The Happy Prince | Oscar Wilde (S3 | E155)
We bring Oscar Wilde’s remarkable (and little-known) short story to life in a new reading on Lester the Nightfly. The soundtrack comes from mostly sacred songs. Britten. Corelli. Rutter. Glass.
Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1854 to a writer mother and a writer and physician father. He was an excellent student, receiving scholarships and graduating with honors. Wilde married and had two children; however, he had a homosexual love affair for which he was put on trial, convicted of indecency, and imprisoned in Britain for two years. He then spent the last three years of his life in exile in Paris, France, before dying in 1900.
The Happy Prince and Other Tales (or Stories) is a collection of stories for children by Oscar Wilde first published in May 1888. It contains five stories: “The Happy Prince,” “The Nightingale and the Rose,” “The Selfish Giant,” “The Devoted Friend,” and “The Remarkable Rocket.”
”The Happy Prince” is ironic as it is a story about a Prince who is more sad than happy. His childhood could be considered a period of blissful ignorance as he was kept away from reality. Only after he dies as a statue does the Prince achieve happiness in heaven.
In 1941 Orson Welles and The Mercury Theatre broadcast a version on their “Christmas Show,” with music by Bernard Herrmann. A favorite of this radio host since the early 1970’s, it was this audio version of this tale that is the reason for this 2023 recreation of The Happy Prince on Lester the Nightfly Radio.
The Happy Prince
| Song or Movement | Artist / Album | Year |
|---|---|---|
| God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen | Boston Pops Orchestra / Christmas Collection | 2022 |
| Good King Wenceslas | Boston Pops Orchestra / Christmas Collection | 2022 |
| Hark The Herald Angels Sing | Boston Pops Orchestra / Christmas Collection | 2022 |
| Akhnaten, Act I, Scene 2 Coronation of Akhnaten | Akhnaten | 2022 |
| Waltz of the Flowers | Boston String Quartet / On Christmas Eve | 2007 |
| Concerto Grosso in G Minor, Op 6, No, 8 Christmas Concerto | Corelli: 12 Concerti Grossi Op. 6 | 2014 |
| Akhnaten, Act II Scene 4 Hymn to the Sun | Phillip Glass: Akhnaten (Live from the Met) | 2021 |
| A Ceremony of Carols Op. 28: Balulalow | Benjamin Britten New London Children’s Choir / Britten A Ceremony of Carols Friday Afternoons | 1995 (1942) |
| Once in Royal David’s City | Hymns & Songs of Worship | 2009 |
| I Wonder as I Wander | The Cambridge Singers & John Rutter / Christmas Star – Carols for the Christmas Season | 1997 |
| Atum – Creator Sun God | Ankh: The Sound of Ancient Egypt | 1998 |
| In The Bleak Mid-Winter | Rosetti / Essential Christmas Carols from King’s | 2022 |
| Concerto Grosso in G Minor, Op6, No 8, Adagio | Christmas Concerto, Corelli | 2014 |
| Akhnaten, Prelude – Refrain, Verse 1, Verse 2 | Phillip Glass: Akhnaten (Live from the Met) | 2021 |
| Carol of the Bells | Mykola Dmytrovych Leontovych / Home Alone (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) | 1990 |
| Concerto Grosso in G Minor, Op6, No 8 – Largo | Christmas Concerto, Corelli | 2003 (1733) |
| Wexford Carol | Juliet Andrews / Greatest Christmas Songs | 2000 |
A delightful show PJ, and I’m going to replay this on Christmas day, along with other Christmas productions of other WPVM folks.