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Intoxication, addiction and ecstatic states

Readers Tracy-Ann Oberman and Rupert Evans with prose and poems by Blake, Coleridge, Anna Kavan and Pascal Petit alongside music. Curated by Radio 3's researcher in residence.

A snow leopard woman who retreats "into her mute zone" in Pascal Petit's poem, Hunter S Thompson's pharmaceutical excess, William Blake's "chapel all of gold" and Anna Kavan's alarming hallucinations. Today's programme explores altered states of being arising from depression, the influence of drugs and religious ecstasy. It has been put together by producer Torquil MacLeod working with Radio 3's researcher in residence Sally Marlow, Professor at King's College, London, who specialises in the relationships between mental health, addiction and the arts. Our readers are Tracy-Ann Oberman and Rupert Evans

You can hear Sally Marlow discussing the writing of Anna Kavan in a recent Free Thinking episode available on 成人论坛 Sounds. She suffered depression and became addicted to heroin before dying in 1968 aged 67. Her books are now being rediscovered.

Thanks also to Dr Joe Barnby for his suggestions.

Producer: Torquil MacLeod

Readings & *Music

*Chris Heyne - Zweiter Streit Hildegard mit Abt Kuno & dritte Vision
William James - The Varieties of Religious Experience
Helen Dunmore - Counting Backwards
*Aaron Copland - Grohg: III. Dance of the Opium-Eater (Visions of Jazz)
*Carlos Collado Hernandez 鈥� Morpheus
Thomas De Quincey - Confessions of an English Opium Eater
*Gil Scott-Heron - Me and the Devil
Samuel Taylor Coleridge - Kubla Khan
*Per N酶rg氓rd - Symphony No. 8: III. Pi霉 mosso - Lento visionaro
William Blake - I Saw a Chapel
*Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 41, TH 75 (Concert Version): No. 6, Cherubic Hymn
*John Tavener - The Veil of the Temple: Mother of God, Here I Stand (improvisation by S. Datta)
Edgar Allan Poe - Mesmeric Revelation
*Charles Ives - The Unanswered Question
William James - The Varieties of Religious Experience
*Akaie Sramana - Medicine in Shaman Trance
Aldous Huxley - The Doors of Perception
*Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - Hand of God
Elizabeth Jennings - A Depression
*Sergei Prokofiev - Visions fugitives, Op. 22: XX. Lento irrealmente
Pascale Petit - Snow Leopard Woman
*Gy枚rgy Ligeti - Lux Aeterna
John Keats - Ode to a Nightingale
*Gaetano Donizetti - L'elisir d'amore, Act 2: Dell'elisir mirabile
*Laurie Spiegel - Kepler's Harmony Of The Worlds
Charlotte Bronte 鈥� Villette
*Modest Mussorgsky / Arr. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov - Night on Bald Mountain
*Shipibo Shamans - Icaro For Opening The Mind & Body
*Terry Riley - Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band
Guillaume Apollinaire (trans. Anne Hyde Greet) - Clair de Lune
Anna Kavan - Sleep Has His House
*Hildegard of Bingen - In evangelium: III. Aer enim (antiphona)
Hunter S Thompson - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
*Talking Heads - Drugs

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 22 Jan 2023 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

  • 00:01

    Chris Heyne

    Zweiter Streit Hildegard mit Abt Kuno & dritte Vision

    Choir: Capella Antiqua M眉nchen. Conductor: Konrad Ruhland.
    • Sony G0100018388580.
    • Tr12.

  • William James

    The Varieties of Religious Experience, Rupert Evans

  • Helen Dunmore

    Counting Backwards, Tracy-Ann Oberman

  • 00:02

    Aaron Copland

    Grohg: III. Dance of the Opium-Eater (Visions of Jazz)

    Orchestra: Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Leonard Slatkin.
    • Naxos 8.559862.
    • Tr3.
  • 00:05

    Carlos Collado Hernandez

    Morpheus

    Performer: La Silla Turca.
    • (digital download).
    • Tr5.

  • Thomas De Quincey

    Confessions of an English Opium Eater, Rupert Evans

  • 00:07

    Robert Johnson

    Me and the Devil

    Performer: Gil Scott鈥怘eron.
    • XL Recordings.
    • Tr2.

