00:41Django Reinhardt & StΓ©phane Grappelli
Echoes of France - La Marseillaise
- Dreyfus Jazz - 3700551702534.
- 18.
00:42Django Reinhardt
Echoes of France - La Marseillaise
00:44Big Brother & the Holding Company
Piece of My Heart
- Columbia - G0100006701846.
- 4.
00:45Janis Joplin
Piece of my Heart
AS Byatt
The Whistling Woman (excerpt), ready by Grace Cookey-Gam
00:47Big Brother & the Holding Company
Piece of My Heart
- Columbia - G0100006701846.
- 4.
00:48FrΓ©dΓ©ric Chopin
Mazurka for piano (B.16`2) in B flat major [1826]
Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy.- London - 4437382.
- 23.
00:49FrΓ©dΓ©ric Chopin
Mazurka in B flat major (1826)
Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy.Mark Lawson
Going Out Live (excerpt), read by Henry Goodman
00:51John Adams
Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony. Conductor: Edo de Waart.- Elektra - 7559791442.
- 4.
00:52John Adams
Short Ride in a Fast Machine
Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony. Conductor: Edo de Waart.P.H. Newby
Feelings have changed (excerpt), ready by Grace Cookey-Gam
00:57Ron Grainer
Doctor Who Theme (Series 8)
Orchestra: Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ National Orchestra of Wales. Conductor: Ben Foster. Conductor: James Shearman.- Silva Screen Records - SILCD-1460.
- 1.
Sue Townsend
Adrian Mole aged 13 ΒΎ (excerpt), ready by Grace Cookey-Gam
00:58Ron Grainer
Doctor Who theme
Orchestra: Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ National Orchestra of Wales. Conductor: Ben Foster.Thomas Hardy
Afterwards, ready by Jeremy Irons
00:59Jon Lord
Afterwards
- Avie - AV2190.
- 10.
01:00Jon Lord
Afterwards
01:02Benjamin Britten
Gloriana - symphonic suite Op.53a: Courtly dances: March & Coranto
Orchestra: Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Philharmonic. Conductor: Edward Gardner.- Chandos - CHAN10658.
- 3.
01:03Benjamin Britten
March and Coranto (Courtly Dances - Gloriana)
Orchestra: Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Philharmonic. Conductor: Edward Gardner.Alan Bennett
The Uncommon Reader, ready by Henry Goodman
01:06Dan McGrath / Josh Phillips
Strictly Come Dancing
Performer: Sacre.- Union Square Music - 0698458951489.
- 11.
Roger McGough
To Poetry Please, read by Grace Cookey-Gam
01:06Dan Mcgrath
Strictly Come Dancing
01:08Howard Skempton
Lento
Orchestra: Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Mark Wigglesworth.- NMC - NMCD005.
- 1.
Broadcasts
- Sun 23 Oct 2022 17:30Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
- Sun 1 Oct 2023 17:30Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3