St Francis

Available for 27 days

The actors David Harewood and Sally Phillips perform readings alongside music in a programme to mark 800 years since the death of St Francis of Assisi. Though he was born rich, he abandoned his inheritance in favour of living alongside the poor and in harmony with animals and the natural world. So this 13th-century riches-to-rags story attracts believers and non-believers alike who interpret his story as a rejection of consumerism in favour of a simple life. We will hear about the life of Saint Francis from a biography written by GK Chesterton and extracts from plays about him by Chiara Atik and Julian Mitchell. And we will explore themes associated with him in poetry from Seamus Heaney, Imtiaz Dharker and Kathleen Raine and in fiction from Penelope Fitzgerald and Richmal Crompton. Francis himself wrote The Canticles of the Sun, which has inspired musical interpretations from Amy Beach to Sofia Gubaidulina, and we'll hear Franz Liszt's piece evoking Francis preaching to the birds as well as music inspired by nature, stillness and wonder by composers from Judith Weir to Olivier Messiaen to John Tavener. Readings: St Francis and the Birds - Seamus Heaney St Francis of Assisi - GK Chesterton William the Outlaw - Richmal Crompton St Francis of Assisi - GK Chesterton Canticle of the Creatures - St Francis of Assisi After St Francis of Assisi - Camille Ralphs Poor Clare - Chiara Atik Offshore - Penelope Fitzgerald Shoes of the Fisherman - Morris West Pied Beauty - Gerard Manley Hopkins Francis - Julian Mitchell The Sovereignty of the Good - Iris Murdoch Living Space - Imtiaz Dharker St Francis of Assisi - GK Chesterton The Book of Hours - Rainer Maria Rilke A Spell for Creation - Kathleen Raine December Day - Dorothy Margaret Paulin Dear Big Gods - Mona Arshi Produced in Salford by Olive Clancy