Words and Music

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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

Drama

Music: Classical

A journey of discovery, weaving music with poetry and prose read by leading actors.

A weekly journey of discovery, weaving together a range of music with poetry and prose read by leading actors.

Words and Music: Seven Ages of Christmas

Seven Ages of Christmas

BBC Radio 3 - Words and Music, Seven Ages of Christmas

Robert Webb and Nina Sosanya present a mix of festive music, poetry and prose.

What does Christmas mean to different age groups? Nina Sosanya and Robert Webb read festive poetry and prose describing the manger and nativity plays to cooking and unwanted gifts.

Readers Nina Sosanya and Robert Webb delve into a Christmas stocking of poetry and prose covering all ages.  According to popular song Christmas is "the most wonderful time of the year", but whether or not you agree might depend on your age. Taking our cue from Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man, Words and Music explores the varying attitudes to Christmas for different age groups - from the baby in a manger to wide-eyed, Santa-obsessed youngsters; blasé teenagers to relationship-stymmied 20 and 30 somethings; life-weary parents to grumpy old men and women. We hear from Jane Austen's Emma and Mr Knightley's reluctance to leave his fireside on Christmas Eve to visit friends, a cash-strapped teenage Adrian Mole, singleton Queenie, eleven-year-old Anne of Green Gables overcome with wonder at her Christmas dress, eight-year-old Kevin, who finds himself unexpectedly Home Alone for Christmas, fastidious planner and cooking guide for so many of us Delia Smith, T.S. Eliot's Magi, and the ultimate Christmas humbug, Ebenezer Scrooge himself. 

The musical soundtrack is packed with seasonal favourites, with carols ranging from a mediaeval lullaby through to Florence Price, Sally Beamish and John Rutter, and popular songs from Louis Armstrong and Mariah Carey. And as it’s Christmas Eve, there’s music especially written for this magical night by Tchaikovsky (The Nutcracker); Corelli (Christmas Concerto); and Puccini (La Bohème). 

From the contemplative and spiritual to raucous party fun, whatever your view of Christmas, there will be something that chimes with your festive outlook.

Producer: Graham Rogers

READINGS 
Sarah Teasdale:  Christmas Carol 
Nicholas Moore:   On Christmas Eve 
Esther Freud:        Hideous Kinky 
John Irving:          A Prayer for Owen Meany 
Alice Beer:           December 24th 
LM Montgomery:  Anne of Green Gables 
Tod Strasser:         Home Alone 
Marion Strobel:   On Christmas 
Sue Townsend:     The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 ¾
Sharyn November:  Christmas 
Candice Carty-Williams:    Queenie 
Jane Austen:           Emma 
Shona Kerr-Hill:      Christmas Shopping 
Delia Smith:            Delia Smith's Christmas
Judith Holder:        The Secret Diary of a Grumpy Old Woman
Pam Ayres:              Goodwill To Men - Give Us Your Money
Agatha Christie:      The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding
Elizabeth Strout:      Oh William!
TS Eliot:                  Journey of the Magi 
Charles Dickens:     A Christmas Carol

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

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Words and Music

Seven Ages of Christmas

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