Boyhood
Roger Ringrose and James Stewart contemplate boyhood in texts from Dickens' David Copperfield to the humorous verse of Ogden Nash, and Keats to Guiterman, including music by Tippett and Byrd.
Elizabeth Arno (producer).
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Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
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00:00
Purcell, arr. Berio
The modification and instrumentation of a famous hornpipe as a merry and altogether sincere homage to Uncle Alfred
Performer: Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, Riccardo Chailly (conductor).- DECCA 476 2830.
- Tr1.
-
Unknown
What are little boys made of? (Natural History), read by Roger Ringrose and James Stewart.
00:00Edward Elgar
Serenade (The Wand of Youth, Suite No.1 (Op.1a))
Performer: London Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult (conductor).- EMI CDM 7692072.
- Tr2.
John Greenleaf Whittier
The Barefoot Boy, read by Roger Ringrose
00:03R. McKuer, adapted by Serge Gainsbourg
Un petit garcon appele Charlie Brown
Performer: Serge Gainsbourg (vocal), Unnamed Orchestra.- PHILIPS 838 391.2.
- Tr9.
Benjamin Robbins Curtis Low
The Locomotive to the Boy, read by Roger Ringrose
00:06B茅la Bart贸k
Swineheard聮s Dance (Hungarian Pictures, BB103)
Performer: Philharmonia Orchestra, Neeme Jarvi (conductor).- CHAN 241-52.
- CD1 Tr14.
John Clare
The Schoolboy, read by Roger Ringrose
00:09Benjamin Britten
Sentimental Sarabande (Simple Symphony, Op.4)
Performer: Emperor Quartet.- BIS 1870.
- Tr3.
00:12Lord Robert Baden-Powell
Boy Scout Training (archive extract).
Performer: Lord Robert Baden-Powell.- COLOMBIA D 40086-7.
- Tr1.
Charles Dickens
David Copperfield, read by James Stewart
00:17Guedron
Je suis bon garcon
Performer: Le Poeme Harmonique, Vincent Dumestre (director).- ALPHA 019.
- Tr3.
Unknown
The Sad Story of a Little Boy That Cried, read by Roger Ringrose
00:21Dohnanyi
Scherzo (Symphonische Minuten, Op.36 No.3)
Performer: 大象传媒 Philharmonic, Matthias Bamert (conductor).- CHANDOS CHAN9455.
- Tr3.
Francesca Simon
Horrid Henry, read by James Stewart
00:23Sergey Prokofiev
Allegro (Sonata for Two Violins in C major, Op.56)
Performer: Veronika Jaruskova & Eva Karova (violins of the Pavel Haas Quartet).- SUPRAPHON SU 3957-2.
- Tr5.
Ogden Nash
To A Small Boy Standing On My Shoes While I Am Wearing Them, read by Roger Ringrose
00:27Claude Debussy
Scherzando (En blanc et noir)
Performer: Katia and Marielle Labeque (pianos).- PHILIPS 454 471-2.
- Tr3.
Ren茅 Goscinny
A Game of Football, read by Roger Ringrose
00:31Trad.
Georgy Porgy
Performer: Unnamed Children.- CPM Classical Series CAR207.
- Tr59.
00:32Igor Stravinsky
Suite for Small Orchestra No.1 (arranged from 5 Easy Pieces for piano duet)
Performer: Ensemble InterContemporain, Pierre Boulez (conductor).- SONY SMK45843.
- Tr1.
Mark Haddon
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, read by James Stewart
00:34Leos Jan谩膷ek
Andante Sostenuto (Youth Suite)
Performer: Prague Wind Quintet.- SUPRAPHON SU 11 1354-2.
- Tr10.
Henry Longfellow
The Castle-builder, read by Roger Ringrose
00:38Jimmy Rogers
The Land of my Boyhood Dreams
Performer: Jimmy Rodgers (vocal and guitar).- ROUNDER CD 1058ROU.
- Tr13.
Steve Martin
How to Read an Ancient Map (extract from The Boys Book of Adventure), read by James Stewart
00:41Paul Reade
Exotica (The Victorian Kitchen Garden 聳 suite for clarinet and harp)
Performer: Emma Johnson (clarinet), Skaila Kanga (harp).- ASV CD DCA800.
- Tr4.
John Keats
The Naughty Boy, read by Roger Ringrose
00:42Mark-Anthony Turnage
Lullaby (Sleep on for Cello and Piano)
Performer: Members of the Nash Ensemble.- Black Box BBM1065.
- Tr6.
Martin Oliver
How to Be The best Spy (extract from The Boys聮 Book of Spycraft), read by James Stewart
Mother Goose
Little Boy Blue, read by Roger Ringrose
William Blake
The Little Boy Lost (Songs of Innocence), read by Roger Ringrose and James Stewart
00:46Michael Tippett
Boyhood鈥檚 End
Performer: Mark Padmore (tenor), Roger Vignoles (piano).- HYPERION CDA67459.
- Tr1-4.
Aesop, adapted William Ellery Leonard
The Boys and the Frogs, read by Roger Ringrose and James Stewart
00:59Gy枚rgy Ligeti
Calmo, sostenuto (Chamber Concerto for 13 Instruments)
Performer: Ensemble InterContemporain, Pierre Boulez (conductor).- DG 423 244-2.
