Georgia Mann and Petroc Trelawny
The evolution has been subtle over the last year
But at some unidentifiable point during 2020
as we all experienced the changed world of the pandemic
in our separate ways
and drive time music stopped
3 Breakfast started instead to bolster our resilience
ground our day each morning in a strong web to hold us up for the day
How did they do it? They used the power of language and music
rolling out the elaborate names of every composer and performer
every movement and genre to interest and reassure
weaving the detail of one composer’s life into the next artist’s piece
On this day in 1832… and now Dizzie Gillespie, ‘A night in Tunisia’
It is five to seven here in London – but in Japan it is five to four in the afternoon
our listener there enjoys Bach before 7 – as played by Japanese xylophones
While Mozart was visiting Vienna in 1781… and of course, Josef Suk
was Dvorak’s son in law… now, Berlioz’s Hungarian March…
Much of the UK will have a breezy day with bright spells and showers in places
Top temperatures Wick in the Highlands 7, Edinburgh 9, Belfast and Cardiff 10
and London a high of 11 degrees Celsius
Yesterday we heard the sad news that the much loved conductor…
so here is his 1971 recording of the final movement of Shostakovich’s First Symphony
Our listener recalls hearing the Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra
when attending the Proms for the first time in 1953
And in Dr Atomic John Adams repurposed of the work of 17th Century poet John Donne
Now it’s time for our Friday Poem – today, Seamus Heaney ‘Westering’
The ever changing litanies weave their magic
confirm that we live in a culture that is built on sound foundations
looks back to its past but always forward to the new ways
of expressing meaning, hopes, our place in the world
our shared culture and shared futures
steadying us to face the day ahead.
London, Cardiff, Manchester, Darley Dale in Derbyshire, Mucking in Essex
Westward Ho and St Peter Port 11 degrees Celsius…
Thank you all.
Wednesday 17 February 2021
Riverview Songs 