音楽の泉
週末の朝に、さわやかなクラシック音楽をお届けする「音楽の泉」。クラシック音楽の入門番組として1949年に放送を開始、今日まで数多くの名曲を紹介してきました。柔らかな語り口に定評のある音楽学者・皆川達夫さんが、興味深いエピソードを交えながら、作品についてわかりやすく解説します。
ゆったりと流れる時間のおともに、「音楽の泉」でクラシック音楽をお楽しみください。
http://www.nhk.or.jp/r1/shou/ongaku_izumi.html
放送日： 2012年 6月 9日（土）
放送時間： 午前6:00〜午前6:50（50分）
解説： 皆川達夫
− チャイコフスキーの弦楽四重奏曲 −
「弦楽四重奏曲 第１番 ニ長調 作品１１」チャイコフスキー作曲
（弦楽四重奏）ボロディン弦楽四重奏団
「弦楽四重奏曲 変ロ長調」チャイコフスキー作曲
（弦楽四重奏）ボロディン弦楽四重奏団
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 6月 7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. House Of The Rising Sun / Doc Watson & Clarence Ashley
ALBUM: The Original Folkways Recordings, 1960-1962
02. Little Omie Wise / Doc Watson
ALBUM: Doc Watson
03. Intoxicated Rat / Doc Watson
ALBUM: Doc Watson
04. Blackberry Blossom / Doc Watson
ALBUM: Newport Folk Festival 1964: The Evening Concerts
05. Going Down This Road Feeling Bad / Doc Watson
ALBUM: Newport Folk Festival 1964: The Evening Concerts
06. Ramblin' Hobo / Doc Watson & Family
ALBUM: Treasures Untold
07. Chinese Breakdown / Doc Watson & Family
ALBUM: Treasures Untold
08. Beaumont Rag / Doc Watson And Clarence White
ALBUM: Treasures Untold
09. Medley: Fiddler's Dream〜Whistling Rufus〜Ragtime Annie / Doc Watson
ALBUM: Doc Watson & Son
10. Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar / Doc Watson
ALBUM: Doc Watson & Son
11. Sweet Georgia Brown / Doc Watson
ALBUM: Southbound
12. Southbound / Doc Watson
ALBUM: Southbound
13. Tennessee Stud / The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with Doc Watson
ALBUM: Will The Circle Be Unbroken
14. Black Mountain Rag / The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with Doc Watson
ALBUM: Will The Circle Be Unbroken
15. Way Downtown / The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with Doc Watson
ALBUM: Will The Circle Be Unbroken
16. Medley: Texas Gales〜Old Joe Clark / Chet Atkins & Doc Watson
ALBUM: Reflections
17. Windy And Warm / Doc & Merle Watson
ALBUM: Sittin' Here Pickin' The Blues
18. Did You Hear John Hurt? / Doc & Merle Watson
ALBUM: Sittin' Here Pickin' The Blues
19. I'm A Stranger Here / Doc & Merle Watson
ALBUM: Sittin' Here Pickin' The Blues
20. St. Louis Blues / Doc Watson
ALBUM: Sittin' Here Pickin' The Blues
21. Summertime / Doc Watson & David Grisman
ALBUM: Doc & Dawg
22. Train Leaves Here This Morning / Dillard & Clark
ALBUM: The Fantastic Expedition Of Dillard & Clark
23. The Radio Song / Dillard & Clark
ALBUM: The Fantastic Expedition Of Dillard & Clark
24. Don't Let Me Down / Dillard & Clark
ALBUM: Through The Morning, Through The Night
25. Hard, Ain't It Hard / The Dillards
ALBUM: A Long Time Ago, The First Time Live!
