Radio 3 Requests - Purcell Weekend - Emma Kirkby

Soprano and early music specialist Emma Kirkby presents a special edition of the programme to mark the BBC Radio 3's Purcell Weekend, with an eclectic selection of listeners' requests that show off Purcell's music for church, chamber, ceremonial and theatre. Featuring Dido's Lament - in versions both familiar and unfamiliar, Purcell's instrumental works as represented by a Trio Sonata, two virtuoso Fantasias as well as the Music for the Funeral of Queen Mary. Plus arguably some of the finest vocal music ever written in the English language - from the Shakespearean song If Music Be the Food of Love to the great masterpieces Come Ye Sons of Art and the 1692 Ode for St Cecilia's Day. There are also recordings by some of the world's leading Purcell and early music performers, including Andrew Parrott and The Taverner Consort, James Bowman, Catherine Bott, Alfred Deller, Les Arts Florissants and Emma herself. The guest request is from another great Purcell specialist - Charles Medlam, a viola da gamba player in London Baroque. Playlist: Dido's Lament: When I am laid in earth (Dido and Aeneas) Emma Kirkby (soprano) Taverner Choir and Consort Andrew Parrott (conductor) Chandos CHAN8308, Tr 4 My Beloved Spake James Bowman (countertenor) Charles Daniel (tenor) Michael George (bass) Robert Evans (bass) Choir of New College, Oxford The King's Consort Robert King (conductor) HYPERION CDA66585, Tr 25 If Music Be The Food Of Love Catherine Bott (soprano) The Purcell Quartet Chandos CHAN0571, Tr 1 Sonata No 2 in E flat in Four Parts London Baroque Harmonia Mundi HMX290143839, Trs 5-9 Jehova Quam Multi Sunt Hostes Mihi Les Arts Florissants William Christie (director) Virgin Classics 3951442, Tr 1 Ode on St Cecilia's Day, 1692 'Hail, Bright Cecilia (excerpt) Taverner Choir and Consort Andrew Parrott (conductor) EMI CDC 747490 2, Trs 8-11 Music For The Funeral Of Queen Mary Westminster Abbey Choir New London Consort Martin Neary (conductor) Sony SK 66243, Trs 22, 24 and 25 Fantasia: Three Parts Upon A Ground Leonhardt Consort Teldec 9031776082, Tr 6 Fairest Isle Alfred Deller (countertenor) Wieland Kuijken (bass viol) William Christie (harpsichord) Harmonia Mundi HM90249, Tr 4 They That Go Down To Sea In Ships Charles Brett (countertenor) Inia Te Wiata (bass) Academy of St Martin In The Fields Choir Of St John's College, Cambridge George Guest (conductor) Decca 444 525-2, Tr 1 Fantasia in C minor for violas da gamba Fretwork Virgin Classics VC 545 062 2, Tr 4 Come Ye Sons Of Art Julia Gooding (soprano) James Bowman, Christopher Robinson (countertenor) Howard Crook (tenor), David Wilson-Johnson, Michael George (bass) Choir and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Gustav Leonhardt (conductor) Virgin Classics VC 759 243 2, Trs 21-29 Dido's Lament (Dido and Aeneas) - arranged for brass ensemble Fine Arts Brass Ensemble NI 5546, Tr 34.