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Into the American West

Inspired by the American frontier spirit, the call of the West, the stark beauty of the landscape and the grit of the people who lived there, from indigenous nations to settlers.

We trace the classic migrant trails across the US from the Mississippi River over the Rocky Mountains and out to the Pacific Ocean and you may recognise place names, real and imagined, from Brokeback Mountain to The Oregon Trail and Route 66. The music too evokes open spaces and independent people – from Aaron Copland’s An Outdoor Overture to Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite to Jessie Montgomery's Starburst. Our readings include passages by indigenous writers from John Rollin Ridge to Louise Erdrich as well as fiction from Amy Tan and Cormac McCarthy and poetry from Walt Whitman and Eliza Snow.
The readers are Henry Goodman and Lorelei King.

READINGS:
On the Mississippi by Hamlin Garland
My Ántonia by Willa Cather
A Cherokee Love Song by John Rollin Ridge
The Jump-Off Creek by Molly Gloss
Shane by Jack Schaeffer
Sometimes I Go About - Chippewa tribal poem
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
The Grass on the Mountain by Mary Austin
The Virginian by Owen Wister
Song of the Desert by Eliza Snow
Pioneers! O Pioneers! By Walt Whitman
Children of the Oregon Trail by Anna Rutgers Van der Loeff
The Redwoods by Louis Simpson
News of the World by Paulette Jiles
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy
When We Sold The Tent by Rhina P Espaillat
Wounded by Percival Everett
The Joy Luck Club By Amy Tan
Brokeback Mountain From Close Range by E Annie Proulx
The Nightwatchman by Louise Erdrich
Field by Ben Myers
If I Should Come Upon Your House Lonely in the West Texas Desert by Natalie Diaz

Produced in Salford by Olive Clancy

26 days left to listen

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sunday19:45
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

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

  • 00:01

    Aaron Copland

    An Outdoor Overture

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • The Copland Collection: Orchestral, Ballet Works 1936-1948.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 1.

  • Hamlin Garland

    On the Mississippi read by Henry Goodman

  • Willa Cather

    Extract from My Antonia read by Lorelei King

  • 00:06

    Antonín Dvořák

    String Quartet No 12 in F Major Op 96 B 179 American

    Performer: Prague String Quartet.
    • Election Day Music.
    • DG.
    • 1.

  • John Rollin Bridge

    A Cherokee Love Song read by Henry Goodman

  • Molly Gloss

    Extract from The Jump Off Creek read by Lorelei King

  • 00:11

    Valerie Coleman

    Shotgun Houses I

    Performer: David Shifrin.
    • Delos.
    • Tr8.
  • 00:15

    Bing Crosby

    Along the Santa Fe Trail

    • The Collection.
    • Warner Chapell.
    • 6.

  • Jack Schaeffer

    Extract from Shane read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:17

    Florence Price

    Dances in the Canebrakes (Arr. for Orchestra): No. 3, Silk Hat and Walking Cane

    Music Arranger: William Grant Still. Orchestra: Malmö Operaorkester. Conductor: John Jeter.
    • Naxos.
    • Tr11.

  • Chippewa Tribal Poem

    Sometimes I go about read by Lorelei King

  • 00:19

    Aaron Copland

    Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo: II. Corral Nocturne (Arr. for Guitar Quartet)

    Music Arranger: William Kanengiser. Performer: The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.
    • Delos.
    • Tr7.

  • Patrick deWitt

    Extract from The Sisters Brothers read by Henry Goodman

  • Mary Austin

    Extract from The Grass on the Mountain read by Lorelei King

  • 00:23

    Samuel Barber

    Knoxville Summer of 1915

    Singer: Dawn Upshaw. Orchestra: Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
    • Knoxville Summer of 1915.
    • Nonesuch.
    • 10.

  • Owen Wister

    Extract from The Virginian read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:26

    Michael Torke

    Concerto for Violin 1: Lively

    Performer: Tessa Lark. Performer: Albany Symphony Orchestra. Performer: Albany Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: David Alan Miller. Conductor: David Alan Miller.
    • Sky.
    • Albany Records.
    • 7.

  • Eliza Snow

    Extract from Song of the Desert read by Lorelei King

  • 00:29

    Ennio Morricone

    Once Upon a Time in the West

    Performer: Raphaela Gromes. Performer: Julian Riem.
    • Sony Classical.
    • Tr5.

  • Walt Whitman

    Extract from O Pioneers read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:31

    Daniel Freiberg

    Cronicas Latinoaermicanos

    Performer: Pacho Flores.
    • DG.
    • Tr8.

  • Anna Rutgers van der Loeff

    Extract from Children of the Oregon Trail read by Lorelei King

  • 00:34

    William Grant Still

    Afro American Symphony III. Animato

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Paul Freeman.
    • Black Composer Series Vol 2.
    • Cedille records.
    • 4.

  • Louis Simpson

    The Redwoods read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:38

    Eric Whitacre

    The Pacific Has No Memory

    Performer: Anne Akiko Meyers. Orchestra: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
    • Avie.
    • Tr8.

  • Paulette Jiles

    Extract from The News of the World read by Lorelei King

  • 00:42

    Dawn Avery

    Onekha’shon:a, Ya’kon:kwe - the waters, the women

    Performer: Duo Concertante.
    • Maquis.
    • Tr1.
  • 00:45

    Roy Harris

    American Creed I - Free to Dream

    Orchestra: Seattle Symphony. Conductor: Gerard Schwarz.
    • Delos Productions.
    • Tr4.

  • Cormac McCarthy

    Extract from The Crossing read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:49

    Ricardo Herz

    Sísifo na cidade grande

    Performer: Sphinx Virtuosi.
    • Songs for our Times.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 7.

  • Rhina P Espaillat

    When we sold the tent read by Lorelei King

  • 00:52

    Jessie Montgomery

    Starburst

    Orchestra: Orchestra of the Swan.
    • Starburst.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 7.

  • Percival Everett

    Wounded read by Henry Goodman

  • Amy Tan

    Extract from The Joy Luck Club read by Lorelei King

  • 00:56

    Troup

    Route 66

    Performer: Natalie Cole.
    • Capitol.
    • Tr5.

  • E Annie Proulx

    Extract from Brokeback Mountain read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:59

    Gustavo Santaolalla

    Brokeback Mountain

    Performer: Gustavo Santaolalla.
    • Verve.
    • Tr12.

  • Louise Erdrich

    Extract from The Nightwatchman read by Lorelei King

  • 01:01

    Lukas Foss

    American Landscapes: Part III - Allegro

    Performer: Sharon Isbin.
    • American Landscapes:.
    • Virgin Classics.
    • 7.

  • Ben Myers

    Field read by Henry Goodman

  • 01:06

    Jason Moran

    Arizona Landscape

    Performer: The Westerlies.
    • Westerlies record label.
    • Tr2.

  • Natalie Diaz

    Extract from If I should come across your house read by Lorelei King

  • 01:10

    Ferde Grofé

    Grand Canyon Suite: Sunrise

    Orchestra: New York Philharmonic. Conductor: Leonard Bernstein.
    • Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue & An American in Paris - Grofé: Grand Canyon Suite.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 1.

Broadcast

  • Sunday19:45
    BBC Radio 3

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