Main content

Portraits of Suffolk

Readings by Michael Maloney and Miranda Raison from works including Ronald Blythe's Akenfield and novels by Esther Freud and Melissa Harrison, music from Britten to Brian Eno.

Benjamin Britten founded the Aldeburgh Festival of Music and the Arts in 1948 and each June the concert halls and exhibition venues at Snape Maltings and local churches host performers and artists.
Words and Music takes as its theme the county of Suffolk. The items are all linked to Suffolk and the Festival with music featured in the very first concert, compositions about the county or by musicians associated with it; and prose and poetry, old and new, describe Suffolk life and landscape from writers born or resident there.

Musically the prime mover behind the Festival, Lowestoft-born Benjamin Britten, of course looms large but there are also other Suffolk composers like the eighteenth century Joseph Gibbs and the contemporary Magnus Fiennes, Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian and Alan Bullard. Plus Michael Tippett, who composed the music for Peter Hall's 1974 film based on the book Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village by Ronald Blythe. Traditional Suffolk folk songs and tunes sit alongside modern pop performers like Ed Sheeran and Nik Kershaw and Brian Eno’s ambient sounds reflect the county of his birth.

The rivers, coast and even Sizewell’s nuclear power station have inspired poets like Stevie Smith, John Betjeman, Blake Morrison and Deryn Rees-Jones while prose writers including Brendan Behan, Esther Freud and Melissa Harrison have explored the lives of the people of Suffolk.

The readings are by Orford’s Miranda Raison and Bury St Edmunds’ Michael Maloney.

Producer: Harry Parker

You can find a series of evening concerts recorded at this year's Aldeburgh Festival being broadcast on Radio 3 from Monday to Thursday next week (June 23rd to 26th) and then available on BBC Sounds. These feature the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers and a piano trio.

READINGS:
Alun Lewis Dawn on the East Coast
Stevie Smith The River Deben
W G Sebald Benacre Broad from The Rings of Saturn
Esther Freud from The Sea House
Ronald Blythe William Russ, Gravedigger from Akenfield
Deryn Rees-Jones Midnight Beach at Sizewell B
George Crabbe Peter Grimes from The Borough Letter XXII
Bernard Barton Dunwich
Edward Thomas Dunwich January 15th 1908 from a letter to Gordon Bottomley
Melissa Harrison from All Among the Barley
Trad. Black Shuck (Bungay)
Brendan Behan from Borstal Boy
John Impit Lushington (Quill) Gleaning Time in Suffolk
Emily Howes from The Painter’s Daughters
John Betjeman Felixstowe or The Last of Her Order
Jean Ingelow The Waveney
Maggie Hemingway from The Bridge
Blake Morrison Covehithe

27 days left to listen

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sunday 18:00
BBC Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Prague and Kafka

Next

The Party

See all episodes from Words and Music

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:01

    Benjamin Britten

    Four Sea Interludes, Op. 33a: II. Sunday Morning

    Orchestra: Ulster Orchestra. Conductor: Vernon Handley.
    • Chandos.
  • 00:04

    Magnus Fiennes

    Hymn

    Performer: BOND.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
  • 00:09

    Tom Rogerson & Brian Eno

    Idea of Order at Kyson Point

    • Dead Oceans.
  • 00:11

    Ed Sheeran

    Castle On The Hill

    • Atlantic Records UK.
  • 00:16

    Michael Tippett

    Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli

    Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Neville Marriner.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..
  • 00:22

    Benjamin Britten

    Four Sea Interludes Op. 33a: I. Dawn

    Performer: Anna Lapwood.
    • Signum Records.
  • 00:26

    Brian Eno

    Dunwich Beach, Autumn, 1960 (Remastered 2004)

    • EMI Marketing.
  • 00:29

    George Frideric Handel

    Organ Concerto in D Minor, Op 7, No. 4

    Performer: Karl Richter.
    • Sunday Club Records.
  • 00:34

    Benjamin Britten

    Billy Budd, Op. 50, Act II Scene 4: Interlude

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • Chandos.
  • 00:35

    Cevanne Horrocks-Hopayian

    A Dancing Place (Scherzo)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: François‐Xavier Roth.
    • LSO Live.
  • 00:38

    Alice Russell

    Humankind

    • Tru Thoughts.
  • 00:42

    Oscar Woods

    Oh, Joe the Boat Is Going Over

    • Topic.
  • 00:48

    Joseph Gibbs

    Sonata in D Minor, Op. 1 No. 1: IV. Aria. Andante

    Performer: Locatelli Trio.
    • Hyperion.
  • 00:55

    Nik Kershaw

    So Quiet

    • UMC (Universal Music Catalogue).
  • 00:58

    Henry Purcell

    Chacony in G Minor Z 730

    Ensemble: Emerson String Quartet.
    • UMC - Decca Gold.
  • 01:04

    Alan Bullard & Joanna Borrett

    Reflections on the River Stour

    • Self-released online.
  • 01:07

    Benjamin Britten

    Saint Nicolas, Op. 42 - Nicolas and the Pickled Boys

    Singer: Peter Pears. Performer: Ralph Downes. Choir: Aldeburgh Festival Choir. Choir: Boys From The Choir Of St. Mary-Le-Tower, Ipswich. Orchestra: Aldeburgh Festival Orchestra. Conductor: Benjamin Britten.
    • Decca Music Group Ltd..

Broadcasts

  • Sun 16 Jun 2024 18:00
    BBC Radio 3
  • Sunday 18:00
    BBC Radio 3

The hidden history of plant-based diets

The hidden history of plant-based diets

Forget social media influencers - the meat-free movement started with the Victorians.

Books website

Books website

Get closer to books with in-depth articles, quizzes and our picks from radio & TV.