A play for broadcasting by Walter de la Mare
The Characters
(BypermissionoftheGarrickTheatre)
The action takes place near and at the new patient's house, on an English coast road, on a frosty autumn night
The music specially composed by Armstrong Gibbs
A small orchestra from Section C of the BBC Orchestra (led by Laurance Turner ), and a chorus of female voices, conducted by Joseph Lewis
Production by Felix Felton
' To me ', Walter de la Mare once said, ' it is utter nonsense to assume that an imaginative piece of poetry is lacking in reality. An imaginative experience is not only as real as, but far realer than an unimaginative one.' That exactly indicates the nature of de la Mare's peculiar genius, which exists in a self-created world where fantasy and reality are inextricably confused.
' Music from the Sea ' is a typical product of that genius. The realistic, almost matter-of-fact dialogue has mysterious overtones. And on the other hand the strange music from the sea that haunts the old composer in his lonely house among the sand-dunes is real, not the mere hallucination of an old and tired brain. Armstrong Gibhs is an ideal musical-collaborator for de la Mate His ' Peacock Pie ' music is well known, and listeners will remember his music for the radio version of Henry Brocken.