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: Northumbria

Northumbria

BBC Radio 3 - Words and Music, Northumbria

From the Lindisfarne Gospels and Bede to poetry by Sean O'Brien and Katrina Porteous.

From the ancient kingdom of Northumbria and the writing of medieval monks to contemporary depictions of Hadrian's Wall, Percy family territory and Newcastle's cityscape.

As the BBC Proms broadcast from Sage Gateshead, today's programme takes inspiration from the writers and music associated with Northumbria.  From Bede and Anglo-Saxon verse to the Percy family depicted in Shakespeare's Henry IV, our journey takes in the wildlife illustrated by Thomas Bewick and the landscapes cut through by Hadrian's Wall. The music includes the sound of Northumbrian pipes and folk performers, alongside recordings by the Royal Northern Sinfonia who are based at Sage Gateshead.  The readers are Zoe Hakin and Ross Waiton.  We also hear a new poem commissioned by Radio 3 from New Generation Thinker Jake Morris-Campbell and Professor Michelle Brown reading from the Lindisfarne Gospels. 

Producer: Ruth Watts 
 
Readings: 
Entry for the Year 793, Laud Chronicle, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle trans G.N. Garmonsway
Basil Bunting, Briggflatts 
Katrina Porteous, The Sea Road, Howick
The Lindisfarne Gospels an extract read by Professor Michelle Brown 
Jake Morris-Campbell, The Lindisfarne Gospels, Somewhere on the A1(M) commissioned for Words & Music 
Gordon Burn, The North of England Home Service 
Anne Cleeves, The Moth Catcher
Sean O'Brien, On The Toon 
Alexander Rose, Kings in the North The House of Percy in British History 
William Shakespeare Hotspur Henry IV, A.IV sc.3, Henry IV, P.1 
Penelope Lively, Moon Tiger
Katrina Porteous, The Sea Road, Lindisfarne
Basil Bunting, Fishermen
Anne Stevenson, Jarrow
Anne Stevenson, Hadrian’s Poems 1955-2005
W.H. Auden, Roman Wall Blues
Durham trans. S.A.J. Bradley
The Dream of the Rood trans. S.A.J. Bradley

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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