Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Rebel, Rebel

J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye sets the scene for a selection of writings by Emily Dickinson, Rimbaud, Charlotte Bronte and music by Mozart, Satie and Steve Reich.

Rebel Rebel visits the world of those who don鈥檛 obey from composers and performers including the wild living Debussy and the minimalism of the pioneer Erik Satie and later the American composer Steve Reich who broke all the rules from the very start of his career in the 1960s, fighting against the musical establishment with his groundbreaking style. And, of course, you鈥檒l hear the work of Mozart who did everything from composing his country鈥檚 national anthem to writing cruel parodies of his contemporaries鈥� work to make fun of them. You鈥檒l also hear Don鈥檛 Rain on My Parade from Jule Styne and Bob Merrill鈥檚 musical Funny Girl, performed by Barbra Streisand who has had a hugely successful long career in Hollywood while refusing to conform to the rules.

Samuel West and Natalie Simpson read from poetry by the maverick Emily Dickinson, who refused to live in the real world, and the French writer Arthur Rimbaud who wrote nearly all his work between the ages of 16 and 20 before he abandoned poetry. Yearning to get away from the conventions of society he chose to give up his artistic life for that of a vagabond in East Africa. We have Shelley鈥檚 Ode to the West Wind and Lord Byron鈥檚 Childe Harold鈥檚 Pilgrimage, poems by two writers who broke all the rules, moral and artistic, both involved in the social and political problems of their revolutionary age. In Charlotte Bronte鈥檚 Jane Eyre, a character who, like Roald Dahl鈥檚 Matilda, begins her difficult early life as passionate, intelligent and defiant child. In a special link up with the Poetry Society鈥檚 Young Poets Network, Jade Cuttle and Aisha Mango Borja鈥檚 writing is featured. And we begin with J.D. Salinger's classic novel The Catcher in the Rye which tells the story of the troubled teenager Holden Caulfield, at odds with a world he feels is cruel and unfeeling. First published as a novel for adults it鈥檚 become popular with teenagers around the world: it鈥檚 hard to believe it was first published at the end of WWII.

Producer: Fiona McLean

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

New Year's Day 2026 17:00
麻豆社 Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Feast!

Next

Creatures of Habit

See all episodes from Words and Music

Music Played

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

  • J.D. Salinger

    Extract from The Catcher in the Rye, read by Samuel West

  • 00:01

    Niccol貌 Paganini

    24 Caprices for solo violin 聳 No.16 in G minor

    Performer: Julia Fischer (violin).
    • DECCA 4782274.
    • Tr16.

  • Aisha Mango Borja

    Resolution, read by Natalie Simpson

  • Mark Twain

    Extract from Tom Sawyer, read by Samuel West

  • 00:04

    Ferde Grof茅

    Mississippi Suite 聳 Huckleberry Finn

    Performer: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Enrique Batiz (Conductor).
    • EMI CDC7490562.
    • Tr7.

  • Louisa May Alcott

    Extract from Little Women, read by Natalie Simpson

  • 00:08

    Jule Styne and Bob Merrill

    Don聮t Rain on my Parade

    Performer: Barbra Streisand.
    • COLUMBIA 5062572.
    • CD1 Tr9.

  • William Shakespeare

    Extract from Romeo and Juliet, read by Natalie Simpson

  • 00:11

    Sergey Prokofiev

    Romeo and Juliet 聳 Act I, Scene 2 聳 Juliet's Variation

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andre Previn.
    • EMI CDS7490128.
    • CD1 Tr14.

  • Arthur Rimbaud, translated by Wyatt Mason

    Extract from Novel, read by Samuel West

  • 00:14

    Erik Satie

    Gnossienne no 1

    Performer: Pascal Roge (piano).
    • DECCA 4102202.
    • Tr10.

  • Percy Bysshe Shelley

    Extract from Ode to the West Wind, read by Samuel West

  • Emily Dickinson

    My Cocoon Tightens read by Natalie Simpson

  • 00:20

    Joni Mitchell

    Urge for Going

    Performer: Nigel Kennedy (violin), English Chamber Orchestra.
    • EMI CDC 5568902.
    • Tr19.

  • Qui Jin

    Capping Rhymes, read by Natalie Simpson

  • 00:24

    Claude Debussy

    Deux Arabesques L. 66 - No. 2 Allegretto scherzande

    Performer: Pascal Rog茅.
    • Decca 443 021-2.
    • Tr18.

  • Roald Dahl

    Extract from Matilda, read by Samuel West

  • 00:29

    Tim Minchin

    Quiet

    Performer: Adrianna Bertola Josie Griffiths and Kerry Ingram (Matilda).
    • RSC RSCE002.
    • Tr14.

  • J.D. Salinger

    Extract from The Catcher in the Rye, read by Samuel West

  • 00:32

    Charles Mingus

    Self-Portrait in Three Colors

    Performer: Charles Mingus.
    • COLUMBIA CK64624.
    • Tr4.

  • Jane Austen

    Extract from Emma, read by Natalie Simpson

  • 00:37

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Concerto no. 2 in E Flat Major - Rondo

    Performer: Barry Tuckwell (Horn), the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner (Conductor).
    • EMI CDM7695692.
    • Tr5.

  • Charlotte Bronte

    Extract from Jane Eyre, read by Natalie Simpson

  • 00:41

    Clara Schumann

    Drei Romanzen f眉r violin und clavier op. 22 聳 Allegretto in G minor

    Performer: Lisa Batiashvili (violin), Alice Sara Ott (piano), Staatskapelle Dresden, Christian Thielemann (Conductor).
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4790086.
    • Tr5.

  • Lord Byron

    Extract from Childe Harold聮s Pilgrimage, read by Samuel West

  • 00:45

    Dmitry Shostakovich

    Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2 in F major, Op.102 - Andante

    Performer: New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein (piano).
    • SONY CLASSICAL SMK47618.
    • Tr6.

  • W.B. Yeats

    Extract from Easter 1916, read by Samuel West

  • 00:52

    Alexander Scriabin

    Piano Sonata No. 9, op.68

    Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy.
    • DECCA 4255792.
    • CD2 Tr4.

  • Jade Cuttle

    The Miracle of Mould, read by Natalie Simpson

  • 01:00

    Steve Reich

    Electric Counterpoint - Fast

    Performer: Pat Metheny (guitar).
    • NONESUCH 7559791762.
    • Tr6.

  • Dylan Thomas

    Do Not Go Gentle into that Good Night, read by Samuel West

  • 01:06

    Jean Sibelius

    Violin Concerto in D minor, Op.47

    Performer: Nigel Kennedy, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Simon Rattle (Conductor).
    • EMI 5574112.
    • CD2 Tr7.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 30 Dec 2018 17:30
    麻豆社 Radio 3
  • New Year's Day 2026 17:00
    麻豆社 Radio 3

The hidden history of plant-based diets

The hidden history of plant-based diets

Forget social media influencers - the meat-free movement started with the Victorians.

Books website

Get closer to books with in-depth articles, quizzes and our picks from radio & TV.