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Emma Fielding and Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong with readings from writers including Anne Sexton and Caleb Femi and music by Vivaldi, Astor Piazzolla and Ella Fitzgerald among others.

Is it the cruellest month or the time when sweet showers fall? There's an ambiguity about April with its changeable weather and promise of rebirth that's reflected in this week's programme. Readers Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong and Emma Fielding guide us into April's more beguiling realms with poems by Anne Stevenson, Laurie Lee, Ann Sexton and Caleb Femi that are full of flowers, possibility and the warmth of sun on skin, but then TS Eliot, Edna St. Vincent Millay and Philip Larkin turn up to reveal that darker, melancholic side - the feeling of loss made starker by burgeoning new life. That same tension and contradiction comes through in the music which includes works by Stravinsky, Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie, C茅cile Chaminade, Prince (yes, sometimes it DOES snow in April), Manuel Maria Ponce, TesseracT and Astor Piazzolla.

Producer: Torquil MacLeod

Readings & *Music

*Gregor Joseph Werner - L鈥橝prile 鈥� I. Spring. Allegro
Robert Louis Stevenson - Flower god, god of the spring
Billy Collins - Today
*Ella Fitzgerald with Count Basie and his Orchestra - April in Paris
Laurie Lee - April Rise
*Manuel Maria Ponce - Chapultepec: I. Primavera
Robert Browning - 蜜芽传媒 Thoughts from Abroad
*Giovanni Croce - I diporti della villa in ogni stagione 鈥� La Primavera : Nella stagion novella
Thomas Hardy - Tess of the d鈥橴rbevilles
*Henri Tomasi - Printemps pour sextuour a vents
Caleb Femi - Here Too Spring Comes to Us with Open Arms
*Prince - Sometimes It Snows in April
Philip Larkin - An April Sunday brings the snow
*Anthony Burgess - Mr Burgess鈥檚 Almanack IV. Allegretto con grazia
Basil Bunting - Weeping oaks grieve, chestnuts raise
Edna St. Vincent Millay - Spring
*Nico Muhly - Spring Figures
*TesseracT - April
George Orwell - Nineteen Eighty-Four
*Igor Stravinsky - The Rite of Spring/Le Sacre du Printemps
TS Eliot - The Waste Land 鈥� I. The Burial of the Dead
*Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - The Seasons Op. 37b 鈥� IV. April: Snowdrop
Robert Herrick - To Daffodils
Anne Stevenson - Swifts
*Astor Piazzolla - Las 4 estaciones portenas: I. Primavera Portena
*Antonio Vivaldi - Concerto No. 1 in E major 鈥淟a Primavera鈥� 鈥� II. Largo
Keith Douglas - Villanelle of Spring Bells
Anne Sexton - It Is a Spring Afternoon
*Max Beckschafer - Madrigali Veneziani: O primavera
Boris Pasternak (trans. Angela Livingstone) - Spring
*Niklas Sivelov - Symphony No. 3 Primavera 鈥� II. Adagio
*Cecile Chaminade - Pieces romantiques Op. 55 鈥� No. 1 Primavera
Geoffrey Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales 鈥� The General Prologue
DH Lawrence - The Enkindled Spring
William Shakespeare - Sonnet 98
*Judy Garland - April Showers

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 20 Apr 2025 18:00
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

  • 00:00

    Gregor Joseph Werner

    L聮Aprile 聳 I. Spring. Allegro

    Performer: Rheinisches Bach-Collegium.
    • CPO 999083-2.
    • Tr3.

  • Robert Louis Stevenson

    Flower god, god of the spring read by Emma Fielding

  • Billy Collins

    Today Read by Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong

  • 00:03

    E.Y. Harburg, Vernon Duke

    April in Paris

    Performer: Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie and his Orchestra.
    • GRP USGR10200447.
    • CD1 TR6.

  • Laurie Lee

    April Rise read by Emma Fielding

  • 00:07

    Manuel Ponce

    Chapultepec: I. Primavera

    Orchestra: Orquesta Sinf贸nica de San Luis Potos铆. Conductor: Jos茅 Miramontes Zapata.
    • Toccata Classics TOCC0502.
    • Tr1.

  • Robert Browning

    蜜芽传媒 Thoughts from Abroad read by Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong

  • 00:12

    Giovanni Croce

    I diporti della villa in ogni stagione 聳 La Primavera : Nella stagion novella

    Ensemble: Gruppo Vocale 脌rsi & T猫si. Conductor: Tony Corradini.
    • Tactus TC590005.
    • Tr2.

