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  • 历史上的伟大演说集
    Great Speeches in History
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• • 历史上的伟大演说集 / Great Speeches in History
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  • Great Speeches in History In the age of the nine-second sound bite — reportedly nowthe average length of time a US Presidential candidate has to present his orher views on a particular issue via a television broadcast — it may seemindulgent to offer a selection of great speeches, some of which lastedseveral hours in their original format. Do we still have subjects thatstir the emotions as powerfully as those which gave rise to the speechesperformed here? It might be equally argued, however, that the preservationof some of the finest forms of argument ever made is a moral duty, for withoutknowing our past we are condemned to repeat its errors. What matter thattoday’s speeches are, by and large, poor shadows of those of former times?Occasionally we are startled from complacency, and are moved by a politiciandoing his or her best.The speeches selected here are all, in a broad sense,politically motivated, in that they were given in circumstances in which theorator found him or herself pressed to speak in the hope of bringing aboutchange in the public world. This is perhaps as it should be; the speech is bydefinition a public performance, an attempt to persuade the audience of theorator’s point of view, having gained their attention in the first place. If there is a unifying theme to this selection, then it isthe suggestion that each of these speeches was given at a crossroads inhistory. Sir Thomas More’s speech might be said to have put the final touch tothe end of the supremacy of Rome over the Church of England. It is perhaps lessevident with some of the other speeches that any turning point was being markedby their particular words on that especial occasion; but turning points ofhistory can be moments when opportunities for change for the better are lost,as well as grasped. Thomas Babington Macaulay, the 19th century writer andpolitician, and no mean speechmaker himself, said, “the object of oratory aloneis not truth but persuasion.” It is not for me to judge the truth or otherwiseof the speeches here, but each of them, in different ways, demonstrates thetruthfulness of Macaulay’s assertion. Even Charles I, moments before hisexecution, is determined to persuade his listeners of the validity of his ownposition. “Let thy speech be short, comprehending much in few words,” is theexhortation in Ecclesiastes. No more then, except to hope that more of ourcontemporary orators might argue a little more, and assert a little less. Notes by Gary Mead About the Readers Norman Rodway is an Associate Artist of the RSC, where hismany roles have included Richard III, Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet andGloucester in King Lear. He has also worked for the Royal National Theatre inThe Seagull and Hedda Gabler, and other major theaters throughout Britain. HisTV credits include Rumpole of the Bailey, A Month in the Country and The YoungIndiana Jones Chronicles. Samuel West has been widely praised for his performance asLeonard Bast in the Merchant Ivory film, Howard’s End. His other film creditsinclude Carrington and Reunion, and he has been seen on UK TV in Persuasion,Heavy Weather and The Vacillations of Poppy Carew. Theatrical roles haveincluded Valentine in Arcadia and Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest. Elizabeth Bell’s vast stage experience includes the roles ofDonna Elvira in Don Juan and Julie Danton in Danton’s Death at the RoyalNational Theatre. She has also toured extensively with the RSC as Gertrude inHamlet. She has worked for the Royal Court, Almeida, Bush and Stephen Josephtheaters and her many TV credits include Hedda Gabler, The Diary of Anne Frankand Unfinished Business. Peter Marinker has worked extensively in theater throughoutthe UK and in the USA, including leading roles in Lancelot and Guinevere andThe Merchant of Venice at the Old Vic, and the title role in Macbeth for theOpen Space Theatre. His TV work includes numerous roles for the BBC, and hisfilm credits include The Russia House and Emerald Forest.
  • • 作品列表
    • • CD01
      • 作品编号：22969  Great Speeches in History

      • Socrates - 399 BC

      • Demosthenes - 330 BC

      • Cicero - 63BC

      • William Of Normandy - 1066

      • John Ball - 1381

      • Martin Luther - 1521

      • Sir Thomas More - 1535

      • Queen Elizabeth I - 1588

      • Queen Elizabeth I - 1601

      • King Charles I - 1649

      • Oliver Cromwell - 1653

      • William Pitt The Elder - 1741

      • CD02
      • 作品编号：22969  Great Speeches in History

      • Edmund Burke - 1744

      • Patrick Henry - 1775

      • Samuel Adams - 1776

      • William Pitt The Younger - 1792

      • Thomas Erskine - 1792

      • Georges Danton - 1793

      • Charles James Fox - 1795

      • George Canning - 1798

      • Robert Emmett - 1802

      • Lord Macaulay - 1831

      • John Bright - 1855

      • Abraham Lincoln - 1863

      • Emile Zola - 1898

      • Emmeline Pankhurst - 1912