Art Deco
A celebration of the 1920s - the Art Deco era with music by Janacek, Tailleferre and Gershwin and readings from Dorothy Parker, Jean Rhys and PG Wodehouse.
This programme celebrates the world of Art Deco, a style that came into its own in the years after World War One and was named for an exhibition in Paris in 1925. Even if you don't know the name, the visuals are very familiar: think flapper girls in bobbed haircuts, candy-coloured Miami Beach architecture, French Riviera Hotels or New York's Empire State. The mood is light - it was a time to throw off the war years and show off. You will hear from fun-loving characters like Bertie Wooster and Lorelei Lee; about the lure of international travel in the writing of Ernest Hemingway or innovation in the music of Eric Satie. There is virtuosic showing off from Dorothy Parker and Agatha Christie as well as in Ravel, Germaine Tailleferre and Ella Fitzgerald. And we will touch too on the flipside of all this excess - this was after all a decade of fun that ended in economic depression - in writing from F Scott Fitzgerald and Claude Mackay and the music of Janacek.
The readers are Jessica Raine of The Devil's Hour and Call The Midwife with the Olivier-award-winning star of Hamilton, Giles Terera.
Readings:
Riviera Dreaming by Maureen Emerson
There Will Come Soft Rains by Sara Teasdale
The Enchanted April by Elizabeth Von Arnim
Quartet by Jean Rhys
The Painted Veil by W Somerset Maugham
Symptom Recital by Dorothy Parker
My Man Jeeves by PG Wodehouse
Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemmingway
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos
Manhood by Michael Leiris
The Savoy Cocktail Book by Harry Craddock
Jazzonia by Langston Hughes
Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson
Art Deco's Bad Girl by Walker Mimms
The Speedy Death by Gladys Mitchell
An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh
Evil Under The Sun by Agatha Christie
The Tropics in New York by Claude McKay
The Long Weekend by Adrian Tinniswood
The Second Coming by WB Yeats
Manhattan Transfer by John Dos Passos
Echoes of the Jazz Age by F Scott Fitzgerald
Produced in Salford by Olive Clancy
Last on
Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
-
00:01
Leos Janáček
Sinfonietta, III: Moderato
Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.- Janacek: Sinfonietta: Rattle.
- EMI.
- 1.
-
Maureen Emerson
Riviera Dreaming ready by Giles Terera
Sara Teasdale
There Will Come Soft Rains read by Jessica Raine
00:04George Gershwin
An American In Paris
Performer: Daniel Röhn.- Berlin Classics.
- Tr 1.
Elizabeth Von Arnim
The Enchanted April
Lola Ridge
A Memory read by Giles Terera
00:09Heitor Villa‐Lobos
Choro no. 1 for guitar
Performer: Carlos Bonell.- The Private Collection: Carlos Bonell.
- Upbeat Classics.
- 1.
Jean Rhys
Quartet
00:13Florence Price
Symphony No 3 in C minor II
Orchestra: Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: John Jeter.- Symphony No. 3, The Mississippi River & Ethiopia's Shadow in America.
- Naxos.
- 1.
00:14Germaine Tailleferre
Concertino for harp and orchestra: III. Rondo
Performer: Nicanor Zabaleta.- Concertino for harp and orchestra: III. Rondo.
- DG.
- 1.
W Somerset Maugham
The Painted Veil read by Giles Terera
Dorothy Parker
Symptom Recital read by Jessica Raine
00:20Duke Ellington
Cotton Club Stomp
Composer: Johnny Hodges. Composer: Harry Carney. Performer: Duke Ellington.- The Original Recordings That Inspired the Broadway Hit "AFTER MIDNIGHT".
- Columbia/Legacy.
- 1.
PG Wodehouse
My Man Jeeves read by Giles Terera
00:22Sandy Wilson
The Riviera
Performer: Showcast.- Dance Plant Records.
- Tr 1.
Virginia Woolf
Mrs Dalloway read by Jessica Raine
00:25Zoltán Kodály
Serenade Op .12 for 2 violins and viola: 1st mvt; Allegramente
Performer: Vilmos Tátrai. Performer: István Várkonyi. Performer: György Konrád.- Hungaraton.
