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Just Williams

A cast list of characters called William; authors from Boyd, William Carlos Williams, CK, Will Harris; to composers and performers like Byrd, William Grant Still, Mary Lou Williams

Actors William Gaminara and Rose Williams bring us an array of characters called Bill or William; and writing from William Boyd’s spy novel Restless, to American poet Billy Collins’ poem The Best Cigarette, Wordsworth and Blake to Will Harris and Richmal Crompton’s “Just William”.
Musically, we move from the folk song about Barbara Allen and Sweet William to Nat King Cole’s version of Sweet William, through Roderick Williams’s re-arrangement of William Byrd’s Ave Verum Corpus to William Grant Still’s Prayer from his Symphony no 3. and Grace Williams’s Calm Sea in Summer, Harry Gregson-Williams’s music for Chicken Run to American jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams's Walkin’ and Swingin’.

Producer: Simon Funnell
Editor: Robyn Read

Readings:
Shakespeare Richard III
Billy Collins The Best Cigarette
Richmal Crompton Just William
CK Williams Peggy
William Boyd Restless
William Wordsworth By the Sea
William Carlos Williams Love Song
Barbara Allen
William Fiennes The Music Room
Will Harris Brother
William Blake The Garden of Love
William Shakespeare Twelfth Night

1 hour, 14 minutes

On radio

Today19:45
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are the time of the day

  • 18:46

    William Walton

    Richard III, A Shakespeare Suite:Prelude

    Performer: Philharmonia Orchestra, William Walton (conductor).
    • Walton: Scenes from Henry V film music.
    • Warner Classics 072345650074.
    • Tr1.

  • William Shakespeare

    Extract from Richard III, read by William Gaminara

  • Billy Collins

    The Best Cigarette, read by Rose Williams

  • 18:50

    Mary Lou Williams

    Walking and Swinging

    Performer: Andy Kirk and His Twelve Clouds of Joy.
    • Selected Favourites Vol. 8.
    • Charly Records 842914026956.
    • Tr8.

  • Richmal Crompton

    Extract from Just William, read by William Gaminara

  • 18:55

    Harry Gregson‐Williams

    Chicken Run: Returning Home

    Performer: Studio Orchestra.
    • Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).
    • Sony Masterworks G0100005189893C.
    • Tr22.

  • Richmal Crompton

    Extract from Just William, read by William Gaminara

  • CK Williams

    Peggy, read by Rose Williams

  • 18:58

    Trad.

    A Horse Named Bill (Live)

    Performer: Bob Gibson.
    • Live in Cornwall 1957.
    • Folk Era Records FE1484CD.
    • CD2 Tr6.

  • William Boyd

    Extract from the novel Restless, read by William Gaminara

  • 19:01

    William Lloyd Webber

    The Gardens at Eastwell (A Late Summer Impression)

    Performer: Nash Ensemble.
    • William Lloyd Webber: Piano Music, Chamber Music & Songs.
    • Hyperion CDA67008.
    • Tr8.

  • William Boyd

    Extract from the novel Restless, read by William Gaminara

  • 19:04

    William Grant Still

    Symphony No. 3 “ The Sunday Symphony”:II. Prayer (Very slow)

    Performer: Fort Smith Symphony orchestra, John Jeter (conductor).
    • Still: Symphonies Nos. 2 & 3 – Wood Notes.
    • Naxos 8.559676.
    • Tr10.
  • 18:45

    Lionel Bart

    As Long as He Needs Me

    Performer: Sally Dexter (vocalist), London Palladium Orchestra, Martin Koch (conductor).
    • Oliver! (1994 London Palladium Cast recording).
    • First Night Records CAST CD 47.
    • Tr19.

  • William Wordsworth

    By the Sea, read by Rose Williams

  • 19:14

    Grace Williams

    Sea Sketches for String Orchestra: V. Calm Sea in the Summer

    Performer: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, John Andrews (conductor).
    • Grace Williams: Orchestral Works.
    • Resonus Classics RES 10349.
    • Tr14.
  • 19:20

    Andy Pask, Charlie Morgan

    Overkill (Theme to ‘The Bill’)

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • ITV Themes.
    • Pickwick.
    • Tr11.

  • William Carlos Williams

    Love Song, read by William Gaminara

  • 19:21

    Wilhelm Friedemann Bach

    Duet or Flute and Oboe No. 6 in F Minor, F.58:I. Un poco allegro

    Performer: Sung-hyun Cho (flute), Kyeong Ham (oboe).
    • BACH.
    • Decca 4859293.
    • Tr21.

  • Traditional

    Barbara Allen, traditional English folksong, read by Rose Williams

  • 19:24

    Traditional, Joan Baez (arranger)

    Barbara Allen

    Performer: Joan Baez.
    • Joan Baez Vol 2.
    • Vanguard VCD79595-2.
    • Tr10.

  • William Fiennes

    Extract from The Music Room: A Memoir, read by Rose Williams

  • 19:28

    William Wostenholm, Lionel Tertis (arranger)

    The Question, Op. 13: No. 1

    Performer: Timothy Ridout (violin), James Baillieu (piano).
    • A Lionel Tertis Celebration.
    • Harmonia Mundi HMM90537677.
    • CD2 Tr13.
  • 19:31

    Gioachino Rossini

    William Tell opera in 4 Acts: Overture

    Performer: Orchestra dell’ Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Antonio Pappano (conductor).
    • Rossini: William Tell: Pappano.
    • EMI Classics 0288 262.
    • Tr7.

  • Will Harris

    Brother Poem, read by William Gaminara

  • 19:34

    S. Wayne, J. Sherman

    Sweet William (and his Lily of the Valley)

    Performer: Nat King Cole.
    • The Extraordinary (Deluxe Edition).
    • Capitol Catalog Mkt 00602537788 071.
    • CD2 Tr3.

  • William Blake

    The Garden of Love, read by Rose Williams

  • 19:38

    William Byrd, Roderick Williams (arranger)

    Ave Verum Corpus Reimagined

    Performer: ORA Singers (choir).
    • Upheld by Stillness: Renaissance Gems and their Reflections Vol1: Byrd.
    • Harmonia Mundi OJCCD 0682.
    • Tr14.
  • 19:43

    Bill Evans

    Peace Piece

    Performer: Bill Evans (piano), Sam Jones (bass), Philly Joe Jones (drums).
    • Everybody Digs Bill Evans.
    • Riverside.
    • Tr7.

  • William Shakespeare

    Extract from Twelfth Night – Act 1 Scene 1, read by William Gaminara

  • 19:47

    Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Serenade to Music

    Performer: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Manze (conductor).
    • Vaughan William: Orchestral Works.
    • Onyx ONYX4212.
    • Tr1.

  • William Shakespeare

    Extract from Twelfth Night, Act 1, Scene 1, read by William Gaminara

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    BBC Radio 3

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