Between the Ears: A Wireless Revelation.
| 11:17 UK Time, Monday, 6 July 2009
Last week I spent a couple of days in Nottingham at the annual , which brings people together from across the world of radio. The Ö÷²¥´óÐã and were there in force of course but it was also a chance to hear from people in community and student radio. For me, one of the most inspiring sessions was about prison radio and included some raw and moving clips from , produced by prisoners for the prisoners. One series featured inmates talking about self-harm, drug abuse and ways to move on - a compelling example of the way radio can communicate complex and sensitive issues.
Prison became something of a thread through my Radio 3 listening with prisoners' poetry under discussion in The Verb last Friday.Ìý Then the threat of being cast into prison by the devil rang through in the extraordinary language of the Book of Revelation in Saturday'sÌýBetween the Ears: A Wireless Revelation. Producer Antony Pitts invited a wide range of people to read from (also known as the Apocalypse of St John) and layered these readings with a dense commentary of music. He describes the role of the music as rather like the decoration of an illuminated manuscript - a vivid image for a programme I found extraordinarily intense. There's not only the strange wildness in the language itself but also an urgency in the readings and music that seems to give it immediacy. I'm proud of Between the Ears as one of the most creative spaces in radio ().ÌýÌýÌý I know that layering of speech and music to this degree is not to everyone's taste but at its best I think it opens up its subjects in a unique way, full of suggestion and complexity.ÌýÌý Revelation is one of those books I'd previously known only in part and largely at one remove, through its impact on the history of art and ideas, and I found it thrilling to hear it in its entirety.ÌýÌý
I'd love to know what you think.
Abigail Appleton, Head of Speech and Drama, Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio 3.
Comment number 1.
At 13th Jul 2009, LoyalYank wrote:Well, I thought 'A Wireless Revelation' was terrific. It certainly was a lot of work!
-- John Ashenfelter (aka LoyalYank) Main reader for 'A Wireless Revelation'
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