The Power of Music
Clarke Peters and Maggie Service read poetry and prose set against a musical menu with special recordings by Ö÷²¥´óÐã musicians and performing groups, from Mozart to Lianne La Havas.
Clarke Peters and Maggie Service read poetry and prose exploring the unique place music has in our lives, from the 'thousand twangling instruments' which magically fill the air in Shakespeare's The Tempest, to the 'mute glorious Storyvilles' that Philip Larkin imagines when he hears Sidney Bechet play. We'll feel the jealousy and awe that Mozart inspired in Salieri in Peter Schaffer's Amadeus, and the erotic urgency of Langston Hughes' Harlem Night Club. In this special edition of Words and Music the Ö÷²¥´óÐã affiliated performing groups play a starring role, with the Ö÷²¥´óÐã singers preparing to celebrate 100 years in early October. This episode which first aired after lockdown features special remote recordings from members of the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Symphony Orchestra, Ö÷²¥´óÐã Philharmonic and Ö÷²¥´óÐã Singers, and Rachel Weld, a viola player from the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Philharmonic recorded a series of postcards reflecting on life as an orchestral musician, and what the enforced distance from her fellow players was like.
All the music in this special edition is recorded by Ö÷²¥´óÐã performing groups and affiliated orchestras and ranges from the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Philharmonic playing Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and the Ö÷²¥´óÐã National Orchestra of Wales playing Shostakovitch, to the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Symphony Orchestra playing with Lianne La Havas. There's also Britten played in a special remote recording by Ö÷²¥´óÐã Symphony Orchestra harpist Louise Martin, Haydn from a Ö÷²¥´óÐã Philharmonic Orchestra quartet and Cole Porter's Night and Day sung by members of The Ö÷²¥´óÐã Singers.
READINGS
Saturday - Ian McEwan
I Am In Need of Music - Elizabeth Bishop
The Tempest - Shakespeare
If Bach had been a beekeeper - Charles Tomlinson
For Sidney Bechet - Philip Larkin
My Last Dance - Julia Ward Howe
The Harlem Dancer - Claude McKay
Amadeus - Peter Schaffer
An Equal Music – Vikram Seth
Harlem Night Club - Langston Hughes
Grace Notes - Bernard MacLaverty
Siege and Symphony - Brian Moynhan
Tess of the d’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
Music when Soft Voices Die - Percy Bysshe Shelley
Everyone Sang - Siegfried Sassoon
Howard's End - EM Forster
On radio
More episodes
Previous
Next
Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
-
00:00
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony No. 5, first Mvt.
Orchestra: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
-
Ian McEwan
Extract from Saturday, read by Clarke Peters
00:02Henry Purcell
If Music be the Food of Love, Z.379
Singer: Eleanor Minney. Performer: Oliver John Ruthven.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
00:04Charles Villiers Stanford
The Bluebird
Singer: Rebecca Lea. Orchestra: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Singers. Conductor: Sofi Jeannin.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
Elizabeth Bishop
I Am In Need of Music, read by Maggie Service
William Shakespeare
Extract from The Tempest, read by Clarke Peters
00:08Lianne La Havas
Wonderful
Singer: Lianne La Havas. Orchestra: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Jules Buckley.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
00:13Claude Debussy
Extract from La Mer
Orchestra: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Philharmonic. Conductor: Yan Pascal Tortelier.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
Rachel Weld
Postcards on Context No. 1, read by Rachel Weld
Charles Tomlinson
If Bach had been a beekeeper, read by Maggie Service
00:17Johann Sebastian Bach
Extract from Lobet Den Herrn BWV 230
Choir: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Singers. Performer: Stephen Farr. Conductor: Paul Brough.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
00:19Lew Pollack
That's a Plenty
Performer: Misha Mullov-Abbado. Performer: James Davison.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio 3 New Generation Artists Recording.
Langston Hughes
Harlem Night Club, read by Clarke Peters
00:22Franz Liszt
Extract from 2 Episodes from Lenau's Faust S.110 for orchestra; Mephisto waltz no.1
Orchestra: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Ilan Volkov.- Hyperion, CDA67856.
Peter Schaffer
Extract from Amadeus, read by Clarke Peters
00:25Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Adagio from Serenade for 13 Wind Instruments K.361
Performer: Members of the Ö÷²¥´óÐã Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sakari Oramo.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
00:30Ernest John Moeran
Extract from In the Mountain Country
Orchestra: Ulster Orchestra. Conductor: Vernon Handley.- Chandos, CHAN 10235X.
- Tr. 9.
Bernard MacLaverty
Extract from Grace Notes, read by Maggie Service
00:33Kaija Saariaho
Extract from Nuits adieux
Choir: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Singers. Conductor: Sofi Jeannin.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
00:34Edward Elgar
Nimrod from The Enigma Variations
Orchestra: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Philharmonic. Conductor: Juanjo Mena.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
Rachel Weld
Postcards on Context No. 2, read by Rachel Weld
00:38Bramwell Tovey
Pictures in the Smoke
Performer: Bramwell Tovey. Orchestra: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Concert Orchestra.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
Claude McKay
The Harlem Dancer, read by Clarke Peters
00:39Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Tango Alla Turca
Music Arranger: Dan Whibley. Performer: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Philharmonic.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
Zadie Smith
Extract from Swing Time, read by Maggie Service
00:43Cole Porter
Night and Day
Performer: Emma Tring. Performer: Margaret Cameron. Performer: Paul Plummer.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
00:48Dmitry Shostakovich
Extract from Symphony No. 7 ‘Leningrad’, first Mvt.
Performer: Ö÷²¥´óÐã National Orchestra of Wales.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
Brian Moynahan
Extract from Siege and Symphony, read by Clarke Peters
00:50AntonÃn Dvořák
Extract from Cello Concerto, 2nd Mvt.
Performer: Pablo Ferrández. Orchestra: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Philharmonic. Conductor: Juanjo Mena.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
Thomas Hardy
Extract from Tess of the DÂ’Urbervilles, read by Maggie Service
00:53Benjamin Britten
Extract from Hymn from Suite for Harp, Op. 83
Performer: Louise Martin.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
Shelley
Music when Soft Voices Die, read by Clarke Peters
00:56Frank Bridge
Music when soft voices die
Choir: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Singers. Conductor: Sakari Oramo.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
Vikram Seth
Extract from An Equal Music, read by Maggie Service
01:00Joseph Haydn
String Quartet in D op 20 No.4, 3rd Mvt.
Performer: Lucy Baker. Performer: Martin Clark. Performer: Fiona Dunkley. Performer: Elinor Gow.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
01:02Wayne Shorter
Nefertiti
Music Arranger: Guy Barker. Orchestra: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Concert Orchestra. Conductor: Bramwell Tovey.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
Philip Larkin
For Sydney Bechet, read by Clarke Peters
Siegfried Sassoon
Everyone Sang, read by Clarke Peters
01:07Gerald Finzi
My spirit sang all day
Choir: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Singers. Conductor: James Burton.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã Recording.
E.M Forster
Extract from HowardÂ’s End, read by Maggie Service
01:09Ludwig van Beethoven
Extract from Symphony No. 5
Orchestra: Ö÷²¥´óÐã Philharmonic. Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda.- Ö÷²¥´óÐã recording.
Broadcasts
- Sun 19 Jul 2020 17:00Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio 3
- Sunday 18:00Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio 3