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Pastiche and Parody

Nothing is quite as it seems. Extracts are read by actors including Maggie Smith and Alan Rickman. Or is it Debra Stephenson and John Sessions? Music from Dudley Moore to Grainger.

In tribute to the actor John Sessions (11 January 1953 – 2 November 2020) another chance to hear him and Debra Stephenson displaying their vocal talents with an impression of Alan Rickman reading from Craig Brown’s Lost Diaries which satirises the writing style of various literary diarists, Shaw’s Pygmalion in the style of Rex Harrison, an imitation of a Greek epigram read in the voice of Helena Bonham Carter and Judi Dench giving a speech from Twelfth Night. Music includes a version of Thespis by Arthur Sullivan, Percy Grainger's Mock Morris and a piano performance by Dudley Moore as Little Miss Britten followed by Benjamin Britten's music for the wall scene in A Midsummer Night's Dream as the programme presents examples of pastiche and parody from characters in novels or operas pretending to be something, or someone, they are not to examples of out-and-out fakery.

Producer - Ellie Mant

Readings:
Poems of Ossian by James McPherson read by John Sessions
Twelfth Night by Shakespeare read by Debra Stephenson as Judi Dench
The Lost Diaries by Craig Brown read by John Sessions as Alan Rickman
Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray read by Debra Stephenson
Ode 1.22 (In the Style of Edgar Allen Poe) read by John Sessions as Ian McKellen
The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith read by Debra Stephenson
Selling Hitler by Robert Harris read by John Sessions
The Embarrassing Episode of Little Miss Muffet by Caryl Wetmore read by Debra Stephenson as Maggie Smith
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald read by John Sessions
Fragment in Imitation of Wordsworth by Catherine Maria Fanshawe read by Debra Stephenson as Penelope Wilton
The Darkening Ecliptic by Ern Malley read by John Sessions
Small World by David Lodge read by Debra Stephenson
A Guidebook to Intellectual Property, Patents, Trade Marks, Copyright and Designs by The Rt. Hon. Sir Robin Jacob, Daniel Alexander, Lindsay Lane read by John Sessions
To Mr. Pope. An Imitation of a Greek Epigram in ±«Óãtvr by Elijah Fenton read by Debra Stephenson as Helena Bonham Carter
Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw read by John Sessions as Rex Harrison
The Ballad of Imitation by Henry Austin Dobson read by Debra Stephenson as Imelda Staunton.

1 hour, 15 minutes

Last on

Sun 6 Dec 2020 17:30
±«Óãtv Radio 3

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Music Played

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

  • 00:00

    Peter Maxwell Davies

    3 Early Scottish motets; Si Quis Diligit Me

    Performer: The Fires of London, Peter Maxwell Davies (conductor).
    • UNICORN UKCD2044.
    • Tr16.

  • James Macpherson

    Poems of Ossian, read by John Sessions

  • Shakespeare

    Twelfth Night, read as Judi Dench (Debra Stephenson)

  • 00:03

    George Frideric Handel

    Se cangio spoglia (Serse)

    Performer: Silvia Tro Santafe (mezzo-soprano), Les Arts Florissants, William Christie (director).
    • VIRGIN 5457112.
    • CD1 Tr20.

  • Craig Brown

    The Lost Diaries, read as Alan Rickman (John Sessions)

  • 00:08

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Requiem: Lacrimosa

    Performer: London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis (conductor).
    • LSO LIVE LSO0127.
    • Tr7.
  • 00:11

    Igor Stravinsky

    Pulcinella: Gavotta con due variazioni

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra, Claudio Abbado (conductor).
    • DG 4394332.
    • Tr16.

  • William Makepeace Thackeray

    Vanity Fair, read by Debra Stephenson

  • Louis Untermeyer

    Ode 1.22 [In the Style of Edgar Allan Poe], read as Ian McKellen (John Sessions)

  • 00:17

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Mozartiana: Menuet

    Performer: English Chamber Orchestra, James Judd (conductor).
    • NOVALIS 1500572.
    • Tr6.

