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  • Radio Beckett

    Matthew Sweet presents a sequence of radio plays by Samuel Beckett, with Stephen Rea and Ian McKellen. Newly recorded in binaural sound as part of Radio 3's 70th season which celebrates seven decades ofpioneering music and culture since the founding of the Third Programme.

    Like no other dramatist, Beckett's works capture the pathos and irony of modern life.

    In the decade following the success of Waiting for Godot (1952), Samuel Beckett wrote some of his most absorbing work for radio, including the BBC's Third Programme. These plays are suffused with a musicality which, though evident in his novels, poetry and plays, is particularly remarkable in this medium. They are concerned with human isolation and the frailty of memory and communication.

    With the exception of the monologue FROM AN ABANDONED WORK, the plays can be heard in binaural surround sound. Just wear your headphones.

    The plays will give a great insight into the development of Beckett's style and into his approach to sound. Increasingly different in tone and conception from his stage work, the radio plays become more abstract as characters become less individualised and more representative.

    FROM AN ABANDONED WORK performed by Stephen Rea

    ROUGH FOR RADIO 1 
    He ..... Ron Cook
    She ..... Monica Dolan

    ROUGH FOR RADIO 2
    Animator ..... Stephen Dillane
    Stenographer ..... Louise Brealey
    Fox ..... Brian Protheroe
    Dick ..... Nick Underwood

    WORDS AND MUSIC 
    Croak ..... Ian McKellen
    Words ..... Carl Prekopp

    CASCANDO 
    Voice ..... Stanley Townsend
    Opener ..... David Seddon

    Music composed and directed by Roger Goula
    Composer's assistant: Jessica Jones

    Music performed by 
    Piano: Kit Downes
    Violin: Georgia Hannant
    Viola: Oli Langford
    Bass Clarinet: Nicola Baigent
    Flute: Michael Liu
    Cellist: Raphael Lang
    Synth: Jessica Jones

    Directed by Gaynor Macfarlane.

    https://www.mediafire.com/folder/zoglv2ay7k8rs/D3

    • Thanks Mike - I had a feeling you'd have that!

    • Absolutely wonderful, Mike! Many thanks.

  • Me too!

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