ウィークエンドサンシャイン
ブロードキャスター、ピーター・バラカンのナビゲートで送るウィークエンド・ミュージックマガジン。独特の嗅覚とこだわりの哲学でセレクトしたグッド・サウンドと、ワールドワイドな音楽情報を伝える。
http://www.nhk.or.jp/fm/sunshine/
放送日： 2012年 4月14日（土）
放送時間： 午前7:20〜午前9:00（100分）
ピーター・バラカン
THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST
01. Beer Drinkers And Hell Raisers / ZZ Top
ALBUM: The Best of ZZ Top
02. (Is Anybody Going To) San Antone / Doug Sahm
ALBUM: Doug Sahm & Band
03. San Antonio Girl / Steve Earle
ALBUM: Copperhead Road (Deluxe Edition)
04. Work Ox Blues / Texas Alexander
ALBUM: Great Blues Guitarists: String Dazzlers
05. Blue Yodel No. 1 (T For Texas) / Jimmie Rodgers
ALBUM: The Essential Jimmie Rodgers
06. Brain Cloudy Blues / Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys
ALBUM: The Essential Bob Wills: 1935-1947
07. Texas, Me & You / Asleep At The Wheel
ALBUM: The CRT presents Don't Ever Change
08. Little Liza Jane / Hot Club Of Cowtown
ALBUM: Hot Western
09. The Girls From Texas / Flaco Jimenez feat. Ry Cooder
ALBUM: Partners
10. Dream Baby / Roy Orbison
ALBUM: The Essential Roy Orbison
11. Peggy Sue / Buddy Holly
ALBUM: The Best Of Buddy Holly
12. Not Fade Away / Ned Sublette with Los Munequitos de Matanzas
ALBUM: Cowboy Rumba
13. Brown Eyed Handsome Man / Lyle Lovett
ALBUM: Release Me
14. White Boy Lost In The Blues / Lyle Lovett
ALBUM: Release Me
15. Take The Money And Run / Steve Miller Band
ALBUM: Fly Like An Eagle
16. Willin'/ Willie Nelson & Emmylou Harris
ALBUM: not released
17. Me And Bobby McGee / Janis Joplin
ALBUM: The Essential Janis Joplin
18. Up Above My Head (There's Music in the Air) / Ruthie Foster
ALBUM: The Truth Japan Tour 2009 March 26 Thumbs Up, Yokohama
19. Last Night / Texas Trumpets feat. Eastside band
ALBUM: The Texas Trumpets
20. Alligator Stomp / Bayou Roux
ALBUM: Pass The Rice
21. Hard Times / Crusaders
ALBUM: Unsung Heroes
世界の快適音楽セレクション
"快適音楽"を求めるギターデュオのゴンチチによる、ノンジャンル・ミュージック番組。
http://www.nhk.or.jp/fm/kaiteki/
放送日： 2012年 4月14日（土）
放送時間： 午前9:00〜午前11:00（120分）
ゴンチチ
藤川パパQ
− 睡眠の音楽 −
「眠りの島」 (ゴンチチ)(4分43秒)
＜EPIC/SONY ESCB1058＞
「オン・スリーピング」 (スティーヴン・スタインブリンク)(3分42秒)
＜GILGONGO REC. #27＞
「ヒプノティック」 (マーティン・デニー)(3分07秒)
＜SCAMP REC. SCP9714-2＞
「ララバイ・オブ・バードランド」 (エスキヴェル)(2分01秒)
＜WOUNDED BIRD REC. WOU2225＞
「スリーピン・ビー」 (カサンドラ・ウィルソン)(2分45秒)
＜THE BLUE NOTE 5099950769926＞
「リリー・オブ・ザ・ヴァレー」 (遊佐未森)(3分39秒)
＜ヤマハ・ミュージック・コミニュケーションズ YCCW-10167＞
「ジャパニーズ・サンドマン」 (ベニー・グッドマン楽団)(3分27秒)
＜BMG BVCJ-38141，38142＞
「アイル・シー・ユー・イン・マイ・ドリーム」(映画“ギター弾きの恋”オリジナル・サウンドトラック)(2分00秒)
＜SONY REC. SRCS2402＞
「夢で逢いましょう」 (山口淑子、灰田勝彦)(3分05秒)
＜ビクターエンタテインメント VICL-60337＞
「ゴールデン・スランバー」 (ピアノ:高橋アキ)(3分31秒)
