Midsummer Dreaming

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Summary

From sunset until sunrise on the solstice, Verity Sharp presents a dream-like night of radio documentaries from Radio 3's archives in a celebration of the vast imaginative possibilities of the radio and Between the Ears, Radio 3's own strand of adventurous feature-making, which was launched in 1993. The programme features radio signals bouncing off the Moon, documentaries woven from dreams, and dancers performing in duet with their younger selves, interspersed with a specially chosen playlist of music and field recordings. 9.32pm Knoxville: Summer of 1995. 10.08 When Silence Sings. 10.40 Portraits in Absentia. Composed by Jocelyn Pook. 11.08 Dancing on Air. 11.58 Inventions for Radio: The Dreams. By Barry Bermange with Delia Derbyshire. 12.43am Disequilibrium. 1.16 The Leaves. 1:33 Everything, Nothing, Harvey Keitel. 2.00 Heartsong. 2.54 Space Ham. 3.34 Private Dreams and Public Nightmares. 4:00 Omay. 4.39 Sight-Reading. 5.00 Nightingales of Berlin. 5.30 Aubade - a selection of music for a midsummer morning

Review

Anna Jones

Is there still a space for imaginative radio programming where the sounds – not the pictures – are the stars? The answer is a resounding yes and, were proof needed, this Saturday Radio 3 is devoting nine hours to mind-expanding features that push the boundaries, interspersed with music that “speaks to the theme of the night”, reflecting this year’s summer solstice.

Most of these documentaries are drawn from the BBC archive, but there is also a new creation called Dancing on Air, a fresh addition to Radio 3’s Between the Ears canon, at 11:08pm. And, fittingly, this special evening has been curated by Alan Hall and Eleanor McDowall, from the Falling Tree production company, who have not only made a plethora of programmes for the Between the Ears strand but have also won multiple awards for their innovative audio work.

Midsummer Dreaming

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