±«Óãtv

To mark the winter solstice, a chance to hear a programme first broadcast on ±«Óãtv Radio 4 on 1st October in which Jarvis Cocker brought his award winning series Wireless Nights to Salford, forming part of this year's ±«Óãtv Philharmonic Presents... series, a celebration of orchestral music in its many different forms.

In front of a studio audience, Jarvis Cocker and the ±«Óãtv Philharmonic weave tales of insomnia, nocturnal inspirations and dark imaginings from the world of classical music - against the backdrop of a President embroiled in the Vietnam War. There's also a special performance from Jarvis himself.

Jarvis tells stories of an insomniac German Count who supposedly had Bach compose his Goldberg Variations as a sleeping aid, and a wired President Nixon listening to Rachmaninov in the small hours when he felt the urge to go on a bizarre excursion in the presidential limo.

He also conjures up music that came in dreams and revelations – from Stravinsky's wild visions in the Rite of Spring to Schumann's once forgotten Violin Concerto, which apparently re-emerged during a séance many years after the composer's death.

Maxime Tortelier conducts the ±«Óãtv Philharmonic led by Yuri Torchinsky. Anthony Marwood plays solo violin and Peter Donohoe plays solo piano.

First broadcast on ±«Óãtv Radio 4 and repeated on 6 Music to mark the Winter Solstice.

Producers: Laurence Grissell and Neil McCarthy