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- Paul Campbell
The Journey of the Magi (2022)
- G Schirmer Inc (World)
- narr + 2(II:pic).2(II:ca).2(II:bcl).2(II:cbn)/4.2.3.1/timp.4perc/pf(cel).hp/str
- Narrator
- 25 min
- W.R. Rodgers
- English
Programme Note
A Nativity story in words and music, based on an original poem by W.R. Rodgers.
From BBC Sounds
W.R. Rodgers re-imagined the Christmas story of the wise men and their visit to Bethlehem in a broadcast poem for BBC radio in 1948. He described their ‘zigzag’ journey through the seasons of the year with all of its changing moods and places and their quest in search of meaning – something that he said they found in ‘the child within themselves’ and just at that moment when all hope seemed lost.
Belfast-based composer Paul Campbell has written a new piece of music to accompany W.R. Rodgers’ poem about the Magi. Composed as a special commission to mark the BBC’s centenary, his work blends words and music in fresh combination and reflects the inventiveness of the poem’s original broadcast. His score was written over several months in mid-2022 and was recorded by the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast.
Listen
The BBC's recorded performance begins 4 minutes and 10 seconds into the broadcast, following a spoken introduction by the poet Michael Longley in which he offers W.R. Rodgers' invitation to follow the wise men in their ‘perilous, touch and go’ journey.
