| Ulysses James Joyce Complete Recording | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Studio album by RTÉ Players | |
| Recorded | 1982 |
| Genre | Drama |
| Length | 29:44:55 |
| Label | RTÉ with theLannan Foundation |
TheUlysses broadcast began on 16 June 1982 (Bloomsday) when the Irish state broadcaster,RTÉ Radio, transmitted an uninterrupted 30-hour dramatised radio performance, by 33 actors of theRTÉ Players, of the entire text ofJames Joyce's epic 1922 novel,Ulysses, to commemorate the centenary of the author's birth (born 2 February 1882).[1] The broadcast began at 6.30 am and continued until midday the next day. It was carried by live relay internationally,[2][3] and it won aJacob's Broadcasting Award in recognition of its achievement.
Writing inThe Spectator, John Phipps said, "I can't praise it enough. It is a masterpiece, a rare, enduring example of radio drama as art" and "The RTÉ players give performances of great clarity and insight."[2]
The full 30-hour broadcast was repeated for the first time in 38 years onRTÉ Radio 1 Extra on 16 June 2020, beginning at 8 am. The decision to repeat the transmission was influenced by the death in January of that year of Joyce's grandson and literary estate executor,Stephen Joyce, and by the quarantine introduced in Ireland to limit the spread of theCOVID-19 virus.[4] It was broadcast once again on the 120th anniversary of Bloomsday on Radio 1 Extra on 16 June 2024.[5]
The novelUlysses contains about 265,000 words from a vocabulary of 30,030 words.[6] This record-breaking and historic[1][7] live literary broadcast was originally released to the public, after the broadcast, as a recording on 20audio cassettes in 1982[8] and later digitally remastered oncompact disc in two formats: as a 32-CDboxed set, and as a three-CD set ofMP3 audio files, released in 2004 (OCLC315482641 and605276262).[9]
| Disc 1 | Length 9:57:05 | |
|---|---|---|
| Track | Episode | Time |
| 01 | Telemachus | 45:52 |
| 02 | Nestor | 32:26 |
| 03 | Proteus | 48:07 |
| 04 | Calypso | 45:44 |
| 05 | Lotus Eaters | 42:25 |
| 06 | Hades | 1:08:58 |
| 07 | Aeolus | 1:07:59 |
| 08 | Lestrygonians 1 | 52:06 |
| 09 | Lestrygonians 2 | 31:45 |
| 10 | Scylla and Charybdis 1 | 56:11 |
| 11 | Scylla and Charybdis 2 | 20:14 |
| 12 | Wandering Rocks 1 | 1:01:06 |
| 13 | Wandering Rocks 2 | 24:12 |
| Disc 2 | Length 10:02:29 | |
|---|---|---|
| Track | Episode | Time |
| 14 | Sirens 1 | 1:10:04 |
| 15 | Sirens 2 | 27:08 |
| 16 | Cyclops 1 | 1:02:11 |
| 17 | Cyclops 2 | 1:11:08 |
| 18 | Nausicaa 1 | 58:34 |
| 19 | Nausicaa 2 | 45:15 |
| 20 | Oxen of the Sun 1 | 57:13 |
| 21 | Oxen of the Sun 2 | 1:03:10 |
| 22 | Oxen of the Sun 3 | 20:06 |
| 23 | Circe 1 | 1:07:56 |
| 24 | Circe 2 | 59:44 |
| Disc 3 | Length 9:45:21 | |
|---|---|---|
| Track | Episode | Time |
| 25 | Circe 3 | 1:09:00 |
| 26 | Circe 4 | 1:01:19 |
| 27 | Circe 5 | 30:53 |
| 28 | Eumaeus 1 | 1:01:14 |
| 29 | Eumaeus 2 | 1:11:34 |
| 30 | Ithaca 1 | 55:05 |
| 31 | Ithaca 2 | 58:39 |
| 32 | Ithaca 3 | 42:43 |
| 33 | Penelope 1 | 59:08 |
| 34 | Penelope 2 | 54:46 |
| 35 | Penelope 3 | 21:00 |
| Total length 29:44:55 | ||
Narrators[10]
Cast
Production personnel
Ireland. 16 June 1982. 6:30 a.m. Radios all over the country emit the words 'Stately, plump Buck Mulligan', and don't stop broadcasting until they have read out every word of Ulysses, down to its last, heart-stopping syllable.
