From page 81 of ' When Two or Three '
'Yams in West Africa'
Captain S. R. RATTRAY
Harvesting in West Africa is perhaps more interesting from the religious standpoint-using ' religious ' in a wide sense-than from the agricultural. In this talk about yams the former aspect will be stressed, while the latter will be afforded only a passing notice.
An early historian of West African customs-one Edward Bowdick-who lived in the beginning of the nineteenth century-once wrote las follows: 'The yam custom is like tfe Saturnalia ... the grossest liberty prevails '.
; The yam harvest festival was, in fact, a thanksgiving to that Earth Goddess, from whom all first fruits were supposed to come, and an occasion when the West African man and woman could work off dangerous repressions.
S. R. Rattray , who is to give this interesting talk, has spent a number of years in West Africa, and is one of the best-known authorities on the native peoples. Among the works he has written may be mentioned ' Ashanti Law ', ' Ashanti Proverbs '. ' Religion and Art in Ashanti ', and ' Hausa Folk Lore'.
Harry Cumpson (pianoforte),
Cyril Towbin (violin), David Dawson (viola), and Carl Stern (violoncello) : Pianoforte Quartet in C minor, Op. 60 (Brahms)-1. Allegro non troppo; 2. Scherzo : Allegro; 3. Andante ; 4. Finale: Allegro commodo
French Talk
I. Le Chômage'
E. M. STÉPHAN
The present course, designed for pupils from their second year onwards, is again to be given under the general supervision of M. Emile M. Stephari , senior lecturer in French at University College, London, who is also undertaking most of the broadcasting. In alternate weeks he has the assistance of Mile. E. R. Monteil.
In order to accustom listeners to a variety of voices M. Stephan from time to time calls on various collaborators. This term two such broadcasts will be given by M. Vigne and M. Salaun respectively. The lessons are conducted entirely in French, so that pupils may learn to rely wholly upon their ears -which is exactly what they will have to do if they ever go abroad. French boys and girls will occasionally take part in the lessons in the studio.
At the Organ of The Trocadero Cinema,
Elephant and Castle
Relayed from
The Granada, Walthamstow
by MAURICE VINDEN
From The Concert Hall, Broadcasting
House
British History
I-' The New Factories'
RHODA POWER
Last term you heard all about the eighteenth century, up to the year 1776 ; this term these broadcasts continue from that date and cover British history up to the year 1851. These years cover the introduction of two things that were to change the whole history of Britain. The new factories and the coming of the railways.
It is about the former that
Miss Rhoda Power is to tell you today. In the early days of weaving and spinning machines, when the new factories came into being, people found it very difficult to grow used to the new conditions. The workers had been accustomed to spinning and weaving in their own homes. They were full of resentment against the coming of the machines.
The Fun of Writing
'Verse-Singing a Story'
S. P. B. MAIS
by RUTH GOURLAY
Leader, FRANK THOMAS
including Weather Forecast and Bulletin for Farmers
DESMOND MACCARTHY
J. A. SCOTT WATSON (Professor of Rural Economy, University of Oxford)
Tonight Professor Scott Watson is bringing to the microphone Mr. Mervyn Davies , who is very prominent among the agriculturists in South Wales. Mr. Mervyn Davies will discuss the agricultural outlook in his home district, with special reference to the acute crisis in the store cattle rearing industry. His views will he of great interest not only to breeders of ' stores ', but to all who are concerned with cattle, whether for milk or beef production.
Bach Celebration under the direction of C. SANFORD TERRY , Litt.D., Mus.D., LL.D. (Hon. Fellow of Clare College,
Cambridge)
ORGAN MUSIC played by BERKELEY MASON
Prelude and Fugue (the Little) in E minor
AUabreve
Fugue (the Short) in G minor
This listing contains language that some may find offensive.
THE B.B.C. ORCHESTRA
(Section B)
Leader, ARTHUR CATTERALL
Conducted by ALBERT COATES
Miaskovsky, who celebrated his fifty-fourth birthday on April 20, has been hailed by a leading Russian critic as ' the greatest living Russian symphonist since Glazunov '. Whether or not the greatest, he is certainly the most prolific, for he has already written fourteen or fifteen full-length symphonies-to say nothing of symphonic poems and other large-scale compositions.
He is the son of a General of the military Engineers and, like Dostoevsky and Mussorgsky, served for a time in the Engineers himself. He was twenty-five before he decided on a musical career and threw up his commission to study under Gliere. He also worked for a short time with Rimsky-Korsakov and Liadov. During the Great War and Revolution, 1914-20, Miaskovsky served in the army again, but in 1921 he was appointed Professor of Composition at the Moscow Conservatoire.
Miaskovsky's Eleventh Symphony,
Op. 34, was written during the autumn of 1931 and was first performed in a Moscow Radio Concert in January, 1933. It is one of his most straightforward works ; the lyrical, melodious slow movement, in particular, makes an immediate appeal. The last movement is a set of free variations, constructed on similar lines to the finale of Beethoven's ' Eroica '.
including Weather Forecast and Forecast for Shipping
A Play by JOHN C. MOORE
' Oak Trees ' was broadcast in th!
Regional programme last night
JACK PAYNE WITH HIS ORCHESTRA
