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1920s Ireland

Ireland's other glittering literary decade - the 1920s - featuring readings from Yeats, Shaw and Bowen and music by Hamilton Harty, Ina Boyle and Alicia Needham.

The 2020s have seen a flowering of Irish writing - Sally Rooney, Claire Keegan, Anne Enright, Colm Tóibín - to name but a few. But a century ago, the island was enjoying an equally glittering literary decade and today's programme is an eve of St Patrick's Day celebration of that time. We will hear from Nobel winners - George Bernard Shaw’s Heartbreak House and WB Yeats’ Sailing to Byzantium - as well as extracts from Joyce's Ulysses, Sean O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock, Elizabeth Bowen’s The Last September and Katherine Tynan’s The Wind That Shakes The Barley and more. There is beauty, love and nature in these readings but you will hear, too, the shadow of conflict as well as rising concerns about the position of women and the power of elites in what was then a new nation. You will hear the music of Irish composers from the time from Hamilton Harty to Ina Boyle to Alicia Needham, from those who made Ireland their home like Michele Esposito and international composers inspired by the Island from Amy Beach to Arnold Bax. The readers are Ardal O’Hanlon and Olwen Fouéré.

Sailing to Byzantium by WB Yeats
Earthbound by Dorothy McArdle
Island Cross Talk by Tomás Ó Criomhthain
The Knight of Cheerful Countenance by Molly Keane
Juno and the Paycock by Sean O'Casey
The Wind That Shakes The Barley by Katherine Tynan
Thy Neighbours Wife by Liam O'Flaherty
The Munition Worker by Elizabeth Shane
Heartbreak House by George Bernard Shaw
The Last September by Elizabeth Bowen
Ulysses by James Joyce
Without My Cloak by Kate O'Brien
Crows by Padraig Colum
The Quest by Eva Gore Booth
The Heart of the Wood translated from the Irish by Lady Augusta Gregory
Galway by Mary Davenport O'Neill
The Planters Daughter by Austin Clarke

Produced in Salford by Olive Clancy

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 16 Mar 2025 18:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

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

  • 00:01

    Arnold Bax

    In Memoriam, GP 190

    Performer: Sir Mark Elder.
    • Halle Concerts Society.
    • Tr 8.
  • 00:01

    Arnold Bax

    In Memoriam

    Conductor: Sir Mark Elder. Orchestra: Hallé.
    • For the Fallen.
    • Halle Concerts Society.
    • 8.

  • WB Yeats

    Sailing to Byzantium read by Ardal O’Hanlon

  • Dorothy McArdle

    Earthbound read by Olwen Fouéré

  • 00:05

    Ina Boyle

    Phantasy for Violin and Chamber Orchestra

    Performer: Daniel Hope. Orchestra: Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • Tr 5.
  • 00:05

    Ina Boyle

    Phantasy for Violin and Chamber Orchestra

    Performer: Daniel Hope. Orchestra: Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra.
    • Irish Roots.
    • DG.
    • 5.

  • Tomás Ó Criomhthain

    Island Cross Talk read by Ardal O’Hanlon

  • 00:09

    Trad.

    The Kerfunken Jig

    Performer: Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill.
    • Green Linnet.
    • Tr 2.
  • 00:09

    Trad.

    The Kerfunken Jig

    Performer: Martin Hayes. Performer: Dennis Cahill.
    • The Lonesome Touch.
    • Green Linnel.
    • 2.

  • Molly Keane

    The Knight of Cheerful Countenance read by Olwen Fouéré

  • Arthur Duff

    Echoes of Georgian Dublin

    • Marco Polo.
    • 2.
  • 00:12

    Arthur Duff

    Echoes of Georgian Dublin: Song for Amanda

    Ensemble: RTÉ Sinfonietta. Conductor: Proinnsías Ó Duinn.
    • Romantic Ireland.
    • Marco Polo.
    • 2.

  • Sean O’Casey

    Juno and the Paycock performed by Olwen Fouéré and Ardal O’Hanlon

  • 00:14

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    Iirsher Liedlerl - The Pulse of an Irishman

    Singer: Sir Thomas Allen. Performer: Malcolm Martineau.
    • DG.
    • Tr 3.
  • 00:15

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    Iirsher Liedlerl - The Pulse of an Irishman

    Singer: Sir Thomas Allen. Performer: Malcolm Martineau.
    • Complete Folk Songs.
    • DG.
    • 3.

  • Katherine Tynan

    The Wind That Shakes The Barley read by Olwen Fouéré

  • 00:17

    Michele Esposito

    Violin Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Op. 67: III. Andante cantabile

    Performer: Carmelo Andriani.
    • RSK Entertainment Ltd, Brilliant Classics Licensing BV.
    • Tr 1.
  • 00:17

    Michele Esposito

    Violin Sonata No 3 in A Major

    Performer: Carmelo Andriani.
    • Esposito Music for Violin and Piano.
    • RSK Entertainment.
    • 1.

  • Liam O’Flaherty

    Thy Neighbour’s Wife read by Ardal O’Hanlon

  • 00:22

    Joan Trimble

    Buttermilk Point

    Performer: Roy Holmes.
    • Marco Polo.
    • Tr 1.
  • 00:22

    Joan Trimble

    Buttermilk Point

    Performer: Roy Holmes.
    • 2 Pianos - Songs and Chamber Music.
    • Marco Polo.
    • 1.

