Joseph Kloska and Rachel Atkins read poetry and prose on the theme of England.
Including works by John Agard, Maura Dooley, Robert Browning, Fleur Adcock and George Orwell, with music by Delius, Vaughan Williams, Billy Bragg and Purcell.
In Search of England
Joseph Kloska
Rachel Atkins
Readers: Joseph Kloska and Rachel Atkins
Producer's Note
This week's Words and Music, 'In Search of England' looks at what it means to be English. It is, of course, a massive subject and any programme on the subject will inevitably be partial.
I've tried to reflect just a few experiences of what it meant to be English in the past and how some writers and composers are interpreting it now so you'll hear poetry and prose from Charles Dickens' description of life in the fictional Coketown in 'Hard Times' to modern London in Maura Dooley's 'Mind the Gap' and George Orwell's analysis of the English character from 'The Lion and the Unicorn'. Tony Harrison's poem on the upper classes, 'Stately Home' is heard alongside Noel Coward's 'The Stately Homes of England' and Robert Browning's 'Home Thoughts from Abroad' with John Agard's contemporary response to Browning, 'Broad Thoughts from Home'.
Modern England is heard too in Eliza Carthy's 'Worcester City' and Blur's 'Country House', in Fleur Adcock's poem 'Immigrant' and in Daljit Nagra's 'In a White Town'. You'll also hear reflections of Englishness in Michael Finnissy's 'Midsummer Morn', Arnold Bax's 'Sonata in B Flat for Clarinet and Piano' and Judith Weir and Oliver Knussen's interpretations of the traditional English round 'Sumer is icumen in'.
The programme ends with a reading from T.S. Eliot's 'Little Gidding' from 'The Four Quartets' and Thomas Ades' 'But all shall be well' which was inspired by and takes its very title from 'Little Gidding'.
Fiona McLean (producer)
Playlist
00:00
OLIVER KNUSSEN
Sumer is icumen in
Themes and Variations
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Jac van Steen, conductor
NMC D062
00:01:34
G.K. CHESTERTON
From The Secret People
Joseph Kloska (reader)
00:02:14
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
Six Studies in English Folksong
Janet Hilton, clarinet
Lindsay String Quartet
Keith Swallow, piano
CHANDOS CHAN 8683
00:02: 57
TONY HARRISON
Stately Home
Joseph Kloska (reader)
00:04:06
NOEL COWARD
Stately Homes of England
I'll See You Again
ASV CDAJA5126
00:07:32
FLEUR ADCOCK
Immigrant
Rachel Atkins (reader)
00:06:15
BILLY BRAGG
Blake's Jerusalem
The Internationale
UTIL 11 CD
00:10:38
GEORGE ORWELL
The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius
Joseph Kloska (reader)
00:12:04
ELGAR
Sospiri
Barbirolli Conducts English String Music
NEW PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
Sir John Barbirolli, conductor
EMI CDC 7 47537 2
00:07:11
ROBERT BROWNING
Home Thoughts from Abroad
Joseph Kloska (reader)
00:16:20
JOHN AGARD
Broad Thoughts from Home
Rachel Atkins (reader)
00:13:15
JUDITH WEIR
Sumer is Icumen in
Themes and Variations
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Jac van Steen, conductor
NMC D062
00:21:23
DALJIT NAGRA
In a White Town
Joseph Kloska (reader)
00:22:59
JOHN DOWLAND, Trans TIMOTHY JACKSON
Lachrimae Tristes
Onxy Brass
MERIDIAN CDE 84462
00:28:23
ELIZA CARTHY
Worcester City
Angelicana
TOPIC TSCD539
00:33:07
CHARLES DICKENS
from Hard Times
Joseph Kloska (reader)
00:34:25
ARNOLD BAX
Sonata in B Flat for Clarinet and Piano
Molto moderato
Lindsay String Quartet
Janet Hilton - clarinet
Keith Swallow - piano
CHANDOS CHAN 8683
00:42:56
MAURA DOOLEY
Mind the Gap
Rachel Atkins (reader)
00:43:30
JONATHAN HARVEY
Three Sketches for Solo Cello III
Music for Cello
Frances Marie Uitti - cello
ETCETERA KTC 1148
00:46:10
JOHN AGARD
Alternative Anthem
Joseph Kloska (reader)
00:49:01
JOHN BETJEMAN
Youth and Age on Beaulieu River, Hants
Sir John Betjeman's Banana Blush
VIRGIN CASCD 1086
00:52:45
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS
My Bonny Boy
English Folk Song Suite
London Symphony Orchestra
Adrian Boult, conductor
HMV 7 67642 2
00:55:36
JOSEPH BRODSKY
In England
Rachel Atkins (reader)
00:55:53
MICHAEL FINNISSY
Midsummer Morn
English Country Tunes
Michael Finnissy - piano
ETCETERA KTC 1091
01:01:18
RUPERT BROOKE
The Soldier
Joseph Kloska (reader)
01:02:26
BLUR
Country House
The Great Escape
FOODCD14
01:06:18
FREDERICK DELIUS
The Walk to the Paradise Garden
English Tone Poems
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir John Barbirolli, conductor
CDC-7 47984 2
01:16:01
T.S. ELIOT
Little Gidding
The Four Quartets
Paul Scofield (reader)
BBC 0563523352
01:16:24
THOMAS ADES
..but all shall be well
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Thomas Ades, conductor
EMI 7243 5 56818 2