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 6月 9日（土）
放送時間： 午前9:00〜午前11:00（120分）
ゴンチチ
渡辺亨
− パパの音楽 −
「父と母」 (ゴンチチ)(3分11秒)
＜EPIC/SONY ESCB1420＞
「パパズ・ガット・ア・ブランニュー・バッグ」(ジェームズ・ブラウン)(2分07秒)
＜UNIVERSAL PROI-1006＞
「パパ・ウォズ・ア・ローリング・ストーン」(デヴィッド・リンドレー)(5分00秒)
＜WARNER PIONEER Co. 25P2-2160＞
「ホワイル・マイ・ギター・ジェントリー・ウィープス」(ケニー・ランキン)(3分52秒)
＜slydog SLY3006C＞
- アーティスト: Martin Simpson
- 出版社/メーカー: Topic
- 発売日: 2009/08/12
- メディア: CD
- この商品を含むブログ (1件) を見る
＜TOPIC REC. 7 4466-2＞
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Prodigal-Son-Martin-Simpson/dp/B000SNSUKG/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1339202492&sr=1-3
「オー・パパ」 (マリア・マルダー)(3分16秒)
＜REPRISE REC. P-8522R＞
「元祖天才バカボンの春」(こおろぎ’73とコロムビアゆりかご会)(2分21秒)
＜東京ムービー TMS-304＞
「サムシング・スチューピッド」(ナンシー・シナトラ、フランク・シナトラ)(2分34秒)
＜RHINO R2 75885＞
「ブリッジング・ザ・ギャップ」 (ナズ、オル・ダラ)(4分00秒)
＜SONY MUSIC SICP2290＞
「アグラベイティング・パパ」 (ベッシー・スミス)(3分19秒)
＜コロムビア !DP092969＞
「エペロ」 (パパ・ウェンバ)(4分03秒)
＜meldac MECP-25014＞
「トワーズ・ザ・サン」 (アレクシー・マードック)(4分15秒)
＜ZERO SUMMER REC. NO NUMBER＞
「スウィム」 (パパズ・カルチャー)(5分11秒)
＜ELEKTRA ENTERTAINMENT 9 61432-2＞
「マイ・ハート・ビロングス・トゥ・ダディ」(スールヴァイグ・シュレッタイェル)(6分48秒)
＜BOMBA REC. BOM22154＞
「ソング・フォー・ジュリー」 (ジェシ・コリン・ヤング)(4分57秒)
＜WARNER BROS. P-8386W＞
「ベベウ」 (ジョアン・ジルベルト)(3分09秒)
＜POLYDOR POCJ-2557＞
「シマリス一家のくるみひろい」 (ゴンチチ)(2分36秒)
＜EPIC/SONY ESCB1420＞
「ストロール・オン」 (ヤードバーズ)(2分44秒)
＜SONY MUSIC AK52418＞
「フェイト・プラ・アカバール」(ゼー・ミゲル・ウィズ・ニッキ)(5分04秒)
＜CIRCUS BRAZIL 7898418581654＞
「グラスハウス」 (伊藤ゴロー)(5分12秒)
＜WACOAL ART CENTER XQAW-1102＞
Travelling Folk with Bruce MacGregor
Bruce MacGregor presents Radio Scotland's flagship folk programme and brings you the very best of today's music and song.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tlyrt
Julie Fowlis
Thu 7 Jun 2012
20:05
BBC Radio Scotland
Bruce Macgregor is joined by award-winning Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jhk05
Music played
01. Mad Dog Mcrea — The Happy Bus
02. Alastair Ogilvy — Girl From The North Country
03. Groanbox Boys — Hobo Heaven
04. Sketch — Shedmau5
05. Christy Moore — The Voyage
06. Ashley MacIsaac — Rusty D conSTRUCKtion
07. Johnny Cash — I Won’t Back Down
08. Regina Carter — Full Time
09. Kirsty McGee — Lazy Eye Blues
10. Iain Macfarlane & Iain Macdonald — Donald Maclean's/ Pitnacree Ferryman/ Alasdair Fraser's Welcome to Cape Breton
11. Catriona MacDonald — Gibbie’s Reel Set
12. The Hotseats — Mineola Rag
13. The Halton Quartet — Washington Square Park
14. Julie Fowlis — Ged A Sheol Mi Air M' Aineol
15. Mary Smith — Duil Ri Rubha An t-Siumpain Fhaicinn
16. Rura — Sorley’s
17. Rory & Calum Macdonald — Am Baird Deireannach
18. Tama — Ta'aba
19. Sheena Wellington — The Dandy and the Beano
20. Lauren MacColl — Ali Bobo/The Futterat with the Grey Tail/Captain Menzies/ Don't Lose The Lovely
21. Lau — Hinba / Funny Weather
Jazz Record Requests
Make a request...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tnn9
Sat 9 Jun 2012
17:00
BBC Radio 3
Alyn Shipton presents a selection of listeners' jazz requests.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jqj1d
This week, Alyn Shipton's selection of listeners' jazz requests includes tenor balladry from Scott Hamilton and Andy Sheppard, dixieland from Terry Lightfoot (with a very surprising band member), contrasting tracks from George Shearing, the roar of Woody Herman's band, and Balkan jazz from Chris Barber.