  • Thomas Hardy

    Tess of the d聮Urbevilles read by Emma Fielding

  • 00:16

    Henri Tomasi

    Printemps pour sextuour a vents

    Performer: Quintette Aquilon.
    • Klarthe KLA070D.
    • Tr2.

  • Caleb Femi

    Here Too Spring Comes to Us with Open Arms read by Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong

  • 00:21

    Prince

    Sometimes It Snows in April

    Performer: Prince.
    • Warner Records USWB19903321.
    • Tr12.

  • Philip Larkin

    An April Sunday brings the snow read by Emma Fielding

  • 00:28

    Anthony Burgess

    Mr Burgess聮s Almanack IV. Allegretto con grazia

    Orchestra: Brown University Orchestra. Conductor: Paul Phillips.
    • Naxos 8.573472.
    • Tr15.

  • Basil Bunting

    Weeping oaks grieve, chestnuts raiseread by Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong

  • Edna St. Vincent Millay

    Spring read by Emma Fielding

  • 00:31

    Nico Muhly

    Spring Figures

    Performer: Matt Haimovitz.
    • Pentatone PTC5186293.
    • Tr5.
  • 00:34

    Acle Kahney & Daniel Tompkins

    April

    Performer: TesseracT.
    • Century Media 9980432.
    • Tr10.

  • George Orwell

    Nineteen Eighty-Four read by Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong

  • 00:36

    Igor Stravinsky

    The Rite of Spring/Le Sacre du Printemps: Ritual of the Ancestors

    Orchestra: Columbia Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Igor Stravinsky.
    • Sony Classical 88697103112.
    • CD2 Tr28.
  • 00:39

    Igor Stravinsky

    The Rite of Spring/Le Sacre du Printemps: Sacrificial Dance

    Orchestra: Columbia Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Igor Stravinsky.
    • Sony Classical 88697103112.
    • CD2 Tr29.

  • TS Eliot

    The Waste Land 聳 I. The Burial of the Dead read by Emma Fielding

  • 00:44

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    The Seasons Op. 37b 聳 IV. April: Snowdrop

    Performer: Philharmonische Cellisten.
    • Orfeo C128001A.
    • Tr8.

  • Robert Herrick

    To Daffodils read by Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong

  • Anne Stevenson

    Swifts read by Emma Fielding

  • 00:47

    Astor Piazzolla

    Las 4 estaciones portenas: I. Primavera Portena

    Performer: Alfredo Marcucci. Ensemble: Philharmonische Cellisten K枚ln.
    • Orfeo C128001A.
    • Tr1.
  • 00:52

    Antonio Vivaldi

    Concerto No. 1 in E major 聯La Primavera聰 聳 II. Largo

    Performer: London Philharmonic Orchestra, Itzhak Perlman (violin & direction).
    • Warner Classics 0825646130191.
    • Tr2.

  • Keith Douglas

    Villanelle of Spring Bells read by Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong

  • Anne Sexton

    It Is a Spring Afternoon read by Emma Fielding

  • 00:56

    Max Beckschafer

    Madrigali Veneziani: O primavera

    Performer: Franz Vitzthum (counter-tenor), Ensemble Il Cappriccio.
    • Genuin GEN16444.
    • Tr32.

  • Boris Pasternak (trans. Angela Livingstone)

    Spring read by Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong

  • 01:01

    Niklas Sivel枚v

    Symphony No. 3 Primavera 聳 II. Adagio

    Orchestra: Malm枚 Operaorkester. Conductor: Joachim Gustafsson.
    • Toccata Classics TOCC0571.
    • Tr2.
  • 01:06

    C茅cile Chaminade

    Pieces romantiques Op. 55 聳 No. 1 Primavera

    Performer: Stephanie McCallum. Performer: Erin Helyard.
    • Toccata Next TOCN00007.
    • Tr21.

  • Geoffrey Chaucer

    The Canterbury Tales 聳 The General Prologue read by Emma Fielding

  • DH Lawrence

    The Enkindled Spring read by Tayla Kovacevic-Ebong

  • William Shakespeare

    Sonnet 98 read by Emma Fielding

  • 01:09

    Buddy De Sylva & Louis Silvers

    April Showers

    Performer: Judy Garland.
    • EMI Gold USCA20601669.
    • CD1 Tr13.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 17 Apr 2022 17:30
    蜜芽传媒 Radio 3
  • Sun 20 Apr 2025 18:00
    蜜芽传媒 Radio 3

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