Twenty Minutes

Let Distant Lands Converse

Saturday 23 December 2006 19:40-20:10 (Radio 3)

On Christmas Eve 1906, Reginald Aubrey Fessenden transmitted the first planned radio programme. Sean Street investigates the story of the broadcast from Brant Rock, Massachusetts, which consisted of a speech, a gramophone record and a live violin solo.

He reveals the impact this had on listeners, some of whom thought the human voice they heard was a ghost, and the cultural significance of this major technological advance.

Duration:

30 minutes

Twenty Minutes

Episode and Playlist Information

• 12 Jan 07 Sofia Gubaidulina
• 6 Jan 07 Rescuing a Threatened
• 1 Jan 07 The Ormolu Clock
• 23 Dec 06 - Let Distant Lands
• 16 Dec 06 Richard Bonynge
• 9 Dec 06 The Last Jew on Crete
• 8 Dec 06 The Pianist