Music played
01. Woody Herman — Sidewalks of Cuba
Composer: Oakland, Parish, Mills Performers: Sonny Berman, Cappy Lewis, Conrad Gozzo, Pete Candoli, Shorty Rogers, t; Neil Read, Ralph Pfeffner, Bill Harris, Ed Kiefer, tb; Woody Herman, cl; Sam Marowitz, John La Porta, Flip Phillips, Micky Foulis, Sam Rubonowich, rees; Jimmy Rowles, p; Chuck Wayne g; joe Mondragon, b; Don Lamond, d. Sept 17, 1946.
Woody Herman Story, Proper, Properbox 15 CD 3 track 13
02. Frank Socolow — Reverse The Charges
Composer: Webster, Williams, Wright Performers: Freddie Webster t; Frankie Socolow, ts; Bud Powell, p; Leonard Gaskin, b; Irv Kluger, d; May 2, 1945
Bebop Spoken Here, Proper, Properbox 10 CD 1 Track 12
03. Scott Hamilton — Stella By Starlight
Composer: Victor Young Performers: Scott Hamilton, ts; Dave McKenna (piano), Cal Collins (guitar), Bob Maize (bass), Jake Hanna (drums). Tokyo 1981.
Tour de Force, Concord, Track 4
04. Andy Sheppard — I Wish I Knew
Composer: Harry Warren / Mack Gordon Performers: Andy Sheppard, reeds, synths, keyboards; Stephane San Juan, perc; Pauline Reage (Story of O) sample. 2001.
Nocturnal Tourist, Provocateur, 1029 Track 6
05. Terry Lightfoot — Ole Miss Rag
Composer: W C Handy Performers: Colin Smith, t; Terry Lightfoot, cl; John Bennett, tb; Wayne Chandler, bj; Bill Reid, b; Ginger Baker, d. Dec 13, 1957.
British Traditional Jazz a Potted History 1936-1963, Lake, LACD 300 CD 2 Track 8
06. Alex Welsh — Blue and Sentimental
Composer: Basie / David / Livingston Performers: Alex Welsh, c; Roy Crimmins, tb; Al Gay reeds; Fred Hunt, p; Roger Nobes, vib; Ron Rubin b; Jim Douglas, d. BBC Maida Vale Studios, Dec 16, 1979.
Oh Baby, Upbeat, 175 Track 4
07. Fats Waller — You're The Picture (I’m the Frame)
Composer: Rothberg / Golden Album: TAKE IT EASY Duration: 3.36
, SAVILLE, SVL194 S1 Track 6
08. Mel Torme and George Shearing — New York Medley
Composer: Goetz, Leslie, Meyer/ Weill, Blitzstein, Brecht/ Ballantine, DeSylva, Henderson/ David, Mancini/Hamilton, Lewis/Kander, Ebb. Performers: Mel Tormé, voc; George Shearing, p; John Leitham, b; Donny Osborne, d. Aug 1987.
Complete Concord Recordings, Concord, 2144-2 CD 5 Track 5
09. George Shearing / Stephane Grappelli — Star Eyes
Composer: Waldron Performers: Stephane Grappelli vn; George Shearing, p; Andy Simkins b; Rusty Jones, d. 1976.
