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://www4.nhk.or.jp/sunshine/
放送日： 2013年 9月28日（土）
放送時間： 午前7:20〜午前9:00（100分）
ピーター・バラカン
ボブ・ディラン アナザー・セルフ・ポートレイト特集
THIS WEEK'S PLAYLIST
（曲名 / アーティスト名 // アルバム名）
Bob Dylan - Another Self Portrait
01. Maggie's Farm / Bob Dylan & The Band // The Complete, Historic "Isle Of Wight" Concert
02. Wild Mountain Thyme / Bob Dylan & The Band // The Complete, Historic "Isle Of Wight" Concert
03. Mr. Tambourine Man / Bob Dylan & The Band // The Complete, Historic "Isle Of Wight" Concert
04. I Pity The Poor Immigrant / Bob Dylan & The Band // The Complete, Historic "Isle Of Wight" Concert
05. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight / Bob Dylan & The Band // The Complete, Historic "Isle Of Wight" Concert
06. Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn) / Bob Dylan & The Band // The Complete, Historic "Isle Of Wight" Concert
07. Minstrel Boy / Bob Dylan & The Band // The Complete, Historic "Isle Of Wight" Concert
08. Little Sadie (Without Overdubs) / Bob Dylan // Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10
09. Little Sadie / Bob Dylan // Self Portrait
10. Pretty Saro / Bob Dylan // Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10
11. Spanish Is The Loving Tongue / Bob Dylan // Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10
12. This Evening So Soon / Bob Dylan // Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10
13. House Carpenter / Bob Dylan // Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10
14. Bring Me A Little Water / Bob Dylan // Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10
15. Working On A Guru / Bob Dylan // Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10
16. Only A Hobo / Bob Dylan // Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10
17. I Threw It All Away (Alternate Version) / Bob Dylan // Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10
18. If Not For You (Alternate Version) / Bob Dylan // Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10
19. If Dogs Run Free (Alternate Version) / Bob Dylan // Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10
20. Went To See The Gypsy (Demo) / Bob Dylan // Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10
21. When I Paint My Masterpiece (Demo) / Bob Dylan // Another Self Portrait (1969-1971): The Bootleg Series, Vol. 10
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://www4.nhk.or.jp/kaiteki/
放送日： 2013年 9月28日（土）
放送時間： 午前9:00〜午前11:00（120分）
ゴンチチ
湯浅学
− あげる音楽 −
「雨あがりの王国」 （ゴンチチ）
（4分17秒）
＜ESCB1059＞
「エイント・ザット・グッド・ニュース」 （サム・クック）
（2分26秒）
＜R32P-1041＞
「サイレント・フライング」 （ジェリー・バーゴンジー）
（3分16秒）
＜SCD2110＞
「ワー・ヴェリエ」
（ケイ・エス・チトラ、エス・ピー・バーラスブラマニヤム）
（4分59秒）
＜FKR051CD＞
「交響曲 第7番 イ長調から 第4楽章」 ベートーベン作曲
（6分13秒）
（管弦楽）シモン・ボリバル・ユース・オーケストラ・
オブ・ベネズエラ
（指揮）グスターボ・ドゥダメル
＜UCCG1345＞
「ゴーイング・アップサイド・ユアーヘッド」