  • Patricia Highsmith

    The Talented Mr Ripley, read by Debra Stephenson

  • 00:22

    Richard Addinsell

    Warsaw Concerto - excerpt

    Performer: Christina Ortiz (piano), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Moshe Atzmon (conductor).
    • DECCA 414 348-2.
    • Tr1.

  • Robert Harris

    Selling Hitler, read by John Sessions

  • 00:27

    Albinoni (Giazotto)

    Adagio in G minor for organ and strings - excerpt

    Performer: The London Chamber Orchestra, Christopher Warren-Green (director).
    • VIRGIN VC7 91081-2.
    • Tr13.

  • Guy Wetmore Carryl

    The Embarrassing Episode of Little Miss Muffet, read as Maggie Smith (Debra Stephenson)

  • 00:34

    Dudley Moore

    Little Miss Britten

    Performer: Dudley Moore (voice/piano).
    • EMI CDEMC3727.
    • Tr7.
  • 00:35

    Benjamin Britten

    A Midsummer NightÂ’s Dream; Oh wall, full often hast thou heard my moans

    Performer: Adrian Thompson (Flute), Donald Maxwell (Bottom), City of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox (conductor).
    • VIRGIN VCD759305.
    • CD2 Tr15.

  • F. Scott Fitzgerald

    The Great Gatsby, read by John Sessions

  • 00:38

    Ives

    Country Band March

    Performer: United States Marine Band, Colonel Timothy W Foley (director).
    • NAXOS 8.570559.
    • Tr15.

  • Catherine Maria Fanshawe

    Fragment in Imitation of Wordsworth, read as Penelope Wilton (Debra Stephenson)

  • 00:44

    Ottorino Respighi

    Rossiniana; 1st movt

    Performer: ±«Óãtv Philharmonic, Gianadrea Noseda (conductor).
    • CHANDOS CHAN10388.
    • Tr5.

  • Ern Malley (James McAuley and Harold Stewart):

    The Darkening Ecliptic, read by John Sessions

  • 00:49

    Percy Grainger

    Mock Morris

    Performer: ±«Óãtv Philharmonic, Richard Hickox (conductor).
    • CHANDOS CHAN9584.
    • Tr12.

  • David Lodge

    Small World, read by Debra Stephenson

  • 00:52

    Arnold

    English Dances; Set 1 - Mesto

    Performer: The Philharmonia, Bryden Thomson (conductor).
    • CHANDOS CHAN8867.
    • Tr3.

  • The Rt. Hon. Sir Robin Jacob, Daniel Alexander, Lindsay Lane

    A Guidebook to Intellectual Property, Patents, Trade Marks, Copyright and Designs, read by John Sessions

  • 00:56

    Sergey Prokofiev

    Piano Concerto no.3 in C major; 3rd movt - excerpt

    Performer: Wrongly attrib Joyce Hatto (piano), National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, René Köhler (conductor).
    • CONCERT ARTIST CACD 9195-2.
    • Tr6.

  • Elijah Fenton:

    To Mr. Pope. An Imitation of a Greek Epigram in ±«Óãtvr, read as Helena Bonham Carter (Debra Stephenson)

  • 01:03

    Arthur Sullivan

    Thespis –- Pas de Chales

    Performer: DÂ’Oyly Carte Opera Orchestra, John Pryce-Jones (conductor).
    • THATÂ’S ENTERTAINMENT CDTER21188.
    • Cd2 Tr15.

  • George Bernard Shaw

    Pygmalion, read a Rex Harrison (John Sessions)

  • 01:07

    Loewe

    Just you wait (My Fair Lady)

    Performer: Marni Nixon (soprano), Orchestra, Andre Previn (conductor).
    • SONY SK66711.
    • Tr7.

  • Henry Austin Dobson

    The Ballad of Imitation, read as Imelda Staunton (Debra Stephenson)

  • 01:11

    Rosemary Brown

    Chopin Impromptu in E flat

    Performer: Peter Katin (piano).
    • PHILIPS 6500 049.

Producer note

Nothing is quite what it seems in this edition of Words and Music. We have authors and composers imitating the style of others as affectionate tribute or humorous parody. We have new music written to sound like old music.  We have imitation as a plot device, where characters in novels or operas pretend to be something, or someone, they are not. And we have out-and-out fakery. Extracts are read by a variety of actors including Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Alan Rickman and Ian McKellen. Or are they really Debra Stephenson and John Sessions?

The programme begins with one of the most famous literary falsehoods; the ancient Gaelic poet Ossian was actually invented by his 18th century publisher James Macpherson, who wrote the epic poems himself. This is paired with Peter Maxwell Davies’ re-working of an early Scottish Motet. Viola in Twelfth Night passes herself off as a man, and so can’t declare her love for Duke Orsino. There are of course many examples in opera of female characters disguising themselves as men – I’ve chosen one from Handel’s Serse, where Amastre sings ‘Though I change my appearance, I shall never change my heart, for my love will always remain the same.’ Then to the first example of parody with Craig Brown’s spoof of Thomas Hardy’s melancholy writing. I’ve followed this with a movement from Mozart’s Requiem, which is a double case of passing off. The eccentric count who commissioned it through an intermediary was intending to claim it as his own work. And when Constanze was left with an unfinished Requiem after Mozart’s death, she claimed Süssmayr’s completion was all genuine Mozart in order to collect the commission fee. (Süssmayr actually wrote all but the first eight bars of the Lacrimosa we’ll hear.)

Thackeray’s Becky Sharp passes herself off as a born woman of fashion, accompanied by Stravinsky in neo-classical style (his Pulcinella was based on music by Pergolesi, much of which subsequently turned out to be by other composers).  Louis Untermeyer parodies the style of Edgar Allan Poe, along with Tchaikovsky parodying Mozart. In The Talented Mr Ripley, the envious Tom Ripley murders Dickie Greenleaf and then pretends to be him. This is followed by Richard Addinsell’s Rachmaninov pastiche Warsaw Concerto, written for the film Dangerous Moonlight. There aren’t many more audacious examples of passing off than the diaries purporting to be by Adolf Hitler, which were serialised by the Sunday Times before being found to be fakes. This is paired with the ‘Albinoni’ Adagio, actually written by the 20th Century composer and critic Remo Giazotto.  Guy Wetmore Carryl’s version of Little Miss Muffet is followed by Dudley Moore’s cruelly accurate parody of Benjamin Britten’s music, and Peter Pears’ singing.  By all accounts Britten was not amused, but wasn’t above a bit of parodying himself, as this Donizetti-esque passage in A Midsummer Night’s Dream demonstrates. Jay Gatsby is another character pretending to be something he is not, which sits well with Charles Ives’ parody of a not entirely accurate country band. Ern Malley was a fictitious Australian poet invented by two academics who threw random words together to sound like modern poetry. Fellow Australian Percy Grainger’s Mock Morris, was a pastiche so convincing that many believed it to be based on original sources. This is followed by David Lodge parodying Chaucer, and Malcolm Arnold writing in an English folk dance style.

In his dissection of the Jif Lemon court case, the Rt Hon Robin Jacob observes that ‘get-up cases are rare precisely because most people do read the label on most things’. Indeed, most people believed the label on their Joyce Hatto CDs until it was found that on many of them it wasn’t actually Hatto playing: Other pianists’ recordings had been substituted by her record producer husband. In the example I’ve chosen, the orchestra and conductor listed were found not actually to exist. A pastiche of a Greek epigram in ±«Óãtvr is paired with that master of parody, Arthur Sullivan in Offenbach mode. In Shaw’s Pygmalion, common flowergirl Eliza Doolittle tries to convince everyone she’s a lady; in the subsequent film adaption My Fair Lady, the singer Marni Nixon famously passed herself off as Audrey Hepburn to record the song vocals for the soundtrack. The final piece of music is the strange case of Rosemary Brown, who claimed that dead composers dictated music to her, astonishing musical experts. We’ll hear her channel ‘Chopin’s’ Impromptu in E flat major. Genuine? Pastiche? Passing off? The jury’s still out on that one.       

Producer – Ellie Mant

Broadcasts

  • Sun 12 Apr 2015 17:30
    ±«Óãtv Radio 3
  • Sun 6 Dec 2020 17:30
    ±«Óãtv Radio 3

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