＜東芝EMI TOCE13320＞
「シャディー・グローヴ」 (ヘディー・ウェスト)(1分55秒)
＜キングレコード KICP2026＞
「スランバー・マイ・ダーリン」(ヨーヨー・マ、エドガー・メイヤー、マーク・オコナー、アリソン・クラウス)(4分53秒)
＜AMERICAN ROOTS PUBLISHING 591594-2＞
「アヴェ・マリア」 (チューリッヒ少年合唱団)(3分09秒)
＜TUDOR 7029＞
「ドント・ユー・ウォリー・アバウト・ア・シング」(ニューヨーク・ヴォイセズ)(4分31秒)
＜MANCHESTER CRAFTSMEN’S GUILD MCGJ1031＞
「歌劇“浜辺のアインシュタイン”から“ベッド”」フィリップ・グラス作曲(3分40秒)
(演奏)ザ・フィリップ・グラス・アンサンブル
(指揮)マイケル・リースマン
＜SONY CLASSICS 8869191720＞
「夜行“霜編”」 (泊)(3分08秒)
＜BLUES INTERACTION PCD-22326＞
「ステファネ・ヴィジテ・アパ」（映画“ザ・サイエンス・オブ・スリープ”サウンドトラック)(1分19秒)
＜ASTRALWERKS A7301094637092224＞
「眠そうな子供達」 (ゴンチチ)(4分22秒)
＜EPIC/SONY ESCB1063＞
「灯りを消さずに」 (川畑文子)(2分41秒)
＜日本コロムビア BRIDGE188＞
「バイ・バイ・ブラックバード」 (ポール・マッカートニー)(3分06秒)
＜HEAR MUSIC/CONCORD 7233369＞
「フリー・フォール」 (クレア・フィッシャー)(4分39秒)
＜DISCOVERY REC. WQCP-1154＞
「私の愛など忘れて」(ロサ・グスマン、セルヒオ・バルデオス、エドワルド・ペレス)(3分39秒)
＜BEANS REC. BNSCD786，787＞
Jazz Record Requests
Geoffrey Smith presents a selection of listeners' jazz requests.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tnn9
Sat 14 Apr 2012
17:00
BBC Radio 3
Geoffrey Smith presents a selection of listeners' jazz requests.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01g9wsy
Music played
01. Wynton Marsalis — Oh, but on the Third Day (Happy Feet Blues) (JRR Signature Tune)
Composer: Wynton Marsalis Performers: Wynton Marsalis (tp), Marcus Roberts (p), Todd Williams (ts), Dr Michael White (cl), Danny Barker (bj), Teddy Riley (tp), Freddie Lonzo (tb), Reginald Veal (b), Herlin Riley (d) Recorded: 28 October 1988
The Majesty of the Blues, 1989 CD CBS 465129 2
02. Bix Beiderbecke — Royal Garden Blues
Composer: S. Williams & C. Williams Performers: Bix Beiderbecke (c), Bill Rank (trb), Don Murray (cl), Adrian Rollini (bs), Frank Signorelli (p), Chauncey Morehouse (d) Recorded: 1927
The Bix Beiderbecke Story, Columbia 501 645 2, D2, Tr 8, 3.02
03. Henry "Red" Allen — Biffly Blues
Composer: Henry “Red” Allen Performers: Henry “Red” Allen (tr), J. C Higginbotham (trb), Albert Nicholas (cl), Charles Holmes (as), Luis Russell (p), Will Johnson (g), George “Pops” Foster (b), Paul Barbarin (d) Recorded: 1929
Henry “Red” Allen, RCA RD 8049, S1/2, 3.26
04. Woody Herman — Caledonia
Composer: Moore Performers: Woody Herman (cl), Sonny Berman, Chuck Frankhouser, Ray Wetzel, Pete Candoli, Carl Warwick (tr), Ralph Pfeffner, Bill Harris, Ed Kiefer (tb), Sam Marowitz, John La Porta (cl & as), Flip Philips, Pete Modello (ts), Skippy De Sair (bs), Marjorie Hyams (vib), Ralph Burns (p), Billy Bauer (g), Chubby Jackson (b), Dave Tough (d) Recorded: 1945
The Woody Herman Story, Proper P1158, Tr 14, 3.02