（エディ・テイラー）
（2分35秒）
＜PCD-93223＞
「ムーンライト・イン・ヴァーモント」（ケントン・マクピーク）
（1分46秒）
＜MORMAC REC. LP1001＞
「恋のウエイト・リフティング」 （サンディ・ショウ）
（2分38秒）
＜WPCR-10979＞
「教えてあげる」 （カクタス）
（5分10秒）
＜VICW60032＞
「ユー・エイント・ゴーイン・ノーホエアー」
（ボブ・ディラン＆ザ・バンド）
（2分42秒）
＜SICP2011＞
「こみあげる涙と君のために」 （高橋幸宏）
（5分34秒）
＜TOCT-8968＞
「アケレズ・オリュス・ベルヂィス」
（アゴスチーニョ・ドス・サントス）
（2分14秒）
＜0465-2＞
「俺があげるものすべて」 （トドス・トゥス・ムエルトス）
（3分30秒）
＜POCP-7412＞
「ボディー・アンド・ソウル」 （エリオ・デルミロ）
（7分55秒）
＜5937442＞
「ベアゲル」 （アマドゥ・ジャーニャ）
（6分50秒）
＜INTRO115CD＞
「フライド・パイズ」 （ウエス・モンゴメリー）
（6分43秒）
＜VICJ-23557＞
「とんかつの唄」 （ソギー・チェリオス、細野晴臣、鈴木慶一）
（3分35秒）
＜PCD-26054＞
「オー・ホワット・ア・ナイト」 （デルズ）
（2分52秒）
＜PCD-4328＞
「エスカレーター」 （ゴンチチ）
（3分40秒）
＜PCCA01512＞
「ため息」 （サローマ）
（2分56秒）
＜DISCOLOGIA003＞
「ウォーキング・ウィズ・フランキー」
（フランキー・リー・シムズ）
（2分16秒）
＜PCD-22363＞
Jazz Record Requests
Make a request...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tnn9
Sat 28 Sep 2013
17:00
BBC Radio 3
Alyn Shipton's selection of listeners' requests incudes jazz from Fats Waller.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03br08w
Alyn Shipton's selection of listeners' requests incudes jazz from Jack Teagarden, George Melly and Chris Barber, plus pianists Teddy Wilson and Fats Waller.
Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
00:00
Fats Waller
You Look Good To Me
Composer: Rose, Donaldson
Performer: Herman Autrey, t; Gene Sedric, ts; Fats Waller, p, v; Al Casey, g; Cedric Wallace, b; Slick Jones, d. 14 Oct 1938.
African Ripples, RCA, INTS5095 S1, Tr. 1 (3.12)
00:03
Jack Teagarden
A Hundred Years From Today
Composer: Young, Washington
Performer: Frank Guarente, Sterling Bose, t; Jack Teagarden, tb; v; Chester Hazlitt, Jimmy Dorsey, Mutt Hayes, reeds; Walt Edelstein, vn; joe Meresco, p. Performer: Perry Botkin, g; Artie Bernstein, b; Larry Gomar, d. 11 Nov 1933.
Big T, Proper, Properbox 80 CD 2 Track 3 (3.08)
00:07
Chris Barber's Jazz Band
Cornbread Peas and Black Molasses
Composer: Terry, McGhee
Performer: Chris Barber tb, v; Pat Halcox, Mike Henry, t, v; Richard Exall, Mike Snelling, Tony Carter, reeds; Joe Farler, g; Bob Hunt, tb;. Performer: Dave Green, b; John Sutton, d. 1 Dec 2007.
Barber at Blenheim, World, Chris Barber Collection, 4004 Track 9 (3.55)
00:11
George Lewis
The Old Rugged Cross
Composer: trad.
Performer: Kid Howard, t; Jim Robinson, tb; George Lewis, cl; Alton Purnell, p; Lawrence Marrero, bj; Slow Drag Pavageau, b; Joe Watkins, d. 21 Feb 1954.
Jazz at Vespers, Riverside, OJCCD 1721-2 Track 3 (4.56)
00:17
George Melly
Frankie and Johnny
Composer: Trad. Arr. Mulligan
Performer: George Melly, v; Fred Hunt, p; Neville Skrimshire, g; Frank Thompson, b; Pete Appleby, d. 1958
The world of George Melly, Decca, SPA288, Tr. 6 (4.35)
00:21
Iain Ballamy with Stian Carstensen
Saving all my love for you
Composer: Ballaby
Performer: Iain Ballamy, reeds; Stian Carstensen, acc. 2004.