The Reunion, MPS, 821868-2 Track 9
10. Chris Barber — Csikos
Composer: Trad arr. Barber Performers: Pat Halcox, t; Chris Barber, tb; John Crocker, reeds; Johnny McCallum, bj; John Slaighter, g; Jackie Flavelle, b; Graham Burbidge, d. February 1975.
Chris Barber in Switzerland, Lake, 208 CD 1 Track 8
11. Perfect Houseplants — Salome
Composer: D Phillips Performers: Mark Lockheart, reeds, Huw Warren, kb, acc; Dudley Phillips, b; Martin France, d. 1997.
Snap Clatter, Linn, AKD 063 Track 10
12. Count Basie — Whirly Bird
Composer: Hefti Performers: Thad Jones, Joe Newman, Wendell Culley, Snooky Young, t; Al Grey, Henry Coker, Benny Powell, tb; Marshal Royal, Frank Wess, Frank Foster, Eddie Lockjaw Davis, Charlie Fowlkes, reeds; Count Basie, p; Freddie Green, g; Eddie Jones, b; Sonny Payne. d. October 21, 1957.
Basie on the Beatles / The Atomic Mr Basie, Groove hut, 66711 Track 18
Geoffrey Smith's Jazz
Geoffrey Smith's Jazz does exactly what it says on the tin: a weekly programme in which Geoffrey Smith shares his passion for jazz, through an exploration of its great writers, singers and players, as told from his own individual perspective. Having spent more than twenty years as host to Jazz Record Requests, reading listeners' letters and observing their passion for all types of jazz, Geoffrey Smith goes solo in this new series, exploring and illuminating the story of great jazz across its entire range, through personally-selected sequences of tracks.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01h5z0s
Porgy and Bess
Sun 10 Jun 2012
00:00
BBC Radio 3
Geoffrey Smith explores the many jazz interpretations of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jqj2m
George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess has provided jazz players and singers with a host of gorgeous melodies. Drawing on interpretations from Louis Armstong and Ella Fitzgerald to Sidney Bechet, Billie Holiday and Miles Davis, Geoffrey Smith presents on all-star omnibus version of the opera.
Music played
01. Bill Potts — Summertime
Composer: G & I Gershwin Performers: Charlie Shavers, Harry Edison, Bernie Glow, Art Farmer, Markie Makowitz (tp), Bob Brookmeyer (valve tb), Frank Rehak, Earl Swope, Jimmy Cleveland (tb), Rod Levitt (bass tb), Phil Woods, Gene Quill (as), Zoot Sims, Al Cohn (ts), Sol Schlinger (bs), Bill Evans (p), Herbie Powell (g), George Duvivier (b), Charlie Persip (d) Recorded: 1959
The Jazz Soul of Porgy and Bess, Fresh Sound FSR-CD 663, Tr.1; 3.05
02. Sidney Bechet — Summertime
Composer: G & I Gershwin Performers: Sidney Bechet (ss), Meade Lux Lewis (p), Teddy Bunn (g), John Williams (b), Sid Catlett (d) Recorded: 1939
Sidney Bechet – Ken Burns Jazz, Columbia/Legacy 501031 2, Tr.15; 4.10
03. Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong — I Got Plenty o’ Nothin’
Composer: G & I Gershwin Performers: Ella Fitzgerald (voc), Louis Armstrong (tp), Trummy Young (tb), Edmond Hall (cl), Billy Kyle (p), Dale Jones (b), Barrett Deems (d) Recorded: 1957
Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong - Porgy and Bess, Essential Jazz Classics EJC55427, Tr.5, 3.50
04. Stewart-Williams & Co — It Ain’t Necessarily So
Composer: G & I Gershwin Performers: Cootie Williams, Al Derisi, Bernie Glow, Ernie Royal, Joe Wilder (tp), Rex Stewart, Lawrence Brown, Eddie Bert, Urbie Green, Sonny Russo (tb), Sid Cooper, Walt Levinsky (as), Hilton Jefferson, Al Klink, Bommie Richman (ts), Pinky Williams (bs), Buddy Weed (p), Barry Galbraith (g), Milt Hinton (b), Don Lamond (d) Recorded: 1959