05. Duke Ellington & His Orchestra — Minehaha (The Beautiful Indians)
Composer: Ellington Recorded: 1946
Duke Ellington and His Orchestra 1946-1947, Classics 1051 (1), Tr 8, 2.58
06. Art Tatum — Get Happy
Composer: Arlen & Koehler Performers: Art Tatum Recorded: 1940
Elegie, Proper P1338, Tr 8, 2.44
07. Jimmy Smith — Flamingo
Composer: E. Anderson & T. Grouya Performers: Jimmy Smith (organ), Lee Morgan (tr), Curtis Fuller (tb), Lou Donaldson (as), Tina Brooks (ts), Eddie McFadden, Kenny Burrell (g), Art Blakey (d) Recorded: 1957
The Sermon, Blue Note CDP7460972 (1), Tr 7, 8.00
08. Allison Neale Quartet — Nancy With the Laughing Face
Composer: J Van Heusen Performers: Allison Neale (as), Dave Cliff (g), Simon Thorpe (b), Matt Skelton (d) Recorded: 2002
Melody Express, 33 Records, Tr 2, 6.05
09. The Dave Brubeck Quartet — The Twig
Composer: Bill Smith Performers: Dave Brubeck (p), Bill Smith (cl), Eugene Wright (b), Joe Morello (d) Recorded: 1959
The Riddle, Fontana STFL 532, S1/2, 4.13
10. Hermeto Pascoal — San Catarina
Composer: Hermeto Pascoal Performers: Recorded: 1984
Lagoa De Canoa, RIO RICD900520 (1), Tr 7, (NB not “Tr 2” as on box),
11. Buck Clayton — Moten Swing
Composer: B. Moten Performers: Buck Clayton, Joe Newman (tr), Urbie Green, Benny Powell (tb), Lem Davis (as), Julian Dash (ts), Charlie Fowlkes (bs), Sir Charles Thompson (p), Freddie Green (g), Walter Page (b), Jo Jones (d) Recorded: 1953
Buck Clayton – Complete Legendary Jam Sessions Master Takes, Lonehill Jazz LHJ 10115, D1, Tr 1, 12.40
Jazz Library
Advice and guidance to those interested in building a library of jazz recordings.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006x41z
Chico Hamilton
Sun 15 Apr 2012
00:00
BBC Radio 3
Influential Jazz drummer Chico Hamilton talks to Alyn Shipton about his career.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b009q983
Chico Hamilton: Jazz drummer Chico Hamilton tells Alyn Shipton how the original Gerry Mulligan Quartet first assembled in his house and how he then formed his own unorthodox group.
Music played
01. Chico Hamilton Quintet and Fred Katz — Mr Jo Jones
Composer: Hamilton Performers: Paul Horn, piccolo, Fred Katz, cello, John Pisano, g; Carson Smith, b; Chico Hamilton, d. Oct 21, 1956.
Katz, Five Four, 024, Track 15
02. Russell Jacquet and his Yellow Jackets — Blues a la Russ
Composer: Jacquet Performers: Russell Jacquet, t; Gus Evans, as; Dexter Gordon, ts; Arthur Dennis, bar; Jimmy Bunn, p; Leo Blevins, g; Herman Washington, b; Chico Hamilton, d. 21 Sep 46.
