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Actors Amanda Hale and Oliver Alvin-Wilson read a selection of poetry and prose wrapped in a varied selection of music exploring feelings and ideas about the nature of 'warmth'.

Actors Amanda Hale and Oliver Alvin-Wilson chart a course through our varied and various perceptions of warmth. The desire for comfort and cosiness. The warmth of affection, of friendship and of love. The attraction of warmer climes or the 鈥渨armth of other suns鈥. The anxiety of global warming.

George Orwell is 鈥榙own and out鈥 in a London winter; Alexander Pushkin counters a frozen Russian landscape with the passion of young love; Johann von Goethe bids us find warmth in the land where "citron-apples bloom"; Paul Kerschen ponders the thoughts of John Keats, recuperating in the Italian sunshine; Haