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The Moon

The Moon in all her silvery glory, with writers such as Wordsworth, composers such as Schubert and Schoenberg and the actors Patrick O'Kane and Fenellla Woolgar.

What would Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata sound like if it was played by the Moon? Tune in to this evening's edition of Words and Music and you can hear for yourself, thanks to a piece conceived by the sound artist Katie Paterson. Katie's piece, Earth-Moon-Earth, is part of a programme which celebrates the Moon - whether metaphorical green cheese or cruel, silvery goddess.
The Moon has always dazzled and puzzled us. Composers such as Beethoven, Chopin and Schoenberg and writers such as Larkin, Auden and Emily Dickinson have all fallen under her spell, and tonight's programme, featuring the actors Fenella Woolgar and Patrick O'Kane, is an invitation to succumb once more to her enchantment.

Producer: Zahid Warley

Readings:
Nocturne - James Attlee
This Lunar Beauty - W.H. Auden
With how sad steps - Sir Philip Sidney
Sad Steps - Philip Larkin
I watched the Moon around the house - Emily Dickinson
Drinking Alone - Li Po (trans Arthur Waley)
The Moon and the Yew Tree - Sylvia Plath
Preface to Frankenstein -Mary Shelley
Strange fits of Passion - William Wordsworth
Autumn - T.E. Hulme
Moon Landing - W.H. Auden
Icaromenippus - Lucian (trans Thomas Francklin)

1 hour, 15 minutes

Last on

Sun 14 Jul 2019 17:30
成人论坛 Radio 3

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:00

    Franz Schubert

    St盲ndchen D 957 No. 4

    Performer: Mischa Maisky (Violoncello), Daria Hovora (Piano).
    • Deutsche Grammophon 449 817-2.
    • Tr12.

  • James Attlee

    From 'Nocturne', read by Patrick O聮Kane

  • James Attlee

    From 'Nocturne', read by Fenella Woolgar and Patrick O聮Kane

  • 00:04

    Fr茅d茅ric Chopin

    Piano Concerto No.1 In E Minor, Op.11- II: Romanze. Larghetto

    Performer: Martha Argerich (Piano).
    • EMI CDC 5567982.
    • Tr2.

  • W. H. Auden

    This Lunar Beauty, read by Patrick O聮Kane

  • 00:15

    Vincenzo Bellini

    Vaga Luna

    Performer: Luciano Pavarotti.
    • Decca 4144542.
    • Tr3.

  • Sir Philip Sidney

    With how sad steps, read by Fenella Woolgar

  • 00:19

    Harry M. Woods

    What a little moonlight can do

    Performer: Billie Holiday.
    • Verve 5198252.
    • Tr1.

  • Philip Larkin

    Sad Steps, read by Patrick O聮Kane

  • 00:24

    Anton铆n Dvo艡谩k

    Jednani 聳 Act One - Mesicku na nebi hlubok茅m (Song of the Moon)

    Performer: Renee Fleming (Soprano), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras (Conductor).
    • Decca 4605682.
    • CD1 Tr6.

  • Emily Dickinson

    I watched the Moon around the house, read by Fenella Woolgar

  • 00:32

    Lorenz Hart

    Blue Moon

    Performer: Elvis Presley.
    • RCA 07863677352.
    • Tr13.

  • Li Po, translated by Arthur Waley

    Drinking Alone, read by Patrick O聮Kane

  • 00:35

    Arnold Schoenberg

    Pierrot Lunaire Part 1 - Mondestrunken

    Performer: Jane Manning (Soprano), Vesuvius Ensemble.
    • Forum FRC9106.
    • Tr1.

  • Sylvia Plath

    The Moon and the Yew Tree, read by Fenella Woolgar

  • 00:39

    Arnold Schoenberg

    Verkl盲rte Nacht Op. 4 - Pesante

    Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan (Conductor).
    • Deutsche Grammophon 4153262.
    • Tr3.

  • Mary Shelley

    Preface to Frankenstein, read by Fenella Woolgar

  • 00:44

    Claude Debussy

    Suite Bergamasque 聳 III Clair de Lune

    Performer: Pascal Rog茅 (Piano).
    • Decca 4177922.
    • Tr3.

  • William Wordsworth

    Strange fits of Passion, read by Fenella Woolgar

  • 00:50

    Felix Mendelssohn

    A Midsummer Night's Dream - Incidental Music Op. 61- No. 7 Nocturne

    Performer: Boston Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa (Conductor).
    • Deutsche Grammophon 4398972.
    • Tr8.

  • T. E. Hulme

    Autumn, read by Patrick O聮Kane

  • 00:56

    Brian Eno

    Silver Morning (feat. Daniel Lanois)

    • Virgin ENO CDX 10.
    • Tr8.

  • W. H. Auden

    Moon Landing, read by Patrick O聮Kane

  • 01:01

    Karl Suessdorf, John Blackburn

    Moonlight in Vermont

    Performer: Ella Fitzgerald (vocal), Louis Armstrong.
    • Verve 5433042.
    • Tr3.

  • Lucian, translated by Thomas Francklin

    from Icaromenippus, read by Fenella Woolgar

  • 01:07

    The Moon and Katie Paterson

    Earth-Moon-Earth 聳 Beethoven聮s Sonata, op. 27, No. 2 聯Moonlight聰 reflected from the surface of the moon

    Performer: Automated Piano.
    • not applicable.

Producer's Notes:

Today she鈥檚 in a waxing gibbous phase; by Tuesday she鈥檒l be full and refulgent; and about ten days after that she鈥檒l be a waning crescent and hardly visible at all... I鈥檓 talking about the Moon, of course.听

The attention we pay to her comes and goes in the same sort of way. 听When she鈥檚 really close to Earth 鈥� as she was at the start of this month - we鈥檙e astonished 鈥� hypnotised by her orange glamour. Most of the time though she鈥檚 no more than an icy chip chinking along in a flood of darkness, taken for granted if not wholly ignored.听

The moon鈥檚 mutability is part of her allure and writers and composers, it seems, have always found it all too easy to give in to lunar enchantment.听 Take your pick 鈥� for Chopin her light was the perfect prompt to contemplation; for Beethoven she was as stealthy as a cat鈥檚 paw and as lithe; for Emily Dickinson she moves like a benevolent spectre; for Sylvia Plath she鈥檚 ominous and neurasthenic; and for the satirist, Lucian 鈥� she鈥檚 a goddess weary of men鈥檚 scrutiny and conjecture.听听

In this evening鈥檚 Words and Music the actors, Fenella Woolgar and Patrick O鈥橩ane invite you to risk her further displeasure! 听And if you listen hard you may actually hear what she has to say as the sound artist, Katie Paterson, has found a way of capturing the moon鈥檚 voice.听听听

听

Producer: Zahid Warley听

You can find out more about Katie Paterson鈥檚 work and her sound installation Earth- Moon- Earth by visiting her .听

Broadcasts

  • Sun 31 Dec 2017 17:30
    成人论坛 Radio 3
  • Sun 14 Jul 2019 17:30
    成人论坛 Radio 3

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