Savoy on Central Avenue, Savoy, 17310, CD 1 Track 13
03. Gerry Mulligan Quartet — Bernie's Tune
Composer: Miller, Stoller, Lieber Performers: Gerry Mulligan, Chet Baker, Bob Whitlock, Chico Hamilton, 16 Aug 1952 [This and next disc also issued on Blue Note CD Complete Pacific Jazz Recordings of Gerry Mulligan Quartet with Chet Baker.]
Jeru, Living Era, AJA 5612 Track 1
04. Gerry Mulligan Quartet — Godchild
Composer: Mulligan Performers: as above, Haig Club, Jan 1953.
Complete 1953 Haig Performances, Jazz Factory, 22861, Track 15
05. Gerry Mulligan Quartet — Moonlight In Vermont
Composer: Blackburn / Seussdorf Performers: as above except Carson Smith, b, replaces Whitlock. 3 Jan 1953
Complete 1953 Studio Recordings, Jazz factory, 22872, track 4
06. Gerry Mulligan Quartet — Carioca
Composer: Youmans Performers: as for track 4. 2 Sept 1952, live at the Blackhawk, San Francisco.
Jeru, Living Era, AJA 5612, Track 4
07. Chico Hamilton — I Want to be Happy
Composer: Vincent, Youmans Performers: Buddy Collette, fl; Fred Katz, cello, Carson Smith b, Jim Hall, g, Chico Hamilton, d. 5 Aug 55 Strollers Club, LA. [Also on complete Pacific Jazz recordings of Chico Hamilton on Mosaic.]
Les Tresors du Jazz 1955, La Chant du Monde, 574 1421 30 CD 52, Track 5
08. Chico Hamilton — Blue Sands
Composer: Collette Performers: Buddy Collette, fl; Fred Katz, cello, Carson Smith b, Jim Hall, g, Chico Hamilton, d. 23 Aug 1955 Los Angeles. [Also on complete Studio Recordings of the Original Chico Hamilton Quintet on Lonehill.]
Les Tresors du Jazz 1955, La Chant du Monde, 574 1421 30 CD 52, Track 12
09. Chico Hamilton — Pottsville USA
Composer: unknown Performers: Chico Hamilton (drums and percussion), Eric Dolphy (reeds), Nat Gershman (cello), Dennis Budimer (guitar), Wyatt Ruther (bass); orchestra conducted by Fred Katz. rec 1959.
With Strings Attached, Warner Jazz, ?
10. Chico Hamilton — I'm Beginning to See the Light
Composer: Ellington Performers: Eric Dolphy, as; Nate Gershman, cello; John Piasano, g; Hal Gaylor, b; Chico Hamilton, d. 22 Aug 1958.
The Original Ellington Suite, Pacific Jazz, 24567-2, Track 7
11. Chico Hamilton — Mallet Dance
Composer: Charles Lloyd Performers: Chico Hamilton, drums, Gabor Szabo, guitar, Albert Stinson, bass, Charles Lloyd, tenor.
Man From Two Worlds, Impulse / GRP, GRP11272, Track 6
12. Chico Hamilton — Thoughts of Pres
Composer: Hamilton Performers: Chico Hamilton dm, Cory Dinigris, g; Paul Ramsey, b; Evan Schwam, tenor. June 2002.
Thoughts of, Koch, 51009, Track 3
Jazz Line-Up
Programme exploring jazz music, focussing both on established, mainstream players and on the new generation of younger artists..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tnmw
Tomasz Stanko - 2011 Glasgow Jazz Festival
Sun 15 Apr 2012
23:00
BBC Radio 3
Claire Martin presents trumpeter Tomasz Stanko playing at the 2011 Glasgow Jazz Festival.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01g4v3d
When Tomasz Stanko took to the stage during July of last year at the Glasgow Jazz Festival, he did so without his billed colleague of Lee Konitz, who had to cancel due to illness. Nevertheless, the audience at the Old Fruit Market in Glasgow, were treated to a soulful selection of tunes with the trio of Florian Weber, piano, Jeff Denson, bass and Ziv Ravitz, drums.