Little Radio, Sound Recording (Mactwo), 22 Track 6 (4.11)
00:26
Mike Taylor
While My Lady Sleeps
Composer: Taylor
Performer: Mike Taylor, p; Jack Bruce, b; John Hiseman, d. 1966
Trio, Universal, 986689, Track 3 (6.20)
00:33
Louis Armstrong
Tiger Rag
Composer: La Rocca
Performer: Louis Armstrong, t, v; Charles D Johnson, t; Lionel Guimaraes, tb; Peter Ducongé, cl, as; Hy Tyree, as; Fletcher Allen, ts;. Performer: Justo Barretto, p; Germain Arcaro, b; Ollie Tines, d. 21 Oct 1933.
Integrale Louis Armstrong vol 6, Fremeaux, 1356 CD 3 Track 17 (2.58)
00:37
Bud Freeman
See What The Boys In the Backroom will Have
Composer: Hollander, Loesser
Performer: Teddy Grace, v; Max Kaminsky, t; Brad Gowans, vtb; Pee Wee Russell, cl; Bud Freeman, ts; Dave Bowman, p; Eddie Condon, g;. Performer: Pet Peterson, b; Morey Feld, d. 26 Sep 1940.
It’s Got To Be The Eel, A Tribute to Bud Freeman, Affinity, AFS 1008 Track 19 (2.17)
00:40
Marian McPartland
Skylark
Composer: Carmichael, Mercer
Performer: Marian McPartland, p; Bill Crow, b; Joe Morello, d.
Marian’xs Moods, World Records, T192, S.2 Tr. 3 (3.15)
00:44
Jimmy McGriff
All About My Girl
Composer: McGriff
Performer: Jimmy McGriff, org; Morris Dow, g; Jackie Mills, d. 1962.
So Blue So Funky, Blue Note, CDP 7965632 Track 1 (3.58)
00:48
Lester Young
I Didn't Know What Time It Was
Composer: Rodgers, Hart
Performer: Lester Young, ts; Roy Eldridge, t; Vic Dickenson, tb; Teddy Wilson, p; Gene Ramey, b; Jo Jones, d. 12 Jan 1956.
6Tet / 7Tet, Lonehill, 10187 CD 1 Track 8 (10.03)
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
Quercus at the 2013 Brecon Jazz Festival
Sat 28 Sep 2013
18:00
BBC Radio 3
Julian Joseph presents a performance given at the 2013 Brecon Jazz Festival by Quercus.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03br08y
Julian Joseph presents concert music by Quercus featuring vocalist June Tabor , saxophonist Iain Ballamy and pianist Huw Warren. Recorded as part of the 2013 Brecon Jazz Festival in the grand setting of Brecon Cathedral and showcasing a fascinating set of music which explores folk and jazz traditions in equal parts. Also on the programme, an interview with jazz vocalist Jacqui Dankworth and a profile of her brand new album 'Live To Love'.
Music Played
01. Who Wants The Evening Rose
Quercus
BBC Recording, recorded at Brecon Jazz Festival, 11th August 2013
02. Saturday Jump
Humphrey Lyttelton and His Band
Single, Parlophone
03. Blue Pepper
Echoes of Swing
Blue Pepper, ACT 9102-2
04. The Gypsies of Rajasthan
Arun Ghosh
A South Asian Suite, Camoci Records CAMOC1003
Jacqui Dankworth Interview
05. Live To Love
Jacqui Dankworth
Live To Love, Specific Jazz
06. It's Tomorrow's World
Jacqui Dankworth
Live To Love, Specific Jazz
07. I Took Your Hand
Jacqui Dankworth
Live To Love, Specific Jazz
08. It's a Raggy Waltz
Liam Noble Trio
Brubeck, Basho Records SRCD 27-2
Vol. 3-French New Wave (Jazz on)
- アーティスト: French New Wave (Jazz On)
- 出版社/メーカー: Imports
- 発売日: 2013/09/17
- メディア: CD
- この商品を含むブログを見る
Miles Davis
French New Wave, Jazz on Film JOF 001
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jazz-Film-French-Wave-Vol/dp/B00EW1GMAK/ref=dp_return_2?ie=UTF8&n=229816&s=music
10. Who Wants The Evening Rose
Quercus
BBC Recording, recorded at Brecon Jazz Festival, 11th August 2013
11. As I Roved Out
Quercus
BBC Recording, recorded at Brecon Jazz Festival, 11th August 2013
12. Death March
Quercus
BBC Recording, recorded at Brecon Jazz Festival, 11th August 2013
13. Lassie Lie Near Me
Quercus
BBC Recording, recorded at Brecon Jazz Festival, 11th August 2013
14. Attention Seeker
Blue Touch Paper
Drawing Breath, Provocateur Records PVC 1043
15. When All Is Calm
Webster Wraight Ensemble
No Lucky Days, Heavenly Sweetness Records HS 084
16. Cara Y Cruz
Brian Molley Quartet
Clock, Brian Molley BGMM 01
- アーティスト: Towner,Muthspiel,Grigoryan
- 出版社/メーカー: Ecm Records
