I want my girl and I want my pay

[sovay]

For some reason I did not know until tonight that W.H. Auden's "Roman Wall Blues" existed. (Thank Cyril Tawney.) Or that it had been set to music by Benjamin Britten in 1937 as part of a radio play called Hadrian's Wall, of which it is the only surviving part of the score. Or that a recent recording had been briefly available for download free of charge in 2013, which is most certainly not the case anymore.

spatch worked internet magic and got it for me. It's quite good and it does suggest that Britten had just heard Porgy and Bess for the first time.

Anyone with a decent tune for Rosemary Sutcliff's "The Girl I Kissed at Clusium," please feel free to chime in now.

Comments

[thisbluespirit]

A BBC television serial was made of the book in 1977, scripted by Bill Craig, Donald Bull and Arden Winch, and with Anthony Higgins as Marcus Aquila.[7]

Well, I can't help you with yr singing issues, but ARDEN WINCH. He is the often v good, and also maybe the slashiest old Brit TV writer I've yet come across, (excepting the people who were responsible for Raffles). I am now wondering just how much he got away with in a Children's BBC serial. 0_o

(There's no sign of either Radio production at radioarchive, but I'd imagine the 96 one is a cert to turn up eventually.)

[sovay]

I am now wondering just how much he got away with in a Children's BBC serial.

Considering Marcus and Esca, I hope a lot.

(I was hoping you would chime in! I figured if anyone I knew had a line on British TV from 1977, it would be you.)

(There's no sign of either Radio production at radioarchive, but I'd imagine the 96 one is a cert to turn up eventually.)

At least it was made in an era that kept recordings. I went looking for both the TV serial and the 1957 radio drama about eight years ago, but nothing came of it. At this point I would settle for anyone who had heard or seen one of the adaptations and remembered the tune. It's a recognition token; it has to be in at least one of them.

[thisbluespirit]

I was hoping you would chime in! I figured if anyone I knew had a line on British TV from 1977, it would be you.

Ha, what gave you that idea? *looks innocent*

I went looking for both the TV serial and the 1957 radio drama about eight years ago, but nothing came of it. At this point I would settle for anyone who had heard or seen one of the adaptations and remembered the tune. It's a recognition token; it has to be in at least one of them.

Yeah, there's no guarantee the 1958 one survives at all, but the 96 one should and the 1977 TV adaptation is actually out in region 2, I see. (Simply Media have been releasing a lot more old BBC stuff since they came along - Network do mainly ITV). And, that being the case, I checked YT and you can find it all there - ep1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2-xs4JYSUg

Have fun!

[isis]

I actually have a copy of the 1977 series that I got a few years back via a network of Eagle fans. It's - kind of ridiculous in ways, but a faithful adaptation (much more so than the movie!) and if you can ignore things like Cottia being far too old, and Esca's silly (but probably more authentic) facial hair, it's really fun.

I am delighted to see it's on Youtube now!

[sovay]

It's - kind of ridiculous in ways, but a faithful adaptation (much more so than the movie!) and if you can ignore things like Cottia being far too old, and Esca's silly (but probably more authentic) facial hair, it's really fun.

I'm looking forward! I expect nothing from the budget.

I am delighted to see it's on Youtube now!

It was definitely not the last time I went looking; I suspect it was not on DVD, either. This is the good part of the internet.

[sovay]

Ha, what gave you that idea?

Oh, just a feeling, just a feeling.

And, that being the case, I checked YT and you can find it all there - ep1

Thank you! (See, I thought you would know something about it!)

Have fun!

Timesink ahoy!

[kore]

....ooh, timesink indeed.

[cyphomandra]

That’s lovely!

Over a decade ago now I was working in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and I arrived from a Southern Hemisphere summer into a raw and chilly northern February; I went to Segedunum on my first free weekend and can remember standing looking out there in rather inadequate clothing (the local shops having all switched to selling delicate spring garments) and having vast amounts of empathy for all those poor Roman soldiers.

[sovay]

That’s lovely!

Britten is one of my favorite composers, and this was an especially nice thing for me to discover he'd worked on. And I don't hold the Gershwin against him, since Auden had obviously just been re-reading Kipling.

I went to Segedunum on my first free weekend and can remember standing looking out there in rather inadequate clothing (the local shops having all switched to selling delicate spring garments) and having vast amounts of empathy for all those poor Roman soldiers.

I send sympathies for your past shivering self, but that's a wonderful story.

[cyphomandra]

I send sympathies for your past shivering self, but that's a wonderful story.

Thank you! (and I did eventually find one last suitable winter coat in the back corner of a department store)

[cmcmck]

The wonderful Cyril really had an eye for that sort of thing! :o)

[sovay]

The wonderful Cyril really had an eye for that sort of thing!

He credited Auden's "Roman Wall Blues" and the opening lines of the film On the Town (1949) as inspirations for "Sally Free and Easy," and I knew one of these things.

[ladymondegreen]

Anyone with a decent tune for Rosemary Sutcliff's "The Girl I Kissed at Clusium," please feel free to chime in now.

I don't know an official one, but my brain makes one when I see it. Should I record it?

[sovay]

I don't know an official one, but my brain makes one when I see it. Should I record it?

Yes! And then post it somewhere I can hear!

The first two lines always set themselves more or less to Bob Gibson's "To Morrow" in my head, but the rest of it never went anywhere.

[ladymondegreen]

I sent it via email. Let me know if it doesn't come through?

[sovay]

I sent it via email. Let me know if it doesn't come through?

It came through fine and I like it!

[ursula]

Thanks for posting: this is really cool!

[sovay]

Thanks for posting: this is really cool!

You're welcome!

[kore]

//GRABS the Britten/Auden

[sovay]

//GRABS the Britten/Auden

Enjoy!

[thanate]

These are grand, and I have just added both linked books to my library holds.

[sovay]

These are grand, and I have just added both linked books to my library holds.

Yay! Enjoy.

[handful_ofdust]

"Roman Wall Blues", or "Sent Down: The Musical.":)

[sovay]

"Roman Wall Blues", or "Sent Down: The Musical."

Staged like Hadestown, I'd watch it.

[choco_frosh]

I was going to ask how the hell you missed that "Roman Wall Blues" existed, since I trend to blithely assume that the Venn-circle "Poetry Schreiber has read" fits neatly inside the "Stuff sovay has read" one. It's so often true (and that poem is so up your alley). I forget that things like A-Levels make weird exceptions to the rule.

[sovay]

I forget that things like A-Levels make weird exceptions to the rule.

I think it's just that while I really like much of Auden's poetry, I haven't read all of Auden's poetry, and "Roman Wall Blues" was in one of the collections I haven't read. I discovered him basically by accident in high school, I think, with "The Shield of Achilles."