Music played
01. Beats & Pieces Big Band, Ben Cottrell (Director) — Jazzwalk
Composer: Ben Cottrell Arranger: Ben Cottrell
Big Ideas, EFPI Records FP 008
02. Oriole — Mountain Flower
Performers: Ingrid Laubrock (Sax), Ruth Goller (Bass), Seb Rochford (Drums), Nick Ramm (Piano), Ben Davis (Cello), Jonny Phillips (Guitar), Adriano Adewale (Sax) Composer: Jonny Phillips
Every New Day, F-IRE F-IRECD 51
03. Kurt Rosenwinkel — Brooklyn Sometimes
Performers: Kurt Rosenwinkel (Guitar, Vocals), Brad Mehldau (Piano), Joshua Redman (Sax), Larry Grenadier (Bass), Jeff Ballard (Drums), Ali Jackson (Drums) Composer: Kurt Rosenwinkel
Deep Song, Verve
04. Kurt Rosenwinkel — The Cross
Performers: Kurt Rosenwinkel (Guitar, Vocals), Brad Mehldau (Piano), Joshua Redman (Sax), Larry Grenadier (Bass), Jeff Ballard (Drums), Ali Jackson (Drums) Composer: Kurt Rosenwinkel
Deep Song, Verve
05. Kurt Rosenwinkel — Cake
Performers: Kurt Rosenwinkel (Guitar, Vocals), Brad Mehldau (Piano), Joshua Redman (Sax), Larry Grenadier (Bass), Jeff Ballard (Drums), Ali Jackson (Drums) Composer: Kurt Rosenwinkel
Deep Song, Verve
06. Nigel Price Organ Trio — Stealing Time
Performers: Nigel Price (Guitar), Pete Whittaker (Hammond A100 Organ), Matt Home (Drums), Alex Garnett (Tenor Sax), Snowboy (Congas) Composer: Nigel Price
Heads & Tails, Woodville Records WVCD 135
07. Tomasz Stanko — Litania
Performer: Tomasz Stanko (Trumpet), Jeff Denson (Bass), Florian Weber (Piano), Ziv Ravitz (Drums) Composer: Stanko BBC Recording, recorded on Saturday 2nd July 201, at the Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, as part of the Glasgow International Jazz Festival 2011
08. Tomasz Stanko — Maldonon’s War Song
Performer: Tomasz Stanko (Trumpet), Jeff Denson (Bass), Florian Weber (Piano), Ziv Ravitz (Drums) Composer: Stanko BBC Recording, recorded on Saturday 2nd July 201, at the Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, as part of the Glasgow International Jazz Festival 2011
09. Tomasz Stanko — The Last Song
Performer: Tomasz Stanko (Trumpet), Jeff Denson (Bass), Florian Weber (Piano), Ziv Ravitz (Drums) Composer: Stanko BBC Recording, recorded on Saturday 2nd July 201, at the Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, as part of the Glasgow International Jazz Festival 2011
10. Tomasz Stanko — Stella By Starlight
Performer: Tomasz Stanko (Trumpet), Jeff Denson (Bass), Florian Weber (Piano), Ziv Ravitz (Drums) Composer: Victor Young BBC Recording, recorded on Saturday 2nd July 201, at the Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, as part of the Glasgow International Jazz Festival 2011
11. Gary Husband — East River Jam
Performers: Gary Husband (Keyboard, Drums), Wayne Krantz (Guitar) Composer: Gary Husband, Wayne Krantz
Dirty & Beautiful Volume 2, Abstract Logix ABLX 033
12. Phronesis — Eight Hours
Performers: Jasper Hoiby (Bass), Ivo Neame (Piano), Anton Eger (Drums) Composer: Jasper Hoiby
Walking Dark, Edition Records EDN 1031
13. Tomasz Stanko — Dark Eyes
Performer: Tomasz Stanko (Trumpet), Jeff Denson (Bass), Florian Weber (Piano), Ziv Ravitz (Drums) Composer: Tomasz Stanko BBC Recording, recorded on Saturday 2nd July 201, at the Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, as part of the Glasgow International Jazz Festival 2011
Private Passions
Guests from all walks of life discuss their musical loves and hates.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tnv3
Keith Grant
Sun 15 Apr 2012
12:00
BBC Radio 3
Michael Berkeley's guest is landscape painter Keith Grant.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01g4swz