- 発売日: 2013/10/15
- メディア: CD
- この商品を含むブログ (1件) を見る
Ralph Towner, Wolfgang Muthspeil, Slava Grigoryan
Travel Guide, ECM 2310 372 9508
http://www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/ECM/2300/2310.php?cat=%2FArtists%2FTowner+Ralph%23%23Ralph+Towner&we_start=0&lvredir=712
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Travel-Guide-Ralph-Towner/dp/B00CE27F5U/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1381696353&sr=1-1
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
The Miles Davis Quintet and Sextet
Sun 29 Sep 2013
00:00
BBC Radio 3
Geoffrey Smith presents music from the Miles Davis Quintet and Sextet with John Coltrane.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03br0dl
The legendary Miles Davis Quintet and Sextet with John Coltrane produced a string of classic recordings in the 1950s, such as Kind of Blue. Geoffrey Smith selects some of his favourite tracks.
Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
00:02
Miles Davis
Airegin
Composer: Rollins
Performer: Miles Davis, t; John Coltrane, ts; Red Garland, p; Philly Joe Jones, d; Paul Chambers, b. 26 October 1956
The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions, Prestige, PRCD4-4444-2. D3, Tr. 6 (4.23)
00:07
Miles Davis
You're My Everything
Composer: Warren, Dixon, Young
Performer: Miles Davis, t; John Coltrane, ts; Red Garland, p; Philly Joe Jones, d; Paul Chambers, b. 26 October 1956
The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions, Prestige, PRCD4-4444-2. D3, Tr. 3 (5.17)
00:13
Miles Davis
Oleo
Composer: Rollins
Performer: Miles Davis, t; John Coltrane, ts; Red Garland, p; Philly Joe Jones, d; Paul Chambers, b. 26 October 1956
Album: The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions, Prestige, PRCD4-4444-2. D3, Tr. 5 (5.52)
00:20
Miles Davis
Bye Bye Blackbird
Composer: Dixon, Henderson
Performer: Miles Davis, t; John Coltrane, ts; Red Garland, p; Paul Chambers, b; Philly Joe Jones, d. 1956
Cool and Collected, Columbia / Legacy, 82876847842/UK. Tr. 8 (7.51)
00:30
Miles Davis
Dr. Jekyll
Composer: McLean
Performer: Miles Davis, t; John Coltrane, ts; Cannonball Adderley, as; Red Garland, p; Paul Chambers, b; Philly Joe Jones, d. 1958
Milestones, CBS, 460827 2. Tr. 1 (5.45)
00:36
Miles Davis
Milestones
Composer: Davis
Performer: Miles Davis, t; John Coltrane, ts; Cannonball Adderley, as; Red Garland, p; Paul Chambers, b; Philly Joe Jones, d. 1958
Milestones, CBS, 460827 2. Tr.4 (5.40)
00:46
Miles Davis
Blue in Green
Composer: Davis
Performer: Miles Davis, t; John Coltrane, ts; Bill Evans, p; Paul Chambers, b; Jimmy Cobb, d. 1959
Kind of Blue, CBS, 460603 2. Tr.3 (5.24)
00:50
Miles Davis
Someday My Prince Will Come
Composer: Churchill, Morey
Performer: Miles Davis, t; John Coltrane, Hank Mobley, ts; Wynton Kelly, p; Paul Chambers, b; Jimmy Cobb, d. 20 March 1961
Someday My Prince Will Come, Essential Jazz Classics, EJC55532; Tr. 1 (9.01)
Private Passions
Guests from all walks of life discuss their musical loves and hates.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006tnv3
Beeban Kidron
Sun 29 Sep 2013
12:00
BBC Radio 3
Michael Berkeley's guest is film-maker Beeban Kidron, who selects her favourite music.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03br1m8
Beeban Kidron is a rare and very unpredictable film-maker. A woman in a man's world, she's made highly successful dramas such as the BAFTA-winning Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, and the blockbusting rom-com Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. But she also makes documentaries which come straight from her heart: films about sex workers in New York, the women of Greenham Common, the sculptor Antony Gormley, and a highly-acclaimed film about girls sold into religious prostitution in India. And her latest film In Real Life is a documentary about teenagers and the internet.