  • Elizabeth Shane

    The Munition Worker read by Olwen Fouéré

  • 00:25

    Trad.

    The Londonderry Air (orch Harty)

    Orchestrator: Sir Hamilton Harty. Orchestrator: Sir Hamilton Harty. Orchestra: Ulster Orchestra. Orchestra: Ulster Orchestra. Conductor: Bryden Thomson. Conductor: Bryden Thomson.
    • Chandos.
    • Tr 1.
  • 00:25

    Sir Hamilton Harty

    The Londonerry Air

    Performer: Ulster Orchestra. Performer: Bryden Thomson.
    • Harty: The Children of Lir.
    • Chandos.
    • 1.

  • GB Shaw

    Heartbreak House performed by Olwen Fouéré and Ardal O’Hanlon

  • 00:30

    Charles Wood

    Hail Gladdening Light

    Choir: The Sixteen. Conductor: Harry Christophers.
    • UCJ.
    • Tr 13.
  • 00:31

    Charles Wood

    Hail Gladdening Light

    Performer: The Sixteen. Performer: Harry Christophers.
    • A New Heaven.
    • UCJ.
    • 13.

  • Elizabeth Bowen

    The Last September read by Olwen Fouéré

  • 00:34

    Sir Hamilton Harty

    A John Field Suite, Polka

    Orchestra: Ulster Orchestra. Conductor: Bryden Thomson.
    • Chandos.
    • Tr 1.
  • 00:34

    Sir Hamilton Harty

    A John Field Suite, Polka

    Orchestra: Ulster Orchestra. Conductor: Bryden Thomson.
    • Harty: A John Field Suite.
    • Chandos.
    • 1.

  • James Joyce

    Ulysses read by Ardal O’Hanlon

  • 00:39

    Caldwell/O’Currain

    When They Started Jazzing There

    Performer: Conor Caldwell.
    • Copyright Control.
    • Tr 1.
  • 00:40

    Conor Caldwell

    When They Started Jazzing Here

    Performer: Conor Caldwell.
    • When They Started Jazzing Here.
    • Copyright Control.
    • 1.

  • Kate O’Brien

    Without My Cloak read by Olwen Fouéré

  • 00:43

    John Field

    Piano Concerto No. 7 in C Minor, H. 58: II. Rondo. Allegro moderato

    Performer: Benjamin Frith.
    • Naxos.
    • Tr 2.
  • 00:43

    John Field

    Piano Concerto No 7 in C Minor

    Performer: Benjamin Frith.
    • Field: Piano Concertos Nos 2 & 7.
    • Naxos.
    • 2.

  • Padraig Colum

    Crows read by Ardal O’Hanlon

  • 00:49

    Ruaidri Dáll Ó Catháin

    Da Mihi Manum

    Performer: Bruno Cocset.
    • Give me your Hand.
    • Alpha Classics.
    • 1.
  • 00:49

    Ruaidri Dáll Ó Catháin

    Da Mihi Manum

    Performer: Bruno Cocset.
    • Alpha Classics.
    • Tr.

  • Eva Gore-Booth

    The Quest read by Olwen Fouéré

  • 00:51

    Amy Beach

    The Fair Hills Of Éiré, O!, Op. 91

    Performer: Joanne Polk.
    • Heritage records.
    • Tr 8.
  • 00:52

    Amy Beach

    The Fair Hills of Eire

    Performer: Joanne Polk.
    • Under the Stars.
    • Unknown.
    • 8.

  • Translated from the Irish by Lady Augusta Gregory

    The Heart of the Wood read by Olwen Fouéré

  • 00:56

    Alicia Needham

    The Fairy's Lullaby

    Performer: Barbara Chapman. Performer: Debra Wendells Cross.
    • Albany.
    • Tr 3.
  • 00:56

    Alicia Needham

    The Fairy's Lullaby

    Performer: Debra Wendells Cross. Performer: Barbara Chapman.
    • Dreams Sweet Dreams.
    • Bongiovanni.
    • 3.
  • 00:58

    Trad.

    The Parting Glass

    Performer: Hozier.
    • Rubyworks.
    • Single.
  • 01:00

    Hozier

    The Parting Glass

    Performer: Hozier.
    • Live on the Late Late Show.
    • Rubyworks.
    • 1.

  • Mary Davenport O’Neill

    Galway read by Olwen Fouéré

  • John F Larchet

    By the Waters of Moyle

    • Marco Polo.
    • 4.
  • 01:02

    John Larchet

    By the Waters of Moyle

    Performer: Proinnsías Ó Duinn. Performer: RTÉ Sinfonietta.
    • Romantic Ireland.
    • Marco Polo.
    • 4.

  • Austin Clarke

    The Planters Daughter read by Ardal O’Hanlon

  • Charles Villiers Stanford

    Irish Rhapsody no 6

    • Chandos.
    • 1.
  • 01:08

    Charles Villiers Stanford

    Irish Rhapsody No 6

    Performer: Lydia Mordkovitch. Performer: Ulster Orchestra. Performer: Vernon Handley.
    • Irish Rhapsody.
    • Chandos.
    • 2.

Broadcast

  • Sun 16 Mar 2025 18:00
    BBC Radio 3

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