Bloomsday
Inspired by Ulysses, Stanley Townsend and Kathy Kiera Clarke take us on a virtual journey through the city of Dublin, reading from Joyce's classic novel, published in 1922.
Ulysses, James Joyce's groundbreaking novel of 1922 is the inspiration for this programme. A modernist retelling of The Odyssey, principally following the characters of Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom through the city of Dublin across one day (16th June 1904), we track the novel's own winding journey through Ireland's capital, from the shoreline of Sandycove, to the Freemason's Journal, the National Library of Ireland, Davy Byrne's Pub, right through to Molly Bloom's bed in Eccles Street.
As we travel through the city, Stanley Townsend and Kathy Kiera Clarke read extracts from Ulysses itself as well as a host of other works - some referenced directly in Joyce's text such as the Iliad and Shakespeare's Hamlet, plus other writings inspired by Joyce's work. The programme also reflects Joyce's huge passion for music, with works by Wagner, Mozart, Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini and Friedrich von Flotow representing the author's love of opera. Elsewhere we hear two music-hall favourites alluded to throughout Ulysses - James Lynam Molloy's 'Love's Old Sweet Song' and 'Those Lovely Seaside Girls' by Harry B. Norris. Classic Irish folk songs also feature alongside songs by Radiohead and Dublin post-punk band Fontaines D.C., and listen out for a very special traditional number called 'Carolan's Farewell', played on the guitar once owned by none other than James Joyce himself.
You can find a discussion about James Joyce’s book Finnegan's Wake on 91Èȱ¬ Radio 3's Free Thinking website – Matthew Sweet’s guests include Eimear McBride and New Generation Thinker Eleanor Lybeck:
/programmes/m00061kl
Readings:
Ulysses - James Joyce
Lycidas - John Milton
My Grief on the Sea - Douglas Hyde
Iliad - Lotus Eaters episode - 91Èȱ¬r, trans. Alexander Pope
Hamlet - William Shakespeare
Excerpt from the introduction to the ‘Dictionary to Dublin’, 1907 - E. MacDowel Cosgrave
James Joyce Interviews and Recollections’ - E H Mikhail
'All About People' - gossip column The Princess's Novelettes magazine, 16th June 1904
Finnegans Wake - James Joyce
Big Fish - Daniel Wallace
The Sixteenth of June - Maya Lang
Producer: Nick Taylor
Last on
Landmark: Finnegans Wake
Matthew Sweet discusses James Joyce's groundbreaking novel of 1939.
Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
-
00:01
James Lynam Molloy
LoveÂ’s Old Sweet Song
Performer: Ruby Murray.- EMI GBAYE6000479.
- Tr12.
-
James Joyce
Ulysses: Part 1 (Telemachus), read by Stanley Townsend
00:02Sir Hamilton Harty
Variations on a Dublin air for violin and orchestra
Performer: Ralph Holmes (violin), Ulster Orchestra, Bryden Thomson (conductor).- Chandos CHAN7033.
- Tr1.
John Milton
Lycidas, read by Kathy Kiera Clarke
00:07Trad, John Feeley
The ImmigrantÂ’s Song
Performer: John Feeley (guitar).- Overture Music 53.
- Tr3.
James Joyce
Ulysses: Part 2 (Nestor), read by Stanley Townsend
00:08The Dubliners
Rocky Road to Dublin
Performer: The Dubliners.- Universal Music Operations Ltd GBAJE6400382.
- Tr10.
Douglas Hyde
My Grief on the Sea, read by Kathy Kiera Clarke
00:10Radiohead
How To Disappear Completely
Performer: Radiohead.- EMI GBAYE0000813.
- Tr4.
James Joyce
Ulysses: Part 4 (Calypso), read by Stanley Townsend
00:17Johann Sebastian Bach
Cello Suite No 1 - Prelude
Performer: Karen Ashbrook (dulcimer).- MaggieÂ’s Music 095182020724.
- 12.
91Èȱ¬r, trans. Alexander Pope
The Iliad - Lotus Eaters episode, read by Kathy Kiera Clarke
00:22James Lynam Molloy
LoveÂ’s Old Sweet Song
Performer: Kathryn Rudge (mezzo-soprano), James Baillieu (piano).- CHAMPS HILL CHRCD092.
- Tr3.
James Joyce
Ulysses: Part 5 (Lotus Eaters), read by Stanley Townsend
James Joyce
Ulysses: Part 7 (Aeolus), read by Stanley Townsend
00:26Friedrich von Flotow
Martha – Overture
Performer: Johannes Schuler (conductor), Staatskapelle Berlin.- BERLIN CLASSICS 0021632BC.
- Tr1.
00:26Frédéric Chopin
4 Mazurkas for piano (Op.6), no.3 in E major
Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy.- LONDON 4437382.
