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A packed Festive episode featuring another chance to hear The Journey of the Magi at 7:30pm, a recording commissioned to celebrate the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳'s Centenary.
George Hamilton returns to Radio Ulster to chat with John about his career and pick some Christmas music.
Dana Masters and Patrick Smyth tell us about this week's Christmas Concerts with Ulster Orchestra at the Millenium Forum and Waterfront Hall.
Tim Burden talks Festive Film Music with John.

The Journey of the Magi
W.R. Rodgers re-imagined the Christmas story of the wise men and their visit to Bethlehem in a broadcast poem for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ radio in 1948. 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 ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳’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 performed for this recording by the Ulster Orchestra in Belfast. The Journey of the Magi is narrated by Michelle Fairley and Stuart Graham with an introduction by the award-winning poet, Michael Longley. Michael Longley’s contribution begins with his reading of some lines from W.R. Rodgers’ poem, Nativity – part of what he describes as a ‘group of astonishing meditations in which Rodgers rethinks and feels afresh the Christian story.’
The illustration for this programme is by Jonathan McHugh.

The Journey of the Magi Production Credits:
Production Co-ordinator: Damien McLaughlin
Music composed by: Paul Campbell
Sound: John Benson and Bill Maul
Producers: Paul Campbell and Graeme Stewart
Executive Producer: Mark Adair