Porgy and Bess Revisited, CBS SW8414, S1/1; 3.50
05. Joe Henderson — My Man’s Gone Now
Composer: G & I Gershwin Performers: Joe Henderson (ts), Conrad Herwig (tb), John Scofield (g), Stefon Harris (vibes), Tommy Flanagan (p), Dave Holland (b), Jack DeJohnette (d) Recorded: 1997
Joe Henderson – Porgy and Bess, Verve 5390482 (1), TR.4; 6.57
06. Billie Holiday — I Love You Porgy
Composer: G & I Gershwin Performers: Billie Holiday (voc), Bobby Tucker (p), Mundell Lowe (g), John Levy (b), Denzil Best (d), Recorded: 1948
Billie Holiday: The Complete Commodore & Decca Masters, Universal 8001314602, D3, Tr.1; 2.53
07. Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong — Bess, You is My Woman Now
Composer: G & I Gershwin Performers: Ella Fitzgerald (voc), Louis Armstrong (voc & tp), Trummy Young (tb), Edmond Hall (cl), Billy Kyle (p), Dale Jones (b), Barrett Deems (d) Recorded: 1957
Ella Fitzgerald/Louis Armstrong - Porgy and Bess, Essential Jazz Classics EJC55427, Tr.7; 5.27
08. Miles Davis — Oh Bess, Oh Where’s My Bess
Composer: G & I Gershwin Performers: Miles Davis, Louis R. Mucci, Ernie Royal, John Coles, Bernie Glow (tp), Jimmy Cleveland, Joseph Bennett, Richard Hixon, Frank J. Rehak (tb), Julian E. Adderly, Daniel B. Banks (sax), Willie Ruff, Julius B. Watkins, Gunther Schuller (Fr. h), Philip Bodner, Romeo M. Penque (fl), John “Bill” Barber (tuba), Paul Chambers (b), Philly Joe Jones (d) Recorded: 1958
Miles Davis: Porgy and Bess, CBS 4509852 (1), 4.28
09. Bill Potts — There’s a Boat Dat’s Leavin’ Soon for New York
Composer: G & I Gershwin Performers: Charlie Shavers, Harry Edison, Bernie Glow, Art Farmer, Markie Makowitz (tp), Bob Brookmeyer (valve tb), Frank Rehak, Earl Swope, Jimmy Cleveland (tb), Rod Levitt (bass tb), Phil Woods, Gene Quill (as), Zoot Sims, Al Cohn (ts), Sol Schlinger (bs), Bill Evans (p), Herbie Powell (g), George Duvivier (b), Charlie Persip (d) Recorded: 1959
The Jazz Soul of Porgy and Bess, Fresh Sound. FSR-CD 663, Tr.11; 3.22
10. John Coltrane — Summertime
Composer: G & I Gershwin Performers: John Coltrane (ts), McCoy Tyner (p), Steve Davis (b), Elvin Jones (d) Recorded: 1960
My Favourite Things, Rhino R2 75204, Tr.3; 11.31
Private Passions
Guests from all walks of life discuss their musical loves and hates, and talk about the influence music has had on their lives
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tnv3
Celia Imrie
Sun 10 Jun 2012
12:00
BBC Radio 3
Michael Berkeley's guest is actress Celia Imrie.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jqkwy
Michael Berkeley's guest this week is one of the most successful British actresses of recent decades. Celia Imrie has enjoyed frequent collaborations with Victoria Wood from the 1970s onwards, appearing as Miss Babs in the spoof TV soap 'Acorn Antiques', and as Philippa Moorcroft in 'Dinnerladies'. Other major TV roles include Diana Neal in After You've Gone, and Gloria Millington in Kingdom. Her film credits include Nanny McPhee, Hilary and Jackie (in which she played Iris du Pre), Calendar Girls, Bridget Jones' Diary, the 2007 remake of St Trinian's, in which she played the Matron, and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel . She is also a highly successful stage actress, and is currently appearing in Michael Frayn's Noises Off in London's West End, for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award.