- Tr2.
John Boyne
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (extract), read by Roger Ringrose
01:05Benjamin Britten
Spring Carol (Ceremony of Carols)
Performer: Choir of Westminster Cathedral, Sioned Williams (harp).- HYPERION CDA66220.
- Tr10.
Walt Whitman
We Two Boys Together Clinging, read by James Stewart
Arthur Guiterman
A Boy and a Pup, read by Roger Ringrose
01:07Johannes Brahms
Intermezzo in C major, Op.119 No.3
Performer: Daniel Barenboim (piano).- GUILD GHCD 2390.
- Tr8.
01:09Debussy, arr. Robert Aitken
The Little Shepherd (Children聮s Corner)
Performer: Judith Hall (flute), Elinor Bennett (harp).- NIMBUS NI5247.
- Tr2.
John Kendrick Bangs
The Little Elfman, read by James Stewart
William Blake
The Little Boy Found (Songs of Innocence), read by Roger Ringrose and James Stewart
01:12William Byrd
I thought that love had been a boy
Performer: Laurence Zazzo (countertenor), Paragon Saxophone Quartet.- LANDOR LAN280.
- Tr8.
Thomas Hardy
Boys, Then and Now, read by Roger Ringrose and James Stewart
Producer Note
This edition of Words and Music is a celebration of boyhood, that special time early in a man's life which is full of wonderment at the world, learning and the forging of friendships. It's a programme inspired by my own very small boy. I look at him in amazement: what is it about dinosaurs, monsters, trains, fire engines, running around furiously and travelling to the moon, that endlessly fascinating find of a stick in the park, pirates and treasure hunts? What will he like at school and what kind of man will he become?聽 The imaginative world of boys seems limitless.
In this programme, James Stewart and Roger Ringrose contemplate boyhood past and present.聽 James Stewart plays the part of a boy, from Charles Dickens' David Copperfield in an agonising tutorial with the fearsome Murdstones and doting mother to Francesca Simon's Horrid Henry. 聽聽He also reveals how to read an ancient map and how to be the best spy, and reads Walt Whitman鈥檚 poem about friendships, We Two Boys Together Clinging.
Roger Ringrose looks back wistfully on the boyhood years, in poems by John Clare, John Whittier, Henry Longfellow, Arthur Guiterman, and Thomas Hardy.聽 He also plays the part of the adult narrator who recounts the hilarious chaos of a football game in Ren茅 Goscinny鈥檚 Le Petit Nicolas, and the more tragic tale of a young boy whose risky adventure with his new best friend naively leads him to pay for his curiosity with his own life in John Boyne鈥檚 poignant tale of The Boy in Striped Pyjamas.聽 James Stewart and Roger Ringrose join forces in two poems about the boy lost and the boy found from William Blake's Songs of Innocence.
The programme looks at the typical interests of boys, beginning with trains in Benjamin Low鈥檚 poem, The Locomotive to the Boy, and the education of boys in John Clare鈥檚 poem, The Schoolboy, the Dickens and an archive recording of Lord Robert Baden-Powell outlining the purpose of his scouting movement.聽 I鈥檝e chosen music that reflects the texts of these poems and reflects both the innocence and joyfulness of young boys, including movements from Elgar鈥檚 Wand of Youth Suite, Bartok鈥檚 Hungarian Pictures and Britten鈥檚 Simple Symphony.
Then follows a comical section on the quintessential, lovable image of a cheeky, naughty boy, including The Sad Story of a Little Boy That Cried, Horrid Henry, and Ogden Nash鈥檚 angry retort To A Small Boy Standing On My Shoes While I Am Wearing Them.聽 Music from Dohnanyi鈥檚 Symphonische Minuten and Prokofiev鈥檚 Sonata for Two Violins reflect the energy and determination of boys rebelling against all the rules.
More antics follow with Goscinny鈥檚 football game, Longfellow鈥檚 The Castle-builder, treasure hunting and spying to the spirited Scherzando from Debussy鈥檚 Blanc et Noir followed by 闯补苍补肠别办鈥檚 Youth Suite. 聽There are moments when the narrative turns nostalgic with the American country musician Jimmie Rodgers poignantly singing about the land of his boyhood dreams.聽
The musical centrepiece is Tippett鈥檚 emotionally rich cantata, Boyhood鈥檚 End, which forms a transition in the programme in which young boys grow up into young men.聽 The gulf between the carefree world of boyhood and the complicated sometimes callous world of adulthood is underpinned in the moment when Bruno follows Shmuel into a gas chamber, only because he wanted to stay with his friend, all of which is accompanied by the eerie sounds of Ligeti鈥檚 Chamber Concerto for 13 instruments.
This programme also includes the musical voices of boys, first in a school room singing Georgy Porgy, then in the Spring Carol from Britten鈥檚 Ceremony of Carols and finally the young Daniel Barenboim playing Brahms鈥檚 Intermezzo in C major, Op.119 No.3, which leads toward the closing moments of the programme: Byrd鈥檚 I thought that Love Had Been a Boy and Thomas Hardy鈥檚 Boys, Then and Now.
Elizabeth Arno (producer)聽
Broadcasts
- Sun 26 Apr 2015 17:30大象传媒 Radio 3
- Sun 11 Jun 2017 17:30大象传媒 Radio 3
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