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Press rewind on a century of the ѿý with an epic eight-hour soundscape: seismic events, cultural landmarks, unforgettable voices and ѿý history intertwined with classical music.

The 1940s. Once again the world is gripped by the horror of war. We hear seminal ѿý broadcasts from Winston Churchill and General de Gaulle alongside newsreel from Dunkirk and Leningrad. No part of society is untouched by the war, least of all music, and we hear reflections from Shostakovich, Vaughan Williams and Messiaen. Britain starts to rebuild and we hear familiar voices: Kathleen Ferrier, Vera Lynn and “king of calypso” Lord Kitchener. The National Health Service is formed and ѿý listeners tune in for the first time to Desert Island Discs and Woman's Hour.

For more information about what you’re hearing, visit bbc.co.uk/soundscapeofacentury

Archive:
1940 Churchill's First Address as PM
1940 ѿý news archive from Dunkirk
1940 Postscript on ѿý Service - JB Priestly reflects on Dunkirk
1940-41 War time ѿý news reports
1942 ѿý broadcasts the UK premiere of Leningrad Symphony
1942-44 ѿý news footage from Siege of Leningrad
1945 Programme of worship from Belsen concentration camp after liberation
1945 VE Day Winston Churchill in Trafalgar Square
1948 Lord Kitchener talks to ѿý News report after disembarking from Empire Windrush
1948 Aneurin Bevan and Edith Summerskill speak about fledgling NHS; Broadcasts from the year NHS is founded
1942 Desert Island Discs begins
1947 Gardener's Question Time begins
1946 Woman’s Hour Begins (Ruby Ayres talks in this edition from 1949)
1946 ѿý Television promotion film from Alexandra Palace
1947 Princess Elizabeth addresses nation on her 21st birthday

Radio 3’s Soundscape of a Century is a sonic celebration, not a year-by-year chronology or a complete history, but an evocative soundtrack of the era, its music and culture, as heard on the ѿý.

50 minutes

Last on

Sun 30 Oct 2022 12:24

Music Played

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Symphony no.5 in B flat major Op.100 (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Santtu-Matias Rouvali.
    • Prokofiev: Symphony No. 5.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 102.
  • Benjamin Britten

    Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes (Dawn)

    Orchestra: ѿý Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Edward Gardner.
    • Chandos.
  • Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Symphony no. 5 in D major, 3rd movement; Romanza (Lento)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Bryden Thomson.
    • CHANDOS.
  • Bennie Benjamin

    When the Lights Go on Again

    Composer: Sol Marcus. Composer: Eddie Seiler. Performer: Vera Lynn.
    • One Day Music.
  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Symphony No 7 in C major, Op 60, 'Leningrad'

    Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Leonard Bernstein.
    • DG.
  • Olivier Messiaen

    Quartet for the End of Time (Louange a l'immortalite de Jesus)

    Performer: Janine Jansen. Performer: Lucas Debargue.
    • SONY.
  • Aaron Copland

    Fanfare for the Common Man

    Orchestra: Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Antal Doráti.
    • DECCA.
  • Lord Kitchener

    London Is the Place for Me

    Performer: Lord Kitchener.
    • Honest Jon's Records.
  • Aaron Copland

    Appalachian spring - suite vers. for orchestra [1945], no.7; Doppio movimento - Variations on a Shaker hymn

    Orchestra: Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Antal Doráti.
    • Aaron Copland: The World of Aaron Copland.
    • Decca.
    • 10.
  • Christoph Willibald Gluck

    Che faro senza Euridice (Orfeo ed Euridice)

    Singer: Kathleen Ferrier. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Malcolm Sargent.
    • Kathleen Ferrier: Bach, Gluck, Handel.
    • Decca.
    • 1.
  • Eric Coates

    By the Sleepy Lagoon

    Conductor: Eric Coates. Orchestra: Symphony Orchestra.
  • Florence Price

    Symphony no.3 in C minor (Juba)

    Orchestra: The Philadelphia Orchestra. Conductor: Yannick Nézet‐Séguin.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
  • Gerald Finzi

    Farewell to Arms, Op 9 (Aria)

    Orchestra: Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: David Hill.
    • A Finzi Anthology.
    • Naxos.
    • 2.

Broadcast

  • Sun 30 Oct 2022 12:24