She talks to Michael Berkeley about the power of music in films, the pleasures of building relationships with composers, the joy of telling stories, and the sheer determination needed to make the films she feels so passionately about.
Her choices include music from her film Swept from the Sea and her BAFTA-winning television series Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit; the music of her childhood; the piece which changed her ideas about love; and the scariest film music ever written.
Producer: Jane Greenwood.
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 3.
Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
00:06
John Williams
Jaws (Main Title and First Victim)
Orchestra: Orchestra.
00:15
Rachel Portman
Oranges are not the Only Fruit (Main title)
00:19
John Barry
Sea of Death (Swept from the Sea)
Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra.
00:28
Jay Gorney
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
Singer: Al Jolson.
00:35
Mieczyslaw Weinberg
Martha's Aria (The Passenger)
Singer: Susan Young. Performer: Sonia Ben-Santamaria.
00:40
Richard Wagner
Liebestod (Tristan und Isolde)
Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Georg Solti. Singer: Birgit Nilsson.
00:54
Johann Sebastian Bach
Toccata in E minor, BWV914
Performer: Caroline Duris.
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
Mermaids
Sun 29 Sep 2013
17:30
BBC Radio 3
Texts and music on the theme of mermaids, with readings by Amanda Root and Toby Stephens.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b03brsc1
Amanda Root and Toby Stephens are the readers in this edition of Words and Music which is inspired by the multi-faceted character of the mermaid. Responding to the call of the siren are composers including Debussy, Ravel, Zemlinsky and Gershwin and writers such as Hans Christian Andersen, Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde and T.S. Eliot.
Devised by Sarah Peverley
Producer: Philippa Ritchie.
Mermaids
Image by kind permission of La Bibliothèque nationale de France
A note from Sarah Peverley (devisor)
One of my earliest memories is watching the Japanese anime version of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid. Released over a decade before Walt Disney’s movie, the anime film broke my heart by remaining true to the original ending of Anderson’s tale (published in 1837), in which the mermaid dies after sacrificing everything to gain the love of a prince she saved from drowning. As a little girl who demanded a happy ending for the brave, faithful and selfless mermaid, I recall fleeing to the bathroom in tears as she perished and turned to sea foam. Even the hope of her gaining an immortal soul as she transformed into a Daughter of the Air failed to console me. From that moment I fell in love with mermaids and wanted to be part of their world as much as Anderson’s Little Mermaid wanted to be part of ours.
My older self still has that childlike fascination and feeling of injustice at the Little Mermaid’s story, but mermaids also appeal to me more broadly because they embody mystery and duality: longing to be a mermaid, or see a mermaid, is a longing to explore the uncharted depths of our world; to glimpse or enter places that we can't ordinarily access. As hybrid creatures, Mermaids help to define what makes us human, yet they can also act as a metaphor for nature itself: beautiful and terrifying, with the capacity to nurture or destroy man.
