Main content

A party-time playlist of music by Bix Beiderbecke, Johann Strauss, Noel Coward, Anna Clyne and Handel and readings from Virginia Woolf, Sam Selvon, Kingsley Amis and WM Thackeray.

Invitation to the dance by Weber and Rosamund Lehman's novel Invitation to the Waltz help us set the scene for our programme inspired by parties. Virginia Woolf's heroine Clarissa Dalloway prepares for her guests, the West Side story cast 'feel pretty' as they prepare for a night on the town, Hilaire Belloc writes about a garden party and Handel composes Music for the Royal Fireworks. But parties can also produce hangovers and displeasure: Becky Sharp humilates poor little Amelia, Lesley Gore cries at hers, and Jeeves prepares a tonic to counteract too much drink, before Willie Nelson tells us 'the party is over.' We also hear Don Warrington reading from Sam Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners, John Betjeman’s Indoor Games Near Newbury and Noel Coward. For New Year's Eve Words and Music brings us a party playlist of readings and music.

Readers: Dominic West and Holliday Grainger.
Producer: Jessica Treen

READINGS:
William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet
Rosamund Lehman: Invitation to the Waltz
Charles Perrault: Cinderella
Virginia Woolf: Mrs Dalloway
John Williams: Stoner
Lavinia Greenlaw: The Importance of Music to Girls
The Garden Party: Hilaire Belloc
WM Thackery: Vanity Fair
F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby
Huma Qureshi: Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love
Ian Hamilton Finlay: The Dancers Inherit the Party
Pamela Des Barres: I’m with the Band
Isabella Beeton: Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management
Sam Selvon: The Lonely Londoners - Read by Don Warrington
Dorothy Parker: Parties: A Hymn of Hate
Kingsley Amis: Lucky Jim
PG Wodehouse: Jeeves Takes Charge
Claire Pollard: Thirtieth (from Changeling)
Evelyn Waugh: Vile Bodies

18 days left to listen

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Wed 31 Dec 202517:00
BBC Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Portraits of Suffolk

Next

Gold, Silver, Bronze and Brass

See all episodes from Words and Music

Music Played

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

  • 00:01

    Johann Strauss II

    Overture to Fledermaus

    Performer: Vienna Philharmonic.
    • Decca.
  • 00:03

    Carl Maria von Weber

    Invitation to the Dance

    Performer: Melvyn Tan.
    • ONYX.
  • 00:08

    Leonard Bernstein

    I Feel Pretty

    Ensemble: West Side Story Original Ensemble.
    • Columbia.
  • 00:10

    Hector Berlioz

    Symphonie Fantastique

    Conductor: Daniel Barenboim. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • CBS Masterworks.
  • 00:16

    Arturo Márquez

    Conga del fuego nuevo

    Orchestra: Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel.
  • 00:21

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Traviata - Libiamo

    Performer: Claudio Abbado. Performer: Roberto Alagna.
    • EMI Classics.
  • 00:24

    John Betjeman

    Indoor Games Near Newbury

    Composer: Jim Parker. Performer: John Betjeman.
    • Virgin Catalogue.
  • 00:28

    Claude Debussy

    NOCTURNES (FETE)

    Performer: Pierre Boulez. Performer: The Cleveland Orchestra.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
  • 00:31

    Lesley Gore

    It's My Party

    • Island Mercury.
  • 00:32

    Noël Coward

    I went to a Marvellous Party

    Performer: Noël Coward.
    • Supreme Media.
  • 00:35

    Woody Herman

    WOOD AT THE CHOPPERS BALL

    Performer: Woody Herman Orchestra.
    • Sunflower Records.
  • 00:38

    Henry Purcell

    THE FAIRY QUEEN

    Performer: Harry Christophers. Performer: The Sixteen.
    • CORO.
  • 00:42

    Clay Cole

    Twist Around the Clock

    Performer: Clay Cole.
    • Delta Records.
  • 00:45

    Jacques Offenbach

    The Can Can

    Performer: Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Naxos.
  • 00:50

    Dizzy Gillespie

    HARLEM SAMBA

    Performer: Dizzy Gillespie.
    • Original Jazz Classics.
  • 00:53

    Oliver Knussen

    Flourish

    Performer: London Sinfonietta.
    • Decca.
  • 00:57

    Spike Jonze

    Cocktails for Two

    Performer: Spike Jonze and his City Slickers.
    • RCA Victor.
  • 00:58

    Anna Clyne

    Masquarde

    Performer: BBC Symphony Orchestra.
    • Avie.
  • 01:04

    Francis Poulenc

    Hotel

    Performer: Alice Coote.
    • Hyperion.
  • 01:05

    Maurice Ravel

    DAPHNIS AND CHLOE

    Performer: Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • EMI Classics.
  • 01:11

    Willie Nelson

    The Party's Over

    Performer: Willie Nelson.
    • RCA Victor.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 30 Jun 202418:00
    BBC Radio 3
  • Wed 31 Dec 202517:00
    BBC Radio 3

The hidden history of plant-based diets

The hidden history of plant-based diets

Forget social media influencers - the meat-free movement started with the Victorians.

Books website

Books website

Get closer to books with in-depth articles, quizzes and our picks from radio & TV.