Michael Berkeley welcomes the artist Keith Grant, one of the finest living landscape painters. Born in Liverpool, he studied at the Royal College of Art, where he came under the influence of neo-romantic painters such as Paul Nash and Graham Sutherland. He developed a particular enthusiasm for the landscape of the North, visiting Scotland, Iceland, and Norway, where he now lives with his Norwegian wife and their daughter. In the 1980s and 90s he also travelled widely, to French Guiana, Cameroon, Israel and Venezuela, as well as Arctic Greenland. His work exhibits resonant images of nature from the Northern Lights to the waterfalls of Sourth America. But it is in the austere beauty of the North, he says, that 'I sense the value of my life'. His luminous paintings, which are represented in many public collections, combine both abstract and figurative concerns, expressed through the imagery of night skies, icebergs, mountains, birch trees, the sea and the distant horizon.
Keith Grant has chosen a variety of music to complement his artistic vision, ranging from the opening of Wagner's Das Rheingold, though works by Nordheim, Sibelius, John McLeod and Rautavaara, to more familiar musical landscapes by Vaughan Williams (The Lark Ascending and On Wenlock Edge), as well as Britten's Elegy from the Serenade for tenor, horn and strings.
Words and Music
A sequence of classical music mixed with well-loved and less familiar poems and prose.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006x35f
The Opium of the People
Sun 15 Apr 2012
18:30
BBC Radio 3
Texts and music about faith and atheism, with readings by John Sessions and Claire Harry.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yhrdq
John Sessions and Claire Harry read texts on the subject of Faith and Atheism by Nietzsche, Philip Larkin, Lucretius, Karl Marx and Charles Darwin with music by Beethoven, Richard Strauss, Janacek, Byrd and Mahler.
Producer's Note
This sequence of words and music explores the places where atheism and pantheism intersect. Throughout history atheists have been accused of lacking a sense of the numinous and the transcendent. But these feelings are part of the human condition, understood just as much by out and out atheists such as Karl Marx and Nietzsche as they are by pantheist poets such as Wordsworth and Shelley.
The arch-atheist Nietzsche not only proclaimed the death of God, he also tried to bury the morality that underpins the Christian religion. Throw off the cringing slave mentality of fear and self-loathing, he says. Embrace the healthy body. Say “Yes” to life.
Underneath the extract from Nietzsche’s Also sprach Zarathustra, I’ve run the start of Strauss’s tone poem of the same name. It portrays the prophet of non-religion as he greets the morning sun and descends into the world of men, and in the second part the sickly-sweet hymn-like tune on the strings describes the “sad poisons” of religion.
Lagartija azul by the Columbian musician Fonseca, expresses the joy of life preached by Zarathustra.
In the history of atheism in the West, the anti-religion arguments have often been made unwittingly by deeply religious men as they grapple with the problems of faith. Here the Calvinist poet Fulke Greville outlines “The wearisome condition of humanity...Created sick, commanded to be sound.”
The Fantasia is by William Byrd, a contemporary of Fulke Greville.
The title of this programme, The Opium of the People, is a phrase that only makes complete sense when heard in its context. Karl Marx is not just saying that religion, like a drug, is a false consolation. He goes on, crucially, to say “Criticism has plucked the imaginary flowers on the chain not in order that man shall continue to bear that chain without fantasy or consolation, but so that he shall throw off the chain and pluck the living flower.”