This programme is inspired by the multi-faceted character of the sea-maid and the element in which she dwells: from Dvořák’s tragic water sprite Rusalka, who asks the moon to tell her beloved how she feels, to Gershwin’s ‘trollop’ Lorelei, whose liberty and sexual allure prompts the human singer of her tale to aspire to be a femme fatale of similar calibre.
In my choice of texts I have attempted to offer a taste of the different ways in which mermaids have ignited the imaginative power of composers and writers from diverse cultures across time. The first recorded mermaid appears to be the Syrian goddess Atargatis, known to the Greeks as Derketo, who became pregnant with her lover’s child and threw herself into a lake in shame, becoming part-fish in the process. Classical mythology also gives us the famous sirens of Homer’s Odyssey, who enticed sailors to their death with a sweet song; though Homer fails to elucidate what the sirens looked like, classical art and literature frequently depicted them as part-female, part-avian creatures. Later, the sirens were portrayed as fishtailed women, especially in medieval England where the word ‘siren’ was often used interchangeably with ‘mermaid’, as noted by the fourteenth-century poet Geoffrey Chaucer in his translation of The Romance of the Rose. In the Middle Ages piscine-sirens and mermaids were used to depict worldly vanity, appearing in churches and illuminated manuscripts holding mirrors and combs as symbols of pride and warnings against pursuing fleshly temptations.
Alluring and often deadly, we see the darker, predatory and sexual side of mermaids at the forefront of the extract taken from a thirteenth-century encyclopaedia, De Proprietatibus Rerum, written by the Franciscan scholar Bartholomeus Anglicanus, or Bartholomew of England. Later still, mermaids feature in the journals of explorers such as Christopher Columbus and Henry Hudson. Attempting to make sense of the new creatures and worlds that he encountered, Columbus’s observation that mermaids ‘are not so beautiful as they are painted, though to some extent they have the form of a human face’ seems to imply that he saw manatees rather than the arousing, yet sexually unavailable fish-maidens conjured by imaginative sailors.
The programme begins with Undine, or Ondine, a water sprite first recorded in the alchemical writings of Paracelsus (1493-1541). Originally the name Undine defined the species of elementals inhabiting waterfalls and forest pools, but by the nineteenth century it had become the forename of a water nymph that fell in love with a human and married him to gain an immortal soul. Undine’s story became incredibly popular in the nineteenth century when the German Romantic writer Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué wrote a novella, Undine (1811), about her ill-fated marriage to a knight called Huldebrand. Her story is similar to The Little Mermaid, and it inspired the work of several composers, including Tchaikovsky, Debussy, and Henze. The vibrant pieces selected here by Ravel and Reinecke evoke the ethereal quality of Undine’s aquatic humour with energetic trills and lilting phrases that cascade through the various movements of her sad story like the rising and falling waters of her natural habitat.
By contrast, Haydn’s canzonetta, ‘The Mermaid’s Song’ (1794), offers a more playful rendition of the mermaid’s seductive call to ‘follow, follow, follow’ her beneath the waves. One of a small number of technically simple songs composed for performance in a drawing room setting by a solo voice and keyboard, the expressive flourishes and unrelenting liveliness of the piano’s watery soundscape complements the simplicity of Anne Hunter’s charming lyric.
Almost all of the pieces I have chosen for this programme use mermaids to explore aspects of the human condition and psyche. Walter de la Mare’s ‘Sam’, for example, contrasts the self-doubt and inexperience of youth with the playful confidence and self-awareness that comes with old age. The extract from T. S. Eliot’s ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’, on the other hand, employs mermaids and their underwater world to reflect the narrator’s feelings of sexual inadequacy and, more generally, the isolation of the individual in the modern world.
Several pieces draw upon mermaids’ lack of an immortal soul to explore the power of love and difference. While Anderson’s The Little Mermaid is the most famous example, Oscar Wilde’s The Fisherman and his Soul (1891) turns the motif on its head to highlight the conflict between physical love and spiritual salvation, and individual happiness versus social expectation. The very form of mermaids - part animal, part female – is ideally suited to negotiating such tensions, a concept that is also brilliantly tackled in Daniel’s ‘Ulysses and the Siren’ (1605), as we find Ulysses (the Latin counterpart of Odysseus) impervious to the siren’s lure. Writing during a new wave of exploration, Daniel’s poem addresses the pursuit of honour and renown achieved through an active life, not adverse to war, versus passivity and the pursuit of individual pleasures closer at hand. For Ulysses, the promise of fame is more attractive than the siren’s song.
