Words and Music - To Byzantium

This edition takes as a starting point Yeats' poem Sailing to Byzantium for a meditation on immortality and the journey of the soul. The calls of "phos"/light in John Tavener's Ikon of Light hint of the world to come suggested in Yeats' poem. Charles Causley's poem I am the song and the reading of Traherne are a meditation on mans' existence matched with Biber's extraordinary Mystery sonatas in the vibrant recording by Monica Huggett. It is Pierre Boulez' electroacoustic piece Repons, that takes the listener deep into the impenetrable tomb in Anthony Thwaite's Monologue in the Valley of the Kings. The mysteries of life and death lead to Beethoven's monumental Appassionata sonata in a new recording by Paul Lewis. There are also lighter moments to life's journey with Adrian Mitchell's affectionate poem Elephant Eternity and the nobel prize winner, Wislawa Szymborska's wry poem Utopia accompanied by the shimmering strings of Stanley Black and his orchestra. But, there is also a sinister tone in TS Eliot's Whispers of immortality followed by the brooding darkness of Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem. The journey from life to death is distilled in Emily Dickinson's poem Chariot with the pulsating rhythms of Reich's Music for mallet instruments, voice and organ and in Don Paterson's new translation of Rilke's poem Parting. The programmes ends with Yeats' Byzantium written three years after Sailing to Byzantium and exploring perfection of the human soul in a city of eternal art. Jessica Isaacs, Producer Readers: Deborah Findlay (DF) and Andrew Lincoln (AL) Playlist 00:00:00 Tavener Ikon of Light Fos 1 Tallis Scholars Gimmell CDGIM005 Tr 1 00:00:40 Yeats: Sailing to Byzantium (DF) 00:04:38 Auden: Orpheus (DF) 00:05:04 Messiaen: Vingt Regards Regard de la Croix Stephen Osborne (piano) HYPERION CDA673512 Tr 7 00:09:24 Music of Ancient Greece Plainte de Tecmessa Atrium Musicae de Madrid & Gregorio Paniagua HMA 1951015 Tr 4 00:09:36 Keats: Ode on a Grecian Urn (AL) 00:12:54 Biber: The Joyful Mysteries. The Annunciation Monica Huggett & Sonnerie Gaudeamus CD GAU 350 Tr 1 00:13:00 Charles Causley: I am the song (DF) 00:13:36 Traherne: extract from Centuries of Meditations (AL) 00:18:15 Finzi: Intimations of Immortality: Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting Corydon Singers & Orchestra / Matthew Best Hyperion CDA66876 Tr 13 00:22:00 Boulez: Repons Ensemble Intercontemporain / Pierre Boulez DG 4576052 Tr 12 00:23:00 Anthony Thwaite: Monologue in the Valley of the Kings (AL) 00:27:00 Beethoven: Sonata no 23 "Appassionata" in F minor (2nd and 3rd movements) Paul Lewis (piano) Harmonia Mundi 901906.08 00:41:24 Longfellow: I am poor and blind (AL) 00:43:30 John Masefield: Troy Town is covered in Weeds (DF) 00:47:00 Orlando Gibbons: What is our life? Concordia with Rachel Elliott (soprano) / Mark Levy Metronome METCD 1039 Tr 4 00:51:15 Karger/Wells: From here to Eternity Stanley Black and his orchestra Guild GLCD5104 Tr 21 00:51:40 Adrian Mitchell: Elephant Eternity read by Andrew Lincoln 00:52:05 Wislawa Szymborska trans Adam Czerniawski: Utopia (DL) 00:54:40 Ravel: Miroirs Noctuelles Cecile Ousset, piano EMI CDC7499422 Tr 15 00:59:40 Ralph Waldo Emerson: Reflections (AL) 01:00:30 Gibbons: Silver Swan The Hilliard Ensemble / Paul Hillier EMICDC7491972 Tr 12 01:02:20 Stockhausen: Stimmung Singcircle Hyperion CDA66115 Tr 37 01:03:50 TS Eliot: Whispers of Immortality (DF) 01:05:30 Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem - Lachrymosa London Symphony Orchestra / Andre Previn EMI 7243 5 72658 2 CD 2 Tr 2 01:14:30 Elizabeth Jennings: Answers (DF) 01:15:21 JS Bach: Wir Mussen durch viel Trubsal English Baroque Soloists / John Eliot Gardiner SDG 50G107 Tr 14 01:22:50 Crumb: Black Angels (God music) Kronos Quartet Nonesuch 9 79394-2 Tr 7 01:25:45 Steve Reich: Music for mallet instruments, voices and organ Amadinda Percussion Group AMIATA ARNR0293 Tr 1 01:28:25 Emily Dickinson: The Chariot (DF) 01:29:45 Gesualdo: Io Parto e non piu dissi Collegium Vocale Koln Maestro CBS M2YK46467 01:31:30 Rilke/Patterson: Parting (DF) 01:32:45 Messiaen: Vingt Regards - Regard du silence Steven Osborne (piano) HYPERION CDA673512 Tr 17 01:36:50 Yeats: Byzantium (AL) 01:38:50 Tavener Ikon of Light: Epiphania Tallis Scholars Gimmell CDGIM005 Tr 7