Flora Thompson Biography, Ruins at Tate Britain, Ravel

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As Radio 3 prepares for Ravel Day tomorrow Anne McElvoy talks to the choreographer Richard Alston whose dance piece, 'Shimmer', explored the music of Ravel's 'Sonatine' and 'Miroirs'. There's a discussion about the ongoing fascination with ruins; whether a picturesque castle ruin glimpsed through the mist or the eerie photographs of an abandoned Detroit. Why do artists, and audiences, continue to seek out images of decay and destruction? Anne talks to the curator of a new exhibition at Tate Britain and the writer, Amanda Hopkinson. Lark Rise to Candleford has been reinvented by theatre and television, and even Danny Boyle's Olympic opening extravaganza owed a debt to the idea of rural England that Flora Thompson created and recorded in her books. Anne talks to the nature writer Richard Mabey about his latest book 'The Life of Flora Thompson and the creation of Lark Rise to Candleford.' Producer: Natalie Steed.