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Displacement

For Radio 3's season commemorating World War I, a sequence of poetry, prose and music on the theme of displacement, with readings by Lesley Sharp and Philip Franks.

Words and music on the theme of Displacement, with readers Lesley Sharp and Philip Franks. Including a selection of poetry and prose telling the stories of people from across Europe who were amongst the millions forced to leave their home nations during the Great War, from the hundreds of thousands of Belgians taking refuge in the UK, to Serbians fleeing their homeland after defeat from Austrian forces. With extracts from Virginia Woolf's diaries, an essay by Henry James, the poetry of Herbert Read, and memoirs written by Queen Marie of Romania.
Part of Radio 3's WWI season, Music in the Great War.

1 hour, 15 minutes

Last on

Sun 29 Jun 2014 17:30

Music Played

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

  • 00:00

    Stephen Wolpe

    Displaced Spaces, Shocks, Negations, a New Sort of Relationship in Space, Pattern, Tempo, Diversity of Actions, Interactions...

    Performer: Geoffrey Douglas Magde (piano).

    and intensities for piano

    • CPO.
    • 9990552.
    • 10.
  • Oxford English Dictionary

    Displacement 聳 definitions, read by Philip Franks and Lesley Sharp

  • 00:01

    Frank Bridge

    The Sea - suite for orchestra (H.100), no.3; Moonlight (Adagio ma non troppo)

    Performer: 成人快手 National Orchestra of Wales, Richard Hickox (conductor).
    • CHANDOS CHAN10729.
    • CD2 Tr11.
  • Marie Tello Phillips

    The Refugees (excerpt), read by Lesley Sharp

  • Konstantin Paustovsky

    Story of a Life: Slow approach of thunder (excerpt), read by Philip Franks

  • 00:07

    Karol Szymanowski

    Mythes Op.30; No.1 La fontaine d聮Arethuse

    Performer: Alina Ibragimova (violin), Cedric Tiberghien (piano).
    • HYPERION CDA67703.
    • Tr3.
  • 00:10

    E.J. Moeran

    2 Pieces for small orchestra [1931-2], no.1; Lonely waters

    Performer: English Chamber Orchestra, Jeffrey Tate (conductor).
    • EMI 7642002.
    • Tr4.
  • Ernest Dowson

    Exile, read by Lesley Sharp

  • 00:16

    Steve Knightley arr. Kate Rusby and Kathryn Roberts

    Exile

    Performer: Kate Rusby (vocals, guitar), Kathryn Roberts (vocals, piano).
    • PURE MUSIC PRCD01.
    • Tr10.
  • 00:19

    Richard Blackford

    Voices of Exile; no.11 The Embrace

    Performer: The Bach Choir, David Hill (conductor).
    • QUARTZ QTZ2018.
    • Tr11.
  • Herbert Read

    The Refugees, read by Philip Franks

  • 00:20

    Richard Blackford

    Voices of Exile; no.11 The Embrace

    Performer: The Bach Choir, David Hill (conductor).
    • QUARTZ QTZ2018.
    • Tr11.
  • 00:22

    Alan Hovhaness

    Symphony No.1 聭Exile聮; 2nd movement

    Performer: Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz (conductor).
    • NAXOS 8559717.
    • Tr2.
  • Sister Marie Antoine

    From Convent to Conflict; A Nun's Account of the Invasion of Belgium, reader Lesley Sharp

  • 00:26

    C茅sar Franck

    Piano Quintet in F minor; 1st movement

    Performer: Artur Pizarro (piano), Petersen Quartet.
    • PHOENIX EDTIION 142.
    • Tr1.
  • Sir Charles G.D. Roberts

    A Nocturne of Exile, read by Philip Franks

  • 00:30

    Arnold Bax

    Dream in Exile: Intermezzo

    Performer: Ashley Wass (piano).
    • NAXOS 8557439.
    • Tr3.
  • Virginia Woolf

    Selected Diaries (excerpt), read by Lesley Sharp

  • 00:34

    Trad.

