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Music by Berlioz, Virgil Thomson and Tchaikovsky inspired by Byron's poetry, and readings by Robert Glenister from his writings, in today's programme celebrating Byron (1788-1824)

On April 19th 1824, the Romantic writer Lord Byron died aged 36 in Missolonghi in Greece. He was on his way to fight against Turkey but became seriously ill and died during a violent electrical storm on April 19th 1824. His dramatic narrative poems Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Manfred and The Corsair have inspired symphonies and ballets by composers including Verdi, Liszt, Robert Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Berlioz, Hugo Wolf and Elgar. Although his death was two centuries ago his life and writing seem much more of our times - from his fame and infamy described as ‘mad, bad and dangerous to know’, his bisexuality, his life as a ‘celebrity’ mobbed by fans and renowned across Europe, his writing in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage on his horror at being shown the damage caused by Lord Elgin’s removal of the Parthenon marbles in Greece to his poem Darkness written after the volcano Mount Tambora erupted in Indonesia which reads like a premonition of the wild fires and famine caused by climate change today. To mark his life, today's Words and Music hears music inspired by Byron's writing and readings by Robert Glenister from poems, diaries, journals and his opening speech in the House of Lords on the plight of the Luddites.

Producer: Fiona McLean

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 21 Apr 2024 18:00
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 3

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Music Played

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

  • 00:00

    Hector Berlioz

    Harold en Italie (Serenade)

    Ensemble: Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • PHILIPS 4466762.
    • Tr3.

  • Lord Byron

    Lines to Mr Hodgson written on board the Lisbon Packet

  • Lord Byron

    from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage

  • 00:08

    Judith Weir

    Piano Trio

    Ensemble: Schubert Ensemble.

  • Lord Byron

    Stanzas for Music

  • 00:13

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Soave sia il vento (Cosi fan Tutte)

    Singer: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. Conductor: Karl Böhm.

  • Lord Byron

    She Walks in Beauty

  • 00:16

    David Bowie

    Golden Years

    Performer: David Bowie.
    • EMI 5219060.
    • Tr2.

  • Lord Byron

    from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage - The Elgin Marbles

  • 00:21

    Franz Liszt

    Orage (Annees de Pelerinage)

    Performer: Jenő Jandó.

  • Lord Byron

    from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage Canto 3

  • 00:27

    Joan Baez

    So We'll Go No More A-Roving

  • 00:28

    Olivier Messiaen

    Liturgie de Cristal

    Performer: Olli Mustonen. Performer: Joshua Bell. Performer: Steven Isserlis. Performer: Michael Collins.
    • DECCA 452 899-2.
    • Tr5.

  • Lord Byron

    from Darkness

  • 00:33

    Virgil Thomson

    Lord Byron Interlude

    Ensemble: Monadnock Music. Director: James Belle.
    • KOCH 3-7124.
    • CD1 Tr6.

  • Lord Byron

    Maiden speech to the House of Lords

  • 00:37

    Benjamin Milgrove

    Song For the Luddites

    Choir: The Army of Redressers. Music Arranger: Angela Warren.
    • Excavate.
    • Tr9.

  • Lord Byron

    Alpine Journal

  • 00:40

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Divertimento in D Major

    Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Neville Marriner.
    • DECCA 4304962.
    • Tr9.

  • Lord Byron

    Solitude from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage

  • 00:48

    Edward Elgar

    Deep in My Soul

    Performer: Ian Farrington Piano Cambridge University Chamber Choir Christopher Robinson.
    • Naxos 8.570541.
    • Tr2.
  • 00:52

    Franz Liszt

    Eglogue (Annees de Pelerinage)

    Performer: Lazar Berman.

  • Lord Byron

    On this Day I Complete my 36th Year

  • 00:56

    Max Richter

    Embers

    Orchestra: Â鶹ԼÅÄ Philharmonic. Conductor: Rumon Gamba.
    • Â鶹ԼÅÄLJ3022.
    • Tr16.

  • Lord Byron

    from Childe Harold

  • 01:01

    Hugo Wolf

    Sonne der Schlummerlosen

    Singer: Angelika Kirchschlager. Performer: Helmut Deutsch.
    • Sony Classical 88697391892.
    • Tr15.

  • Lord Byron

    from Don Juan

  • 01:03

    Gustav Mahler

    Symphony no 5

    Performer: Vienna Philharmonic.

    Part III - 4. Adagietto. Sehr Langsam

    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 423 608-2.
    • 4.

Broadcast

  • Sun 21 Apr 2024 18:00
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 3

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