Main content

Rescue at Sea

Music evoking sea adventure and rescue from Debussy, Ravel, Anna Clyne and Mumford & Sons alongside writing by Eva Ibbotson, E Annie Proulx, Lord Tennyson and William Wordsworth.

Carla Henry, Josh Bryant Jones and Blue Lights actor Martin McCann bring us readings evoking the sea set alongside music ahead of next Saturday's special day when Radio 3 travels to lighthouses around the UK.

We will hear the imagined words of children planning sea adventure in Michael Morpurgo and Eva Ibbotson, the terrifying descriptions of cliff-like waves in Sebastian Junger’s The Perfect Storm, part of Wordsworth's poem about the bravery of Grace Darling, swashbuckling tales from Patrick O’Brian and tales of trade in the Horn of Africa from Abdulrazak Gurnah, and the Irish RNLI lifeboat helm and poet Eleanor Hooker's poem Float to Live.

Our sea and rescue-inspired music includes orchestral pieces written by Edward Elgar, Edvard Grieg and Peter Maxwell Davies, songs performed by Charles Trenet, Mumford & Sons and Fontella Bass, and sea shanties and traditional sea hymns giving thanks for rescue.
We will journey out hopeful, encounter a sudden storm, face disaster, rescue and return to port as seasoned sea dogs.

Producer in Salford: Olive Clancy

Readings:
Katherine Mansfield - A Little Boys Dream
Zora Neale Thurston - Their Eyes Were Watching Gods
Michael Morpurgo - Kensuke’s Kingdom
Amy Sackville - Orkney
Robert Louis Stevenson - Treasure Island
Abdulrazak Gurnah - By the Sea
Patrick O’Brian - The Nutmeg of Consolation
Horace - Stormy Seas
Samuel Taylor Coleridge - The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (extract)
Eva Ibbotson - Journey to the River Sea
Thomas O’Crohan - A currach in the midst of a storm
Yann Martel - Life of Pi
William Shakespeare - The Tempest
E Annie Proulx - The Shipping News
Sebastian Junger - The Perfect Storm
Ben Fogle/James Cracknell - The Crossing
Alfred, Lord Tennyson - The Kraken
Bruce Chatwin - In Patagonia
Eleanor Hooker - Float to Live
William Wordsworth - Grace Darling (extract)
Oliver Jeffers - Lost and Found
Derek Mahon - Everything is Going to Be Alright

17 days left to listen

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 20 Sep 202619:45
BBC Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Feuds, Rivalries, Arguments and Quarrels

Next

The Circus

See all episodes from Words and Music

Music Played

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

  • 00:03

    Philip Glass

    Choosing Life

    Performer: Martin Jacoby.
    • Silent Star Music.
  • 00:03

    Charles Trenet

    La Mer

    Singer: Charles Trenet. Ensemble: Ensemble.
    • EMI.
  • 00:07

    Peter Maxwell Davies

    Farewell to Stromness

    Orchestra: Orchestra of the Swan. Performer: David Le Page.
    • Sigum Classics.
  • 00:13

    Trad.

    Kellam's Reel

    Ensemble: The Hands Free.
    • New Amsterdam.
  • 00:15

    Maya Youssef

    The Sea

    Performer: Maya Youssef.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
  • 00:20

    David Gray

    Sail Away With Me

    • IHT Records.
  • 00:21

    Elisabeth Lutyens

    En Voyage 1 Overture

    Performer: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Lyrita.
  • 00:25

    Gioachino Rossini

    The Barber of Seville

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
  • 00:28

    Edward Elgar

    Where corals lie

    Singer: Janet Baker. Performer: Jacqueline du Pré. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: John Barbirolli.
    • EMI.
  • 00:33

    Jerod Impichchaachaaha' Tate

    Tracing Mississippi: IV. Hashi Hiloha (Sun Thunder)

    Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony.
    • Azica Records.
  • 00:39

    Edvard Grieg

    Peer Gynt

    Performer: Oslo Philharmonic.
    • Sony.
  • 00:42

    Rued Langgaard

    Symphony no. 15 "Søstormen" Storm at Sea - BVN 375

    Performer: Artur Rubinstein Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Danacord Records.
  • 00:48

    James Horner

    The Perfect Storm

    Performer: The Band of HM Royal Marines, Plymouth.
  • 00:53

    Nitin Sawhney

    Transitions

    Performer: Nitin Sawhney.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
  • 00:54

    John Bacchus Dykes

    Eternal father, strong to save

    Performer: Huddersfield Choral Society.
    • EMI.
  • 00:57

    Fontella Bass

    Rescue Me

    • Jewell Records.
  • 01:00

    Penguin Cafe

    Rescue

    Orchestra: Penguin Cafe.
    • Erased Tapes.
  • 01:05

    Anna Clyne

    In the Gale

    Performer: Yo‐Yo Ma.
    • The Birdsong Project.
  • 01:10

    Mumford & Sons

    After the Storm

    Ensemble: Mumford & Sons.
    • Glassnote Entertainment Group LLC.
  • 01:11

    Ernest Chausson

    Poeme de l'amour et de la mer - Op 19 interlude

    Orchestra: Orchestre national de Lille.
    • Alpha.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 6 Oct 202418:00
    BBC Radio 3
  • Sun 20 Sep 202619:45
    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.