A Woman's Lot
Ahead of International Women's Day, an exploration of expectations for women, and writers and composers breaking the mould, including Virginia Woolf, Warsan Shire, and Emily Hall.
"If we escape a little from the common sitting-room and see human beings not always in their relation to each other but in relation to reality". In Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own, the author summons up the image of Shakespeare's sister seizing her opportunities. Today's Words and Music looks forward to International Women's Day on March 8th with writers and musicians challenging society's rules. Jessica Mitford's Hons and Rebels takes us to the Spanish Civil War, Sally Rooney and Aphra Behn imagine adulterous relationships, Warsan Shire writes in praise of Grace Jones, and Athena steps into her chariot of fire in Emily Wilson's new translation of The Iliad. Music includes compositions by Emily Hall, Clara Schumann, Fatoumata Diawara, Cecilia McDowall and Hildegard of Bingen, and pieces arranged or conducted by women including Alison Balsom, Rachel Podger, Barbara Hannigan and Emmanuelle Haim. The readers are Greta Scacchi and Lydia Wilson.
On March 8th Radio 3 has a special focus on women composing and performing.
Producer: Hannah Sander
READINGS
Virginia Woolf – A Room of One’s Own
Rose Macaulay – Crewe Train
Germaine Greer – The Female Eunuch
Aphra Behn – ‘The Willing Mistriss’
Audre Lorde – Sister Outsider
Susannah Gibson – Bluestockings: The First Women's Movement
Carol Ann Duffy – ‘Salome’
Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice
Elizabeth Gaskell – Cranford
Jessica Mitford – Hons and Rebels
Elizabeth I – Speech to the Troops at Tilbury, 1588
Gabrielle Zevin – Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow
Warsan Shire – ‘Bless Grace Jones’
Homer (trans. Emily Wilson) – The Iliad
Simone de Beauvoir – The Second Sex
Hilary Mantel – Wolf Hall
Sally Rooney – Conversations With Friends
Daphne du Maurier – Rebecca
Virginia Woolf – A Room of One’s Own
Last on
Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
-
Virginia Woolf
A Room Of One’s Own, read by Greta Scacchi
00:01Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 49 ('Passione'): movt ii Allegro di molto
Ensemble: Ludwig Orchestra. Conductor: Barbara Hannigan.- Alpha AJ0586.
- Tr3.
Rose Macaulay
Crewe Train, read by Lydia Wilson
00:09Johann Sebastian Bach
Goldberg Variations, Aria
Performer: Rachel Podger. Ensemble: Brecon Baroque. Music Arranger: Rachel Podger.- Channel Classics CCSSA44923.
- Tr1.
Germaine Greer
The Female Eunuch, read by Greta Scacchi
00:13Johann Sebastian Bach
Goldberg Variations, Variation I
Performer: Rachel Podger. Ensemble: Brecon Baroque. Music Arranger: Rachel Podger. Music Arranger: Rachel Podger.- Channel Classics CCSSA44923.
- Tr1.
Aphra Behn
‘The Willing Mistriss’, read by Lydia Wilson
00:16Clara Schumann
Sechs Lieder aus Jucunde Op.23, O Lust, O Lust
Performer: Susan Grifton (soprano), Eugene Asti (piano).- Hyperion CDA67249.
- Tr15.
00:18Fatoumata Diawara
Mousso
Performer: Fatoumata Diawara (guitar, vocals), Moh Kouyate (guitar), Hilaire Penda (bass), Sola Akingbola (percussion), Tony Allen (drums).- World Circuit Records WCD086.
- Tr9.
Audre Lorde
Sister Outsider, read by Lydia Wilson
00:21George Frideric Handel
Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17: Act 3, Sinfonia
Performer: Le Concert d`Astrée, Emmanuelle Haïm (conductor).- Warner Classics.
- Tr10.
Susannah Gibson
Bluestockings, read by Greta Scacchi
00:24Caroline Shaw
Fleishman Is In Trouble, Awoke One Morning
Performer: Caroline Shaw.- Hollywood Records 00050087513016.
- Tr1.
Carol Ann Duffy
‘Salome’, read by Greta Scacchi
00:28Maurice Ravel
Ma Mere l'Oye - suite vers. for piano duet, Les Entretiens de la Belle et de la Bete
Performer: Katia & Marielle Labèque.- Phillips 4201592.
- Tr22.
Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice, read by Lydia Wilson
Elizabeth Gaskell
Cranford, read by Greta Scacchi
00:35Isaac Albéniz
Espana - Malaguena (arr. for guitar)
Performer: Xuefei Yang.- EMI Classics 6983612.
- Tr11.
Jessica Mitford
Hons and Rebels, read by Lydia Wilson
00:38Cecilia McDowall
Alma redemptoris Mater - motet for chorus
Choir: The Choir Of Trinity College, Cambridge. Conductor: Stephen Layton.- Hyperion CDA68251.
- Tr1.
Elizabeth I
Speech to the Troops at Tilbury, read by Greta Scacchi
00:43Emily Hall
Instrumental
Performer: Emily Hall. Performer: Ruth Wall.- Bedroom Community HVALUR23CD.
- Tr3.
Gabrielle Zevin
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, read by Lydia Wilson
00:46Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Dana Manno
Pull Up To The Bumper
Performer: Grace Jones.- UMC.
- Tr2.
Warsan Shire
‘Bless Grace Jones’, read by Lydia Wilson
Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
The Iliad, read by Greta Scacchi
00:50Benjamin Britten
War Requiem, Dies Irae: Liber Scriptus
Singer: Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya. Choir: The Bach Choir. Ensemble: Melos Ensemble. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Benjamin Britten.- Decca 4757511.
- Tr3.
Simone de Beauvoir
The Second Sex, read by Lydia Wilson
00:54Lili Boulanger
°ä´Ç°ù³Ùè²µ±ð
Performer: Yehudi Menuhin. Performer: Clifford Curzon.- Warner Classics 825646208005.
- Tr63.
00:55Hildegard von Bingen
Spiritus Sanctus vivificans vita - antiphon
Singer: Anna Sandström. Ensemble: Armonico Consort. Conductor: Christopher Monks.- Signum Classics SIGCD235.
- Tr6.
Hilary Mantel
Wolf Hall, read by Lydia Wilson
00:59Nina Simone
Sinnerman
Performer: Nina Simone.- UME – Global Clearing House.
- Tr38.
Sally Rooney
Conversations With Friends, read by Lydia Wilson
Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca, read by Greta Scacchi
Virginia Woolf
A Room Of One’s Own, read by Greta Scacchi
01:10Claude Debussy
Syrinx
Performer: Alison Balsom. Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Edward Gardner.- Warner Classics.
- Tr16.
Broadcast
- Sun 3 Mar 2024 17:30´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3