Underneath the Marx I run the end of Sibelius’s Symphony No 5 In Eb. This is one of my favorite pieces of music. I know that Sibelius said that the exhilarating horn theme was inspired by a flight of swans, but for me it expresses a more general exultation in the power of nature. And it seems to capture the “fantasy and consolation” that Marx is talking about.
Emily Dickinson’s poetry reveals a profoundly religious temperament. But for her, religious experience was not a simple intellectual statement of belief; it could be more accurately reflected in the beauty of nature, and the experiences of ecstatic joy.
Even though Copland gave his ballet the name Appalachian Spring only after he had written it, and although Appalachia is a different part of the US from the New England of Emily Dickinson, the music seems to me to express something latent in the poetry.
Charles Darwin was initially influenced by the theologian, William Paley, the forefather of Intelligent Design, who said that the complexity of the world implies a designer. But Paley struggled to reconcile the apparent cruelty and indifference of nature with his belief in a good God. Where Darwin departed from Paley was in his concept of natural selection as a process that could produce adaptation and design without the all-encompassing intervention of a benevolent designer. Darwin’s passage on the human eye encapsulates his belief.
Robert Frost looks at a specific example of cruelty in nature and asks the question: if this is “designed”, what does that tell us about the “designer”?
I run a bit of Bach’s Goldberg Variations under this section because this music is a good example of design and complexity.
Shelley says that religion is nothing more than the attempts of poetry to express the Spirit of Beauty, which alone can give “grace and truth to life’s unquiet dream.”
A pantheistic spirit flows through much of Janacek’s music; nowhere more so than in his opera, The Cunning Little Vixen where some of the characters are animals. Janacek’s depiction of nature chimes with Shelley’s vision of Beauty.
Wallace Stevens echoes Shelley’s idea that religion and poetry are deeply connected.
The infectious joy of Charles Trenet’s “Y’a de la joie” (There’s the joy) seemed like a provocative response to Wallace Stevens’ “High-toned Old Christian Woman”; and a suitably “jovial hullabaloo among the spheres.”
The Latin poet Lucretius set out to explain the anti-religion philosophy of Epicurus in his poem De Rerum Naturae (On the Nature of the Universe). In this famous “purple passage” he rails against religion and instead proposes the Epicurean ideal of “ataraxia” or peace of mind. “True piety lies rather in the power to contemplate the universe with a quiet mind.”
The cavatina from Beethoven’s String Quartet in Bb, Op 130 is the perfect music for deep contemplation.
Coleridge supported the liberal Anglican point of view, and opposed the Evangelicals who insisted upon literal interpretation of the Scriptures in defiance of scientific discoveries. This extract from a much longer poem criticizes contemporary religious attitudes:
The very name of God
Sounds like a juggler's charm; and, bold with joy,
Forth from his dark and lonely hiding-place,
(Portentious sight !) the owlet Atheism,
Sailing on obscene wings athwart the noon,
Drops his blue-fringéd lids, and holds them close,
And hooting at the glorious sun in Heaven,
Cries out, ‘Where is it ?’
Coleridge’s “owlet atheism” hoots at the glorious sun, which is nowhere better portrayed in music than in Nielsen’s Helios Overture.
A montage of texts from eastern religions exulting in a nebulous communion with nature contrasts with the certainties of an Anglican psalm.
Philip Larkin wonders who will visit churches as congregations dwindle. “Some ruin-bibber, randy for antique?” His conclusion seems to lead him into a sort of sceptical pantheism, a thought echoed in Wordsworth’s “sense sublime of something far more deeply interfused.”
The programme ends with death and oblivion, that great source of existential Angst without which we might not even feel the need for religious consolation.
Under the Wordsworth and the Lawrence I run part of the last movement of Mahler’s 3rd Symphony which in some ways takes us back to our starting point, Nietzsche. Mahler was deliberately vague about any possible programmatic meaning in his works. But they seem to cry out for explanation. And we know that this piece was largely inspired by Nietzsche’s work “The Joyful Science”. The music continues just for a few seconds after the poem dies away as, in the end, music seems to explore areas of the human soul inaccessible to words and thought.
