The Anger of Achilles

Delia contributed musical effects to Roberto Gerhard's orchestral drama The Anger of Achilles, which won the Prix Italia "RAI prize for literary or dramatic programmes with or without music".

An article at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid says:

Gerhard put together many works for tape at his house in Cambridge but processed them and did the final mix at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in London. His first work was the 1954 incidental music for Bridget Boland's The Prisoner for chamber orchestra and tape [. . .] and he would be honoured with the Prix Italia in 1965 for The Anger of Achilles for orchestra and tape, created and presented by the BBC.

The BBC Programme Catalogue describes the work as an

epic for radio in three parts by Robert Graves, from his translation of Homer's Iliad. [. . .] Music specially composed for the programme by Roberto Gerhard, with special effects by the B.B.C. Radiophonic Workshop", first broadcast 17 May 1964.

The radiophonic contributions to the work are:

Description	Len.	Start-end times
Achilles' plea to his goddess mother Thetis	1:13	25:53.24-27:06.88
Thunderclap	0:13	28:51.89-29:05.53
The sending of the false dream to Agamemnon	2:00	33:23.28-35:23.47
Father Zeus' message, thunderclap, horse effects	1:08	30:58.80-32:07.12
Thetis theme reprise	0:36	31:18.45-31:54.75

External links

• The BBC Programme Catalogue entry for the work

Copyright

The Performing Right Society list of works by Delia Ann Derbyshire has:

Title: The Anger of Achilles
Writer(s): Derbyshire Delia Ann
Co-composers/authors: [None] (!)
Publisher: BBC Worldwide Music
Work number: 1471899K
Type: 10/00 [?]
Work Status Flags: Film/TV / 1st Lic Referral
Creation date: 11 August 1999

Availability

• Broadcast on BBC radio on 17th May 1964.
• In the BBC Sound Archive on tape TRW 6031.
• Some Gerhard fans made a copy from the radio, of which the above are extracts.