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The 1920s

Readings by Adjoa Andoh and Guy Burgess of poems and prose by Langston Hughes, Virginia Woolf and Jean Toomer, with music by Ellington, Ravel and Vaughan Williams.

From the Harlem Renaissance and the world of the Charleston, the Great Gatsby and the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb to the financial crash at the end of the decade. Today's programme hears readings by Adjoa Andoh and Guy Burgess of poems and prose by authors including Langston Hughes, Virginia Woolf and Jean Toomer with music by Duke Ellington and Bessie Smith, Ravel and Vaughan Williams.

The 1920s were known variously as the Roaring Twenties, the Golden Twenties, the Jazz Age and the Flapper Era. It was also the decade of the Wall Street Crash, the discovery of Tutankhamen鈥檚 tomb, the first talking pictures and dance crazes like the Charleston and the samba. In many ways it was a period of transition from the pre-First World War order to a more recognisably modern age. Words and Music reflects this change in the novels, poetry, songs and compositions from a century or so ago. There are readings from the fiction of F Scott Fitzgerald, Rosamund Lehman, Richmal Crompton and Virginia Woolf, verse from TS Eliot, Frances Cornford, Thomas Hardy, Edith Sitwell and poets of the Harlem Renaissance while the music ranges from Poulenc and Puccini to Gershwin, Ellington and Bessie Smith, from Ravel and Nadia Boulanger to Weill and Vaughan Williams via Louis Armstrong and Carmen Miranda.

Producer: Harry Parker

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 19 Mar 2023 17:30
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

    Gus Kahn

    Toot Toot Tootsie

    Composer: Ernie Erdman. Performer: Al Jolson.
    • Soundtrack Factory.
    • Tr2.

  • Virginia Woolf

    Mrs Dalloway (1925) read by Adjoa Andoh

  • 00:03

    Francis Poulenc

    Concert Champ锚tre II Andante (1928)

    • BMG Editions.
    • CD7 Tr1.
  • 00:06

    George Gershwin

    Rhapsody in Blue (1924)

    Performer: Zubin Mehta.
    • Sony BMG.
    • Tr11.

  • Howard Carter

    Diaries (Tutankhamen聮s Tomb 1922) read by Guy Burgess

  • Edith Sitwell

    Solo for Ear Trumpet (1920) read by Adjoa Andoh

  • Thomas Hardy

    Nobody Comes (1924) read by Guy Burgess

  • 00:13

    Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Kyrie from Mass in G minor

    Choir: Choir of King鈥檚 College, Cambridge. Conductor: Sir David Willcocks.
    • EMI 724357670722.
    • CD3 Tr12.

  • Rosamund Lehmann

    Dusty Answer (1927) read by Adjoa Andoh

  • 00:19

    Giacomo Puccini

    Turandot Act 1 Signor Ascolta

    Orchestra: Malaga Philharmonic Orchestra. Orchestra: Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Alexander Rahbari. Conductor: Michael Hal谩sz.
    • Naxos 730099211925 - 8.552119-20.
    • CD2 Tr14.
  • 00:21

    James P. Johnson

    Charleston

    Composer: Cecil Mack. Performer: Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra.
    • RCA.
    • Tr13.

  • F Scott Fitzgerald

    The Great Gatsby (1925) read by Guy Burgess

  • 00:24

    Kurt Weill

    Mack The Knife (Die Moritat von Mackie Messer)

    Lyricist: Bertolt Brecht. Singer: Lotte Lenya. Performer: Roger Bean.
    • EI Records 5013929328631 - ACMEMD286CD.
    • CD1 Tr20.

  • Corra Harris

    The House of Helen (1923) read by Adjoa Andoh

  • 00:29

    Frank Crumit

    A Tale of the Ticker (1929)

    Performer: Frank Crumit.
    • Victor 22154-B.
    • Tr1.
  • 00:31

    Arthur Fields and Fred Hall

    When My Stocks Come Tumbling Down (1929)

    Performer: Fields and Hall.
    • Shanachie B00I1POLZG.
    • Tr17.

  • D H Lawrence

    Women in Love (1920) read by Guy Burgess

  • 00:33

    Jimmy Cox

    Nobody Knows You When You聮re Down and Out (1923)

    Performer: Bessie Smith.
    • Columbia 14451-D.
    • Tr1.

  • Georgia Douglas Johnson

    Black Woman (1922) read by Adjoa Andoh

  • Helen Johnson

    Ah, My Race (1925) read by Adjoa Andoh

  • 00:36

    Lil Hardin Armstrong

    Two Deuces (1928)

    Performer: Louis Armstrong and his Hot Five with Earl Hines.
    • Okeh 8641.
    • Tr1.

  • Langston Hughes

    The Weary Blues (1926) read by Guy Burgess

  • 00:39

    Ujo Noguchi / Shinpei Nakayama

    Sendo Kouta (Karesusuki) (1921)

    Performer: Hisaya Morishegi.
    • JVCKENWOOD Victor Entertainment Corp.
    • Tr.

  • Takiji Kobayashi

    The Cannery Boat (1929) read by Guy Burgess

  • 00:43

    Maurice Ravel

    Violin Sonata In G Major: II Blues: Moderato

    Performer: Dong-Suk Kang. Performer: Pascal Devoyon.
    • Naxos 730099212526 - 8.552125-26.
    • CD1 Tr5.

  • Mina Loy

    Lunar Baedeker (1923) read by Adjoa Andoh

  • 00:49

    Nadia Boulanger

    Elle A Vendu Mon Coeur

    Lyricist: Camille Mauclair. Singer: H茅l猫ne Lindqvist. Performer: Philipp Vogler.
    • http://theartsongproject.com/nadia-boulanger-chanson/.
  • 00:51

    Duke Ellington

    Black and Tan Fantasy

    Composer: Bubber Miley. Performer: Duke Ellington and His Orchestra.
    • RCA 252245-1.
    • CD2 Tr 1.

  • Jean Toomer

    Cane (1923) read by Guy Burgess

  • Alice Dunbar-Nelson

    To Madame Curie (1921) read by Adjoa Andoh

  • 00:55

    Darius Milhaud

    Le Creation du Monde

    Orchestra: London Sinfonietta. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • EMI EL747991-4.
    • Tr1.

  • T S Eliot

    The Wasteland (1922) Read by Guy Burgess

  • Frances Cornford

    Susan to Diana: A Villanelle (1923) read by Adjoa Andoh

  • 01:01

    Erik Satie

    Relache Act 1: Cinema

    Orchestra: Orchestre symphonique et lyrique de Nancy. Conductor: J茅r么me Kaltenbach.
    • Naxos 8.552137-38.
    • CD1 Tr11.
  • 01:04

    Ary Barroso

    O Nego No Samba

    Performer: Carmen Miranda.
    • Cherry Red 聳 ACMEM93CD.
    • Tr1.

  • Richmal Crompton

    More William: William聮s Hobby (1922) read by Adjoa Andoh

  • 00:00

    Dmitry Shostakovich

    3 Fantastic Dances, Op 5 Polka

    Performer: Konstantin Scherbakov.
    • Naxos 8.552129-30.
    • CD2 Tr4.

  • WC Sellar and RJ Yeatman

    1066 and All That (pub1930) read by Guy Burgess

  • 01:10

    Jacques Ibert

    Divertissements: Valse (1929)

    Performer: Jacques Ibert.
    • Decca 0028944461220.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 17 Jan 2021 17:30
    蜜芽传媒 Radio 3
  • Sun 19 Mar 2023 17:30
    蜜芽传媒 Radio 3

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