- CD9 Tr3.
James Joyce
Ulysses: Part 8 (Lestrygonians), read by Stanley Townsend
00:30Vincenzo Bellini
La Sonnambula, Act 1: Come per me sereno
Performer: Edita Gruberova (soprano), Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Kurt Eichorn (conductor).- WARNER CLASSICS 5099908291752.
- Tr1.
William Shakespeare
Hamlet, Act 1 Scene 5, read by Kathy Kiera Clarke
James Joyce
Ulysses: Part 9 (Scylla and Charybdis), read by Stanley Townsend
00:34Dmitry Shostakovich
Hamlet - suite from the film music Op.116a: no.2; Ball at the palace
Performer: Dmitry Yablonsky (conductor), Russian Philharmonic Orchestra.- NAXOS 8557446.
- Tr4.
E. MacDowel Cosgrave
Excerpt from the introduction to the ‘Dictionary to Dublin’, 1907, read by Kathy Kiera Clarke
00:37Traditional Irish/Chris Hazell
Molly Malone – In Dublin’s Fair City
Performer: Bryn Terfel (baritone), London Voices (choir), London Symphony Orchestra, Barry Wordsworth (conductor).- Deutsche Grammophon 4777865.
- Tr6.
James Joyce
Ulysses: Part 10 (Wandering Rocks), read by Stanley Townsend and Kathy Kiera Clarke
E H Mikhail
James Joyce Interviews and Recollections, read by Kathy Kiera Clarke
00:40Friedrich von Flotow
Martha - M'appari
Performer: Kevin McDermott (tenor), Ralph Richey (piano).- Sunphone Records 777215105799.
- Tr12.
James Joyce
Ulysses: Part 11 (Sirens), read by Stanley Townsend
00:42Trad, T Bone Burnett, Gillian Welch
Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby
Performer: Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Gillian Welch.- Mercury Nashville USMR10000053.
- Tr10.
Anon
'All About People' - gossip column The Princess's Novelettes magazine, June 1904, read by Kathy Kiera Clarke
00:45Harry B. Norris
Those Lovely Seaside Girls
Performer: Kevin McDermott (tenor), Ralph Richey (piano).- Sunphone Records 777215105799.
- Tr9.
James Joyce
Finnegans Wake - Anna Livia Plurabelle, read by James Joyce and Kathy Kiera Clarke
00:47Richard Wagner
Lohengrin - Act 3 Prelude
Performer: Daniel Barenboim (conductor), Chicago Symphony Orchestra.- TELDEC 450999595-2.
- CD1 Tr4.
James Joyce
Ulysses: Part 15 (Circe), read by Stanley Townsend
00:51Stephen Adams
The Holy City
Performer: Jeanette MacDonald.- RCA Camden ?CAL 750.
- Tr1.
00:51Hank Williams
RamblinÂ’ Man
Performer: Isobel Campbell. Performer: Mark Lanegan.- V2 VVR1035822.
- Tr6.
00:55Gioachino Rossini
Allegretto "Del pantelegrafo" (1860)
Performer: Alessandro Marangoni (piano).- Naxos 8.573864.
- Tr14.
00:55Gioachino Rossini
Allegretto "Un rien" (1860)
Performer: Alessandro Marangoni (piano).- Naxos 8.573864.
- Tr15.
James Joyce
Ulysses: Part 16 (Eumaeus), read by Stanley Townsend
00:56John Dowland
The Earl of Essex's Galliard
Performer: Jacob Heringman (lute), Rose Consort of Viols.- Naxos 8578015-16.
- Tr1.
Daniel Wallace
Big Fish, read by Kathy Kiera Clarke
James Joyce
Ulysses: Part 17 (Ithaca), read by Stanley Townsend
00:59Amilcare Ponchielli
La Gioconda - Act 3 sc.2 - Dance of the hours
Performer: Ondrej Lenard (conductor), Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.- NAXOS 8550924.
- Tr11.
James Joyce
Ulysses: Part 18 (Penelope), read by Kathy Kiera Clarke
01:07Rebecca Saunders
Molly’s Song 3 – shades of crimson
Performer: musicFabrik, Stefan Asbury.- KAIROS 0012182KAI.
- Tr3.
01:08Trad, John Feeley
CarolanÂ’s Farewell
Performer: John Feeley.- Overture Music 53.
- Tr12.
Maya Lang
The Sixteenth of June, read by Kathy Kiera Clarke
01:11Fontaines D.C.
Boys In The Better Land
Performer: Fontaines D.C..- Partisan Records USBQU1800212.
- Tr10.
Broadcasts
- Sun 16 Jun 2019 17:3091Èȱ¬ Radio 3
- Christmas Eve 2020 18:1591Èȱ¬ Radio 3