As we move from the lively and colourful mermaid lagoon in Barrie’s Peter Pan, to the poignant death of Anderson’s heroine, we find the mermaid constantly caught between two worlds, a position that many people can empathise with. This aspect of her nature is perhaps key to her enduring attraction and popularity with artists the world over.
Sarah Peverley a Radio 3 New Generation Thinker 2013 and Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Liverpool. @sarah_peverley
Music and featured items
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
00:00
Ravel
Ondine from Gaspard de la Nuit
Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano).
DECCA 4102552, Tr1
J.M. Barrie
Peter Pan, read by Amanda Root
William Shakespeare
The Comedy of Errors Act III Scene 2, read by Toby Stephens
00:06
Toru Takemitsu
Towards the Sea: The Night
Performer: London Sinfonietta, cond. Esa-Pekka Salonen.
SONY CLASS SK46720, Tr5
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Sea Spell, read by Amanda Root
Bartholomeus Anglicus
De Proprietatibus Rerum (13th century encyclopedia) read by Toby Stephens
00:11
Claude Debussy
Nocturnes: Sirenes
Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker, cond Claudio Abbado.
DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4713322, Tr4
Walter de la Mare
Sam read by Toby Stephens
00:21
Acker Bilk
(Instrumental Memories) Stranger on the Shore
VIRGIN VTDCD629, CD1 Tr1
Walter de la Mare
Mermaid read by Amanda Root
00:25
Antonin Dvorak
Rusalka, Song to the Moon
Performer: Gabriela Beňačková.
ORFEO C6380421, Tr6
Catriona O’Reilly
The Mermaid read by Toby Stephens
00:32
Wagner
Das Rheingold, Prelude
Performer: Wiener Philharmoniker, cond. Solti.
DECCA 4781, CD1 Tr1
Christopher Columbus
Extract from the journal of Christopher Columbus, read by Toby Stephens
00:37
Rimsky-Korsakov
Scheherazade, The Sea and Sinbad's Ship
Performer: London Philharmonic Orchestra cond. Haitink.
PHILIPS 4208982, Tr1
00:40
Joseph Haydn
Mermaid's Song, from English and Scottish Songs
Performer: Mhairi Lawson (soprano), Olga Tverskaya (fortepiano).
OPUS OPS30121, Tr8
W.B. Yeats
The Mermaid read by Amanda Root
00:44
George Gershwin
Lorelei
Performer: Sarah Vaughan.
EMARCY 8468962, Tr10
Oscar Wilde
The Fisherman and his Soul read by Toby Stephens
00:48
Granados
Granados Piano Music, La Sirena
Performer: Douglas Riva (piano).
NAXOS 8557142, Tr4
00:52
Jules Massenet
Manon Complete Ballet
Performer: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House cond Richard Bonynge.
DECCA 4705252, CD1 Tr2
Samuel Daniel
Ulysses and the Siren read by Amanda Root and Toby Stephens
T.S. Eliot
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock read by Toby Stephens
00:56
Alex Cottrell and Sarah Peverley
Transitions
Performer: Alex Cottrell and Sarah Peverley.
digital album publisher alex cottrell, Tr9
00:57
Zemlinksy
The Mermaid
Performer: Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, cond. Riccardo Chailly.
ECCA 4174502, Tr1
Hans Christian Andersen
The Little Mermaid read by Toby Stephens
01:08
Reinecke
(Rietz, Reinecke, Molique) Undine
Performer: Mario Ancillotti (flute), Pier Narciso Masi (piano).
DYNAMIC CDS104, Tr3
Hans Christian Andersen
The Little Mermaid read by Amanda Root
