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The Party

A party-time playlist of music by Bix Beiderbecke, Johann Strauss, Noel Coward, Anna Clyne and Handel and readings from Virginia Woolf, Sam Selvon, Kingsley Amis and WM Thackeray.

Invitation to the dance by Weber and Rosamond Lehmann's novel Invitation to the Waltz help us set the scene for our programme inspired by parties. Virginia Woolf's heroine Clarissa Dalloway prepares for her guests, the West Side story cast "feel pretty" as they prepare for a night on the town, Hilaire Belloc writes about a garden party and Handel composes Music for the Royal Fireworks. But parties can also produce hangovers and displeasure: Becky Sharp humiliates poor little Amelia, Lesley Gore cries at hers, and Jeeves prepares a tonic to counteract too much drink, before Willie Nelson tells us "the party is over." We also hear Don Warrington reading from Sam Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners, John Betjeman’s Indoor Games Near Newbury and Noel Coward. For Glastonbury weekend, where there will be plenty of partying (and where Georgia Mann is doing a classical DJ set) - Words and Music brings us a party playlist of readings and music.

Readers: Dominic West and Holliday Grainger.
Producer: Jessica Treen

READINGS:
William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet
Rosamond Lehmann: Invitation to the Waltz
Charles Perrault: Cinderella
Virginia Woolf: Mrs Dalloway
John Williams: Stoner
Lavinia Greenlaw: The Importance of Music to Girls
The Garden Party: Hilaire Belloc
WM Thackery: Vanity Fair
F. Scott Fitzgerald: The Great Gatsby
Huma Qureshi: Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love
Ian Hamilton Finlay: The Dancers Inherit the Party
Pamela Des Barres: I’m with the Band
Isabella Beeton: Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management
Sam Selvon: The Lonely Londoners - Read by Don Warrington
Dorothy Parker: Parties: A Hymn of Hate
Kingsley Amis: Lucky Jim
PG Wodehouse: Jeeves Takes Charge
Claire Pollard: Thirtieth (from Changeling)
Evelyn Waugh: Vile Bodies

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 30 Jun 2024 18:00
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 3

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Music Played

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

  • 00:53

    Oliver Knussen

    Flourish

    Performer: London Sinfonietta.
    • Decca.

  • William Shakespeare

    Romeo and Juliet read by Dominic West

  • 00:01

    Johann Strauss II

    Overture to Fledermaus

    Performer: Vienna Philharmonic.
    • Decca.

  • Rosamund Lehman

    Invitation to the Waltz read by Holliday Grainger

  • 00:04

    Carl Maria von Weber

    Invitation to the Dance

    Performer: Melvyn Tan.
    • ONYX.

  • Charles Perrault

    Cinderella read by Dominic West

  • 00:08

    Leonard Bernstein

    I Feel Pretty

    Ensemble: West Side Story Original Ensemble.
    • West Side Story.
    • Columbia.

  • Virginia Woolf

    Mrs Dalloway read by Holliday Grainger

  • 00:11

    Hector Berlioz

    Symphonie Fantastique

    Conductor: Daniel Barenboim. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • CBS Masterworks.

  • John Williams

    Stoner read by Dominic West

  • 00:16

    Arturo Márquez

    Conga del fuego nuevo

    Orchestra: Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Gustavo Dudamel.

  • Lavinia Greenlaw

    The Importance of Music to Girls read by Holliday Grainger

  • 00:21

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Traviata - Libiamo

    Performer: Claudio Abbado. Performer: Roberto Alagna.
    • EMI Classics.
  • 00:24

    John Betjeman

    Indoor Games Near Newbury

    Composer: Jim Parker. Performer: John Betjeman.
    • Sir John Betjeman's Banana Blush.
    • Virgin Catalogue.

  • Hilaire Belloc

    The Garden Party read by Dominic West

  • 00:28

    Claude Debussy

    NOCTURNES (FETE)

    Performer: Pierre Boulez. Performer: The Cleveland Orchestra.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.

  • William Makepeace Thackery

    Vanity Fair read by Holliday Grainger

  • 00:32

    Lesley Gore

    It's My Party

    • The Golden Hits Of Lesley Gore.
    • Island Mercury.
  • 00:32

    Noël Coward

    I went to a Marvellous Party

    Performer: Noël Coward.
    • The Noel Coward Collection, Vol. 2: Half-Castle Woman.
    • Supreme Media.

  • F. Scott Fitzgerald

    The Great Gatsby read by Dominic West

  • 00:35

    Woody Herman

    WOOD AT THE CHOPPERS BALL

    Performer: Woody Herman Orchestra.
    • Sunflower Records.
  • 00:37

    Henry Purcell

    The Fairy Queen Symphony, Act 4

    Orchestra: Orchestra of The Sixteen. Conductor: Harry Christophers.
    • Coro COR16005.
    • Tr.

  • Huma Qureshi

    Things We Do Not Tell The People We Love read by Holliday Grainger

  • Ian Hamilton Finlay

    The Dancers Inherit the Party read by Dominic West

  • Pamela Des Barres

    I’m with the Band read by Holliday Grainger

  • 00:43

    Clay Cole

    Twist Around the Clock

    Performer: Clay Cole.
    • Delta Records.
  • 00:45

    Jacques Offenbach

    The Can Can

    Performer: Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Naxos.

  • Isabella Beeton

    Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management by Dominic West

  • Sam Selvon

    The Lonely Londoners read by Don Warrington

  • 00:50

    Dizzy Gillespie

    HARLEM SAMBA

    Performer: Dizzy Gillespie.
    • Dizzy's Party.
    • Original Jazz Classics.
  • 00:52

    Oliver Knussen

    Flourish

    Performer: London Sinfonietta.
    • DG 449 572-2.
    • Tr.

  • Dorothy Parker

    A Hymn of Hate read by Holliday Grainger

  • 00:56

    Anna Clyne

    Masquarde

    Performer: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Symphony Orchestra.
    • Avie AV2434.
    • Tr.
  • 00:57

    Spike Jonze

    COCKTAILS FOR TWO

    Performer: Spike Jonze and his City Slickers.
    • Thank you, Music Lovers.
    • RCA Victor.
  • 00:58

    Anna Clyne

    Masquarde

    Performer: ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Symphony Orchestra.
    • Avie.

  • Kingsley Amis

    Lucky Jim read by Dominic West

  • 01:04

    Francis Poulenc

    Hotel

    Performer: Alice Coote.
    • Hyperion.

  • PG Wodehouse

    Jeeves Takes Charge read by Dominic West

  • 01:06

    Maurice Ravel

    DAPHNIS AND CHLOE

    Performer: Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • EMI Classics.

  • Claire Pollard

    Thirtieth (from Changeling) read by Holliday Grainger

  • Evelyn Waugh

    Vile Bodies read by Dominic West

  • 01:10

    Willie Nelson

    The Party’s Over

    Performer: Willie Nelson.
    • RCA Victor.
    • Tr.

Broadcast

  • Sun 30 Jun 2024 18:00
    ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 3

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