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Wordsworth's World

Poems including Lines Written in early Spring and Composed upon Westminster Bridge are set alongside the diaries of Dorothy Wordsworth and music ranging from Beethoven to Britten.

Noma Dumezweni reads from the journals of Dorothy Wordsworth - Roger Ringrose her brother's poems - in a programme marking the anniversary this year of the Lakeland poet (7 April 1770 鈥� 23 April 1850). Dorothy's journals are a unique insight into everyday life for the Wordsworth siblings at Grasmere, and in this edition you can hear Dorothy's rich descriptions of locations and events, set against the poems they inspired in William, including Lines Written in Early Spring and Composed upon Westminster Bridge. The musical backdrop includes Wordsworth's contemporary Beethoven but also features music by Fanny Mendelssohn (who like Dorothy, knew about having a celebrated sibling), Benjamin Britten and Schubert.

On the Free Thinking website you can find an episode in which a pair of Wordsworth scholars from the University of Lancaster's Wordsworth Centre share their research:

/programmes/m000gw70

Producer: Georgia Mann

Readings: Extracts from Dorothy Wordsworth's Journal are interspersed with the following poems
Lines Written in Early Spring
Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802
To A Butterfly
The Excursion, Book IV
I Grieved for Buonaparte
Composed By The Sea-Side, Near Calais, August 1802
Elegiac Verses in Memory of My Brother, John Wordsworth
Extract from Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Tue 22 Dec 2020 18:15
蜜芽传媒 Radio 3

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Music Played

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

  • 00:01

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    Sonata in F major Op.24 (Spring) for violin and piano: 1st movement; Allegro

    Performer: Alina Ibragimova. Performer: C茅dric Tiberghien.
    • WIGMORE HALL LIVE WHLIVE0041.

  • Dorothy Wordsworth, edited by Colette Clark

    Extract from the journal of Dorothy Wordsworth, read by Noma Dumezweni

  • Wordsworth

    Lines Written in Early Spring, read by Roger Ringrose

  • Dorothy Wordsworth, edited by Colette Clark

    Extract from the journal of Dorothy Wordsworth, read by Noma Dumezweni

  • Wordsworth

    Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802, read by Roger Ringrose

  • 00:07

    Andrew Cusworth

    Composed Upon Westminster Bridge

    Choir: Concanenda. Conductor: Alexandra Schwinn.

  • Dorothy Wordsworth, edited by Colette Clark

    Extract from the journal of Dorothy Wordsworth, read by Noma Dumezweni

  • 00:12

    Elena Kats鈥怌hernin

    Butterflying

    Performer: Nicola Sweeney. Performer: Sarah Nicolls. Performer: Sarah Nicolls.
    • SIGNUM SIGCD058.

  • Wordsworth

    To A Butterfly, read by Roger Ringrose

  • 00:16

    Kathryn Tickell

    The Return

    Performer: Kathryn Tickell. Performer: Ron Shaw.
    • PARK RECORDS PRKCD50.

  • Dorothy Wordsworth, edited by Colette Clark

    Extract from the journal of Dorothy Wordsworth, read by Noma Dumezweni

  • Wordsworth

    Extract from The Excursion, Book IV, read by Roger Ringrose

  • 00:20

    Trad.

    The Three Ravens (for baritone, chorus & 5 clarinets)

    Singer: Colin Campbell. Music Arranger: Percy Grainger. Choir: Monteverdi Choir. Orchestra: The English Country Gardiner Orchestra. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • PHILIPS 446657-2.
  • 00:24

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony no. 3 (Op.55) in E flat major "Eroica", 3rd movement; Scherzo

    Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
    • TELDEC 0927497682.

  • Dorothy Wordsworth, edited by Colette Clark

    Extract from the journal of Dorothy Wordsworth, read by Noma Dumezweni

  • 00:30

    Franz Schubert

    Quintet in C major D.956 for 2 violins, viola and 2 cellos: 2nd mvt; Adagio

    Performer: Hagen Quartett. Performer: Heinrich Schiff.
    • DG 439 774 2.

  • Wordsworth

    I Grieved for Buonaparte, read by Roger Ringrose

  • Dorothy Wordsworth, edited by Colette Clark

    Extract from the journal of Dorothy Wordsworth, read by Noma Dumezweni

  • 00:37

    Claude Debussy

    En bateau arr. Averay for wind trio(orig. for piano duet)

    Music Arranger: Anthony Averay. Performer: Vancouver Wind Trio.
    • SONRISE AUDIO SA92337CD.

  • Wordsworth

    Composed By The Sea-Side, Near Calais, August 1802, read by Roger Ringrose

  • 00:41

    Nathaniel Gow

    Nathaniel Gow's Lament for the Death of his Brother

    Performer: Jordi Savall.
    • ALIA VOX AVSA9878.

  • Dorothy Wordsworth, edited by Colette Clark

    Extract from the journal of Dorothy Wordsworth, read by Noma Dumezweni

  • Wordsworth

    Elegiac Verses in Memory of My Brother, John Wordsworth, read by Roger Ringrose

  • 00:45

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Requiem in D minor K.626, compl. Sussmayr: Lacrimosa

    Performer: Dunedin Consort. Conductor: John Butt. Conductor: John Butt.
    • LINN CKD449.

  • Dorothy Wordsworth, edited by Colette Clark

    Extract from the journal of Dorothy Wordsworth, read by Noma Dumezweni

  • 00:49

    Benjamin Britten

    Young Apollo for piano, string quartet & string orchestra (Op.16)

    Performer: Steven Osborne. Orchestra: 蜜芽传媒 Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Ilan Volkov.
    • HYPERION CDA67625.
  • 00:52

    Fanny Mendelssohn

    Lieder ohne Worte Op.5 for piano: no.6; in E flat major (Andante soave)

    Performer: B茅atrice Rauchs.
    • BIS BISCD885.

  • Dorothy Wordsworth, edited by Colette Clark

    Extract from the journal of Dorothy Wordsworth, read by Noma Dumezweni

  • 00:57

    Christoph Willibald Gluck

    Antigono - opera in 3 acts: Gi脿 che morir

    Singer: Samuel Mari帽o. Orchestra: H盲ndelfestspielorchester Halle. Conductor: Martin Hofstetter.
    • ORFEO C998201.
  • 01:03

    Schubert

    Notturno in E flat major, D897

    Performer: Sukovo trio.
    • WARNER 2564 60164-2.

  • Wordsworth

    Extract from Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798, read by Roger Ringrose

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