Celia Imrie learnt to play the piano as a child, and her musical private passions begin with Shostakovich's Second Piano Concerto, played by Leonard Bernstein. She has also chosen one of Josef Suk's Love Songs for piano, written for his wife, Dvorak's daughter Ottilie. Celia Imrie's mother was a violinist, and her choices include the finale of Brahms's Violin Concerto played by NIgel Kennedy. A great opera-lover, she has selected arias from Charpentier's opera Louise, sung by Montserrat Caballe, and Puccini's Tosca, sung by Maria Callas and Tito Gobbi, which she loves for its dramatic intensity. Celia wanted to be a dancer, and finds it hard to sit still while listening to the waltz from Act I of Prokofiev's ballet Cinderella. Her final choice is Shirley Bassey singing 'Diamonds Are Forever'.
Words and Music
A sequence of music interspersed with well-loved and less familiar poems and prose read by leading actors
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006x35f
The Full Montaigne
Sun 10 Jun 2012
18:30
BBC Radio 3
Jim Broadbent plays Michel de Montaigne. Includes music by Bach, Ligeti and Randy Newman.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01jql7p
Jim Broadbent plays Michel de Montaigne, whose 'Essays' entertainingly ponder sex, marriage, animals, memory, and cruelty in an attempt to answer one question: 'How to live?' With music including Bach, Ligeti, Mendelssohn and Randy Newman.
David Papp, producer.
Introduction
In this edition of Words & Music, Jim Broadbent plays the French sixteenth-century essayist, Michel de Montaigne.
In his celebrated Essays, Montaigne drew on a lifetime of experience and observation to try to answer one essential question: ‘How to live?’ But far from inscrutable musings, the Essays are often earthy and direct, at once scatological and astute, philosophical and witty, playful and profound.
The Essays were first published in 1580 and are positively Shakespearian, both in their range and their humanism. But unlike Shakespeare in his plays, Montaigne speaks as himself, and he says the most heretical things. For instance, that human beings are on a par with the animals and just a tiny part of Nature, all of which deserve equal respect; that death is just the end of life, and it is life which the important thing.
In 1676, almost a century after his death, the Vatican caught up with Montaigne and the Essays were put on its index of prohibited books, where they stayed until 1854. But the Essays have been continuously available (if not at the Vatican bookshop) for the last four and a half centuries, not only because they are engaging and entertaining, but because they so often ignite the spark self-recognition. ‘Yes! That’s how it is! That’s how I feel!’ is a familiar sensation for Essay readers.
‘The Full Montaigne’ is a cheeky title for a programme featuring 30 minutes of (albeit wonderfully performed) readings from a book of over a thousand pages. But I hope seasoned Montaignistes will find themselves recognising an old friend, and those coming to the Essays for the first time will find a new one.
For anyone who is interested in finding out more about Montaigne and the Essays, a great starting-point (and the one which inspired this programme), is Sarah Bakewell’s book ‘How to Live, or A life of Montaigne in one question and twenty attempts at an answer’.
David Papp (producer)
Producer Note
To begin the programme, Montaigne sets out the aim and method of his Essays. He continually observes himself to find out about the world because ‘each man bears the entire form of man’s estate’. But nothing is certain and ‘all contradictions may be found in me by some twist and in some fashion’. The hardest of all things is ‘how to live this life well and naturally’. Here to accompany his reflections is another difficult thing made to sound easy and natural, a stately but unassuming sarabande by Bach.
What did Montaigne look like? He tells us, with the help of Randy Newman, that he is short and doesn’t like it; otherwise strong and healthy ‘until well along in years’. He has little talent for sport and dancing and none for music. But it seems unlikely that he ‘cannot even write so I can read it’ nor ‘read much better’. Nothing worries him but the need for health and life. ‘Extremely idle, extremely independent, both by nature and by art’ – a cue for Beethoven at his most easy-going and for Montaigne to tell us that the only ability he has needed is to ‘content himself with his lot’. Suspense and deliberation are worrisome; much better to be driven ‘at a single bound directly into suffering’.