  • Samuel Taylor Coleridge

    Kubla Khan, Tracy-Ann Oberman

  • 00:12

    Per N酶rg氓rd

    Symphony No. 8: III. Pi霉 mosso - Lento visionaro

    Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Sakari Oramo.
    • Dacapo 8.204002.
    • Tr11.

  • William Blake

    I Saw a Chapel, Rupert Evans

  • 00:18

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Op. 41, TH 75 (Concert Version): No. 6, Cherubic Hymn

    Choir: Latvian Radio Choir. Conductor: Sigvards K募ava.
    • Ondine ODE1336-2.
    • Tr3.
  • 00:21

    John Tavener

    The Veil of the Temple: Mother of God, Here I Stand (improvisation by S. Datta)

    Performer: Soumik Datta. Ensemble: O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra. Composer: Hugo Ticciati.
    • Signum Classics SIGCD532.
    • Tr5.

  • Edgar Allan Poe

    Mesmeric Revelation, Tracy-Ann Oberman

  • 00:22

    Charles Ives

    The Unanswered Question

    Orchestra: San Francisco Symphony. Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas.
    • RCA 09026637032.
    • Tr15.

  • William James

    The Varieties of Religious Experience, Rupert Evans

  • 00:28

    Akai锚 Sramana

    Medicine in Shaman Trance

    Performer: Akai锚 Sramana.
    • Akaie Sramana Music.
    • Tr1.

  • Aldous Huxley

    The Doors of Perception, Tracy-Ann Oberman

  • 00:30

    Nick Cave & Warren Ellis

    Hand of God

    Performer: Nick Cave & Warren Ellis.
    • Goliath Records.
    • Tr1.

  • Elizabeth Jennings

    A Depression, Rupert Evans

  • 00:36

    Sergey Prokofiev

    Visions fugitives, Op. 22: XX. Lento irrealmente

    Performer: V茅ronique Bonnecaze.
    • Paraty 1282933.
    • Tr25.

  • Pascale Petit

    Snow Leopard Woman, Tracy-Ann Oberman

  • 00:39

    Gy枚rgy Ligeti

    Lux Aeterna

    Choir: Danish National Vocal Ensemble. Conductor: Marcus Creed.
    • OUR Recordings 6.220676.
    • Tr1.

  • John Keats

    Ode to a Nightingale, Rupert Evans

  • 00:48

    Gaetano Donizetti

    L'elisir d'amore, Act 2: Dell'elisir mirabile

    Performer: Javier Camerena. Performer: Anais Mejias. Performer: Caterina Sala. Performer: Roberto Frontali. Orchestra: Orchestra Gli Originali. Conductor: Riccardo Frizza.
    • Dynamic CDS7944.
    • Tr24.
  • 00:52

    Laurie Spiegel

    Kepler's Harmony Of The Worlds

    Performer: Laurie Spiegel.
    • Unseen Worlds UW09.
    • CD2 Tr9.

  • Charlotte Bronte

    Villette, Tracy-Ann Oberman

  • 00:54

    Modest Mussorgsky

    Night on Bald Mountain

    Music Arranger: Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Orchestra: Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Mariss Jansons.
    • Warner Classics.
    • Tr16.
  • 01:01

    Shipibo Shamans

    Icaro For Opening The Mind & Body

    Performer: Shipibo Shamans. Performer: Edith Maribel Murayari Flores.
    • Sunyata Records.
    • Tr19.
  • 01:03

    Terry Riley

    Poppy Nogood and the Phantom Band

    Performer: Terry Riley.
    • Cortical Foundation.
    • Untitled.

  • Guillaume Apollinaire (trans. Anne Hyde Greet)

    Clair de Lune, Rupert Evans

  • Anna Kavan

    Sleep Has His House, Tracy-Ann Oberman

  • 01:05

    Hildegard von Bingen

    In evangelium: III. Aer enim (antiphona)

    Performer: The Hildegard von Bingen Choir.
    • Fine Classics 4427-2.
    • Tr5.

  • Hunter S Thompson

    Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Rupert Evans

  • 01:08

    Talking Heads

    Drugs

    • Sire R276451.
    • Tr11.

Broadcast

  • Sun 22 Jan 2023 17:30
    成人论坛 Radio 3

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