- Tr 1.
Ernest Hemmingway
The Sun Also Rises read by Giles Terera
00:29George Antheil
Hot-time dance for orchestra
Conductor: Hugh Wolff. Orchestra: Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra.- Antheil: Symphony No. 3 "American" & Other Works for Orchestra.
- Naxos America.
- 3.
Anita Loos
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
00:32Friedrich Hollaender
Falling in Love
Performer: Marlene Dietrich.- Bringins Music.
- Tr 14.
Michael Leiris
Manhood read by Giles Terera
00:36Duke Ellington
The Mooche
Performer: Duke Ellington. Orchestra: The Cotton Club Orchestra.- The Day it all Happened.
- Barajazz.
- 4.
Harry Craddock
The Savoy Cocktail Book read by Jessica Raine
00:38Eric Coates
Moon Magic
Orchestra: ѿý Concert Orchestra. Conductor: John Wilson.- Coates: Under The Stars - 17 Orchestral Miniatures.
- Decca.
- 1.
Langston Hughes
Jazzonia read by Giles Terera
00:41Louis Armstrong
Muggles
Performer: Louis Armstrong.- The Louis Armstrong Collection, Vol. 1: The First Decade 1923-32.
- Acrobat.
- 1.
Kate Atkinson
Shrines of Gaiety read by Jessica Raine
00:44Erik Satie
La Belle excentrique - ballet: Can-can "Grande-Mondain"
Performer: Jean-Pierre Armengaud. Performer: Michel Plasson. Orchestra: The Toulouse Capitole Orchestre.- Tout Satie!.
- Erato.
- 1.
Walker Mimms
Art Deco’s Bad Girl, Still Ahead of Her Time read by Giles Terera
00:46Lana Del Rey
Art Deco
Composer: Rick Nowels. Singer: Lana Del Rey.- Honeymoon.
- Polydor.
- 7.
Evelyn Waugh
Vile Bodies read by Giles Terera
00:48Bella Bartok
Allegretto pizzicato (String Quartet No.4)
Ensemble: Juilliard String Quartet.- The Six String Quartets.
- Pearl.
- 1.
Gladys Mitchell
The Speedy Death read by Jessica Raine
00:50Randy Newman
Almost There (From "Princess and the Frog")
Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Sally Herbert.- Disney Goes Classical.
- Decca.
- 1.
Theodore Dreiser
An American Tragedy
00:52Bedrich Smetana
Quartet no. 1 in E minor (From my life) for strings, 1st movement; Allegro vivo
Ensemble: Modigliani Quartet.- Grieg/Smetana.
- Mirare.
- 5.
Agatha Christie
Evil Under the Sun read by Jessica Raine
00:00Christopher Gunning
Hercule Poirot Theme (Music Inspired by the Film)
Performer: Marco Velocci.- Classical Creations.
- Tr 1.
Claude McKay
The Tropics in New York read by Giles Terera
00:57Louis Armstrong
Perdido Street Blues
Performer: Johnny Dodds.- Universal.
- Tr 12.
Adrian Tinniswood
The Long Weekend read by Jessica Raine
01:00Arnold Bax
Tintagel
Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra.- Rachmaninoff: Symphony No. 3 - Bax: Tintagel.
- Warner Chappell Music Ltd.
- 1.
WB Yeats
The Second Coming read by Giles Terera
01:04Vernon Duke
Autumn in New York
Performer: Ella Fitzgerald. Performer: Louis Armstrong.- Ella and Louis.
- Efor,S.L.
- 1.
John Dos Pasos
Manhattan Transfer read by Jessica Raine
01:11Maurice Ravel
Tzigane - rapsodie de concert, arr. for violin and orchestra [orig. for violin a
Performer: Nicola Benedetti.- Deutsche Gramaphone.
- Tr 5.
F Scott Fitzgerald
Echoes of the Jazz Age read by Giles Terera
Broadcast
- Sun 27 Apr 2025 18:00ѿý Radio 3