Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
An Irish writer, best known for his literary works.
On the island
Eight records
String Quintet in C major, D. 956: II. Adagio
Amadeus Quartet with William Pleeth
Because I felt that the first record It should possibly be the one which I would like to hear very early in the morning. at dawn on my desert island, and this one seems to me to be absolutely perfect for that.
Come Ye Sons of Art, Z. 323: "Sound the Trumpet"
I'm choosing because I think the first kind of music that I was aware of that the human voice... as I can't sing myself, I would have to have somebody there to do it for me.
Concerto for Two Harpsichords in C minor, BWV 1060
Raymond Leppard and Andrew Davis
I associate Bach very much with my wife and our marriage. But more than that, I think with our early days in Dublin... she introduced me to Burke. I introduced her to tea without milk, and she in turn introduced me to Burke.
During my stay in this country, two Momentous events took place. One was the birth of Private Eye and the other was the birth of Monty Python. Two buttons. Celebrate both of them. At once.
Impromptu No. 3 in G-flat major, D. 899
my younger son, Used to play this. And I became Terribly fond of it, hearing it Endlessly he practised on the piano. So it would remind me of being at home.
Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115: II. AdagioFavourite
Alfred Boskovsky with members of the Vienna Octet
at one time my older son. when he was a little boy played the clarinet, and I think again that would be a reminder. of being at home, which will be very pleasant.
Choir of King's College, Cambridge
Which I have chosen because I think it would end the day... I would like to think of this played late at night.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:58How much does music mean to you?
It hasn't meant a tremendous amount to me. In a very old-fashioned way, I know what I like. But music hasn't meant as much to me as, for instance, the visual arts or literature.
Presenter asks
3:24Why did you move around so much as a child?
my father was in the Bank of Ireland and I think it was a question of simply being promoted. He was promoted from one town to the next and we we followed him around like middle class gypsies.
Presenter asks
10:16Was your copywriting career good training for your writing?
it is a marvellous discipline because you're doing something which you dislike intensely... there's no indulgence, there's no allowing yourself to do this, that, and the other, you are Chained and harnessed, which is very good for not just writers, I think, but for any kind of artist.
Presenter asks
15:24Why do you write under your two Christian names, William Trevor?
The keepsakes
The book
Alban Butler
I think I'd like to take Butler's Lives of the Saints, because it is marvellously good value.
The luxury
I wondered about taking a little box of vines, which I would plant and cultivate, and I would then tread the grapes and I would make a great quantity of wine, which I would drink. And I would turn the island into a vineyard.
Because when I changed from being a sculptor to being a a novelist and short story writer, I wanted to make some sort of distinction um because there would have been a little bit of confusion.
Presenter asks
17:54How disciplined a writer are you?
Yes, I'm very disciplined. I I work all morning. Um I get up early, but not nearly as early as I used to. and I work until lunch time. Every day. And then I don't work at all.
Presenter asks
26:52How good would you be at looking after yourself on a desert island?
Well, I think I would be very good at looking after myself... I would be alarmed. I think if the island happened to be full of cats, of which I have a great fear... But otherwise, um I think I'll be able to look after myself.
“I once read in a magazine that I did my writing while listening to Mozart and drinking claret late at night. This is quite untrue. I don't and I didn't.”
“I think what had happened was that um My sculpture had become abstract and ceased to interest me. I disliked it, in fact, and a lot of the The humanity, I suppose, began to go into the short stories.”
“the short stories... They're a marvellous relief from a novel, and a novel is a marvellous relief from a short story, because a short story is written at a different pace. There's a different kind of intensity, I think.”
“As a child I spent A great deal of time Almost drowning, and I would have no intention of setting foot off my island... I nearly drowned three times, as a small boy. and I have a great fear of the sea. So I would stay put.”