Classical

Landscape with Birds

Thursday 21 April 2005 19:30-22:30 (Radio 3)

Catalogue d'oiseaux , a Landscape with Birds: Five pieces from the bird catalogue by French composer Olivier Messiaen, together with the sounds of the birds
and natural landscape that inspired them. Pianist Peter Hill, who studied with Messiaen, plays and talks about the music, with soundscapes reflecting the structure of the pieces.

Twitching: Poet Laureate Andrew Motion reads six new bird poems: Blackbird, Song Thrush, Raven, Swallow, Wren, Sparrow. With the voices of the birds themselves.

Duration:

3 hours

Playlist:

Birdsong Bagatelles: Edward Cowie, the composer who is the artist in residence of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, introduces the first broadcast of his new work for the Coull String Quartet. It's a set of 24 portraits of common British birds, their songs and behaviour, from the wren and the skylark to the woodpigeon
and the heron.

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird: Another chance to hear the award-winning Radio 3 feature inspired by one of our most familiar and best-loved birds and its remarkable song.