Producer: Clive Portbury
Music and featured items
Timings are shown from the start of the programme in hours and minutes.
00:00
Friedrich Nietzsche
Also sprach Zarathustra, Prologue, reader John Sessions
00:00
Richard Strauss — Also sprach Zarathustra (excerpt)
Performer: Philadelphia Orchestra, Wolfgang Sawallisch (conductor)
EMI 5 56364 2 Tr1
00:02
Friedrich Nietzsche
Also sprach Zarathustra, Backworldsmen, reader John Sessions
00:05
Fonseca — Lagartija azul
Composer: Fonseca
Manteca MANTDCD244 CD2 Tr2
00:09
Fulke Greville
Chorus Sacerdotum from Mustapha, reader Claire Harry
00:09
William Byrd — Fantasia á 6 No. 2
Performer: Phantasm
Simax PSC 1143 Tr1
00:14
Jean Sibelius — Symphony No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 82, 3rd movement (excerpt)
Performer: London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis (conductor)
RCA 09026 61963 2 Tr6
00:14
Karl Marx
Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, reader John Sessions
00:23
Emily Dickinson
This World is not Conclusion, reader Claire Harry
00:23
Aaron Copland — Appalachian Spring Suite (excerpt)
Performer: City of London Sinfonia, Richard Hickox (conductor)
Virgin 5 61702 2 Tr6
00:26
Johann Sebastian Bach — Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, Variations 1 & 2
Performer: Julian Rachlin (violin), Nobuko Imai (viola), Mischa Maisky (cello)
DG 477 637 8 Tr2-3
00:26
Charles Darwin
On the Origins of Species (6th Edition, excerpt), reader John Sessions
00:28
Robert Frost
Design, reader Claire Harry
00:29
Leos Janacek — The Cunning Little Vixen, orchestral suite (excerpt)
Performer: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras (conductor)
Decca 475 867 CD2 Tr10
00:31
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Hymn to Intellectual Beauty, reader John Sessions
00:34
Leos Janacek — The Cunning Little Vixen, orchestral suite (excerpt)
Performer: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras (conductor)
Decca 475 867 CD2 Tr10
00:42
Wallace Stevens
High-Toned Old Christian Woman, reader Claire Harry
00:43
Charles Trenet — Y’a de la joie
Performer: Charles Trenet and His Orchestra
ASV AJA 5166 Tr2
00:46
Lucretius
De Rerum Naturae, Book 5 (excerpt), reader John Sessions
00:47
Ludwig van Beethoven — String Quartet No. 13 in B flat major, Op. 130, 5th movement
Performer: Busch Quartet
EMI 5 09655 2 CD2 Tr9
00:55
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Fears in Solitude (excerpt), reader Claire Harry
00:56
Carl Nielsen — Helios Overture (excerpt)
Performer: Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gennady Rozhdestvensky (conductor)
Chandos CHAN 9287 Tr1
00:59
Philip Glass — Anima Mundo, The Garden (excerpt)
Performer: Choir and Orchestra, Michael Riesman (conductor)
Elektra Nonesuch 7559 79329 2 Tr3
00:59
attrib. Laozi
Tao Te Ching, reader John Sessions
01:00
Anon
Upanishad (excerpt), reader John Sessions
01:01
Anon
Bhagavad Gita (excerpt), reader John Sessions
01:03
C. H. Lloyd — Psalm 137: By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept
Performer: Westminster Abbey Choir, Andrew Lumsden (organ), Martin Neary (conductor)
Virgin 7243 4 45036 2 Tr15
01:07
Philip Larkin
Church Going, reader Claire Harry
01:10
William Wordsworth
Tintern Abbey (excerpt), reader John Sessions
01:10
Gustav Mahler — Symphony No. 3 in D minor, Langsam (excerpt)
Performer: Royal Scottish Orchestra, Neeme Järvi (conductor)
Chandos 9117 CD2 Tr3
01:11
D. H. Lawrence
The Ship of Death (excerpt), reader Claire Harry