    La Brabanconne (Belgium National Anthem)

    Performer: New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa (conductor).
    • PHILIPS 4566562.
    • Tr5.
  • The Times

    Column from the social correspondent, Tuesday 8th September 1914, read by Philip Franks

  • 00:36

    Joseph Jongen

    Caprice 聳 Impromptu Op.51 No.2

    Performer: Karel Steylaerts (cello), Piet Kuijken (piano).
    • PHAEDRA DDD92030.
    • Tr7.
  • 00:44

    George Botsford

    Black and White Rag

    Performer: Clarinet Quartet of the Belgian National Orchestra.
    • NAXOS 8557407.
    • Tr12.
  • Heather Elliott and John Sanderson (compiled)

    Letchworth Recollections (excerpt), read by Lesley Sharp

  • 00:48

    Jef Van Hoof

    Symphony No.1 in A major; 2nd movement

    Performer: BRTN Philharmonic Orchestra Brussels, Fernard Terby (conductor).
    • PHAEDRA ADD92013.
    • Tr2.
  • Henry James

    Refugees in Chelsea (extract), read by Philip Franks

  • 00:51

    Eug猫ne Ysa每e

    Sonata no.2; 2nd movement - Malinconia

    Performer: Tai Murray (violin).
    • HARMONIA MUNDI HMU907569.
    • Tr6.
  • M.I. Tatham

    The Great Retreat in Serbia in 1915 (excerpt), read by Lesley Sharp

  • 00:55

    Trad.

    Putnicka pesma 聯Visoko drvo, lad nema聰 (Travel melody)

    Performer: Ensemble Renaissance.
    • CPO 9999022.
    • Tr3.
  • 00:59

    Trad.

    Three dances 聳 Ostroljanka, Polomka Dance, Little Gipsy Girl

    Performer: Ensemble Renaissance.
    • CPO 9999022.
    • Tr4.
  • Anon.

    From George Heriot聮s School Roll of Honour 1914-1919 (excerpt), read by Philip Franks

  • 01:02

    George Enescu

    Romanian Rhapsody, Op.11No.1 in A major

    Performer: Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Jarvi (conductor).
    • CHANDOS CHAN6625.
    • Tr10.
  • Queen Marie of Romania

    The Invasion of Romania (excerpt), read by Lesley Sharp

  • 01:07

    George Enescu

    Romanian Rhapsody, Op.11No.1 in A major

    Performer: Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Jarvi (conductor).
    • CHANDOS CHAN6625.
    • Tr10.
  • Robert Louis Stevenson

    Hopes, read by Philip Franks

Producer's note

This Words and Music is the second of three editions as part of Music in the Great War. Taking the theme of Displacement, it tells the stories of just some of the millions of European civilians who were forced from their homes during the years of conflict.

This Words and Music is the second of three editions as part of Music in the Great War. Taking the theme of Displacement, it tells the stories of just some of the millions of European civilians who were forced from their homes during the years of conflict.

The experiences of WW1 refugees, of exile and the loneliness of separation from both family and homeland, are explored in texts by the English poets Herbert Read and Ernest Dowson, the Canadian writer Charles G.D. Roberts and American Marie Tello Phillips.

Around 160,000 Belgians came to the UK as a result of the German invasion, many arriving through the Kentish port of Folkestone, as reflected in a column from The Times in September 1914. In communities across the country, Belgian people often stayed with local families and worked in munitions factories; as a resident of Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire recalls, they played an influential role in everyday British life, and in a contrasting piece, Virginia Woolf writes in her diaries of her cook鈥檚 complaints about their large appetites. In his essay Refugees in Chelsea Henry James remembers the unforgettable arrival of the Belgian homeless into a Sussex town.

The displacement of Serbians from their homeland, following the assaults from Austrian forces in the early months of the war, are documented by a first-hand account from a Miss M.I. Tatham, who served with the Stobart Field Hospital in Kraguyevatz, Serbia. A number also came to the UK during that time, and the Roll of Honour from George Heriot鈥檚 School in Edinburgh tells of a group of 25 inspirational young Serbian boys who came to be educated at the school.

In an extract from her memoirs, Marie of Romania, born into the British royal family but, as the wife of King Ferdinand I, became the last Queen consort of Romania, describes the suffering of the Romanian people, and her own turmoil as Bucharest was occupied by the Central Powers and she, Ferdinand and their five children took refuge in Moldavia.

And from his autobiography, the Soviet writer Konstantin Paustovsky remembers the plight of Polish refugees, who were forced to flee eastward behind Russian lines.

Music throughout the programme reflects the countries featured in the texts, with composers from Belgium (Cesar Franck, Jef Van Hoof, Joseph Jongen, Eugene Ysaye), Poland (Karol Szymanowski) and Romania (George Enescu), and traditional folk music from Serbia. Music on the theme of exile comes from Arnold Bax, Alan Hovhaness, Richard Blackford and Kate Rusby.

Andy King (producer)

Broadcast

  • Sun 29 Jun 2014 17:30

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