There is no proto-Proustian cup of tea and madeleine for Montaigne. His experience will be familiar to many: the more he tries to remember something, the more elusive it becomes. And it is the same with dreams. He knows he wants to remember them even while he dreams; when he wakes, the more he strains to remember them, the more they are plunged into oblivion. Post-dream Fauré follows.
The power – or rather powerlessness – of the will comes next, especially when it comes to the male member, ‘obtruding so importunately when we have no use for it, and failing so importunately when we have the most use for it’. Montaigne imagines himself pleading the cause of the ‘honourable member’ and defending it against other parts of the body which are envious ‘of the importance and pleasure of the use of him’ but just as guilty of defying the will. But, come to think about it, isn’t the will just as capricious?
The unruly member still prominent, a fandango by Boccherini launches Montaigne on Sex. For Montaigne, sex for its own sake, or without mutual pleasure for both parties, or without reciprocated affection becomes tantamount to two very unsavoury episodes from the ancient world. And, in any case, not all sex is good sex: some ‘enjoyments are meagre and languid’; sometimes the ladies ‘go to it with only one buttock’. And ‘what if she eats your bread with the sauce of a more agreeable imagination?’ Moreover, what has good sex got to do with marriage? Not much, agrees Nina Simone: ‘One husband/One wife/Whaddaya got?/A sentence for life!’
The spirited eight-way musical conversation from the last movement of Mendelssohn’s Octet echoes Montaigne’s view that ‘The most fruitful and natural exercise of our mind… is discussion.’ With the right person, ‘Rivalry, glory, competition push me and lift me above myself.’ But beware ‘association and frequentation with mean and sickly minds’ – although impatience with stupidity is itself ‘another sort of malady which is scarcely less troublesome than stupidity.’
Two extraordinary passages follow, ones that seem to make the centuries between Montaigne and us roll away.
The first begins ‘I cruelly hate cruelty’. Here is a man, living at a time when violence and cruelty were woven into the fabric of everyday life, who can’t ‘see a chicken’s neck wrung without distress,’ let alone witness the violence of one man against another. ‘There is a certain respect, and a general duty of humanity, that attaches us not only to animals, who have life and feeling, but even to trees and plants.’ Tallis’s jewel-like setting of ‘If ye love me’ is the only music in the programme contemporary with Montaigne.
The second, with its famous (and perfectly reasonable) question ‘When I play with my cat, who knows if I am not a pastime to her more than she is to me?’ builds towards the heretical conclusion that ‘We are neither above nor below the rest: all that is under heaven… incurs the same law and the same fortune, all things are bound by their own chains of fate’. Rautavaara’s ‘Cantus Arcticus,’ with its recorded wild bird calls, emphasises Montaigne’s parting shot: those who recognise that a whole kingdom is nothing more than a tiny dot in the in the great picture of Nature, are those who estimate ‘things according to their true proportions.’
In the next pair of extracts we are very much back in Montaigne’s sixteenth century. He was a top-level negotiator during the bloody civil war that divided France through much of his life and here he tells us that he ‘would rather fail in my mission than fail to be true to myself’. He says that he looks ‘upon our kings simply with a loyal and civic affection.’ One imagines that people must have been hanged for saying less.
In the programme’s penultimate passage, Montaigne describes the arrival of the plague at his estate and the accommodation with death that he witnessed among the peasants, some of whom dug their own graves: ‘one of my labourers, with his hands and feet, pulled the earth over him as he was dying.’ Once again, a heretical thought: ‘It seems to me that death is indeed the end, but not therefore the goal, of life… Life should be an aim unto itself, a purpose unto itself.’ Bach would have been shocked, I think – but this arrangement of his celebrated violin Chaconne with its funerary hymns seems to fit.
The end of the ‘Essays’ provides the final text of the programme, a celebration of ordinariness: ‘The most beautiful lives, to my mind, are those that conform to the common human pattern, with order, but without miracle and without eccentricity.’ Montaigne signs off by commending old age to ‘that god who is the protector of health and wisdom, but gay and sociable wisdom,’ a cue for some gay and sociable Chabrier.
David Papp (producer)
Music and featured items
Timings are shown from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame (Stanford University Press)
Introduction – ‘The World always looks straight ahead…’
00:00
Johann Sebastian Bach — Sarabande (from Partita No. 1 in B flat, BWV 825)
Performer: Murray Perahia (piano)
Sony 88697565602, Tr. 4
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
General philosophy – ‘I take the first subject chance offers…’
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
‘I set forth a humble and inglorious life…’
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
‘All contradictions may be found in me...’
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
‘If others examined themselves, as I do…’
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
‘Relaxation and affability…’
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
On shortness – ‘I’m a little below medium height…’
00:06
Randy Newman — Short People
Performer: Randy Newman (vocals & piano)
Warner bros 256404, Tr. 1
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
General characteristics – ‘For the rest, I have a strong, thickset body…’
00:10
Ludwig van Beethoven — Rondino, WoO 25
Performer: Sabine Meyer Wind Ensemble
EMI 5 56817 2, Tr. 5
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
‘The only ability I have needed…’
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
‘The most painful situation for me…’
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
On memory – ‘I am displeased with my mind…’
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
On the unruly member – ‘Married people…’
00:24
Luigi Boccherini — Quintet No. 4 in D major, G. 341 (3rd mvt: Fandango)
Performer: Le concert des nations & Jordi Savall
Allia vox AVSA 9845, Tr. 3
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
On sex – ‘Love is nothing but the thirst for sexual enjoyment…’
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
‘Women are not wrong…’
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
On marriage – ‘I see no marriages that sooner are troubled and fail…’
00:32
Leon Carr/Earl Shuman — Marriage is for Old Folks
Performer: Nina Simone (vocals) Performer: Orchestra arranged and conducted by Hal Mooney
Verve 0624 9846775, Tr. 16
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
On conversation – ‘The most fruitful and natural exercise of our mind…’
00:34
Felix Mendelssohn — Octet - 4th Mvt (Presto)
Performer: Daniel Hope (violin) & Soloists of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe
DG 477 6634, Tr. 7
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
On cruelty – ‘I cruelly hate cruelty…’
00:42
Thomas Tallis — If ye love me
Performer: Tallis Scholars & Peter Phillips (director)
Gimell DCGMB450, CD 3 Tr. 1
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
On animals – ‘Presumption is our natural and original malady…’
00:47
Einojuhani Rautavaara — Cantus Arcticus mvt 1 – The Bog
Performer: Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra & Leif Segerstam (conductor)
Ondine ODE 1014 1, Tr. 5
00:51
Jean-Philippe Rameau — Chaconne (Quatrième Entrée: Les Sauvages)
Performer: Les Musiciens Du Louvre & Marc Minkowski (director)
Deutche Grammophon SACD 4775578, Tr. 17
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
On negotiation – ‘In what little negotiating I have had to do between our princes…’
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
On plague – ‘I doubt if I can decently admit…’
00:58
György Ligeti — Requiem - De die judicii sequentia
Performer: Caroline Stein (soprano) Performer: London Voices Performer: Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Performer: Jonathan Nott (conductor)
Teldec 8573 88263 2, Tr. 13
00:59
J. S. Bach (arr. Helga Thoerne) — Chaconne from Paritita in D minor (BWV 1004)
Performer: Christoph Poppen (violin) Performer: The Hilliard Ensemble
ECM 461 895-2, Tr. 21
Michel de Montaigne, trans. Donald M. Frame
Ending – ‘It is an absolute perfection and virtually divine…’
01:07
Alexis Emmanuel Chabrier — 10 Pièces pittoresques - Paysage
Performer: Kathryn Stott (piano)
Unicorn-Kanchana DKP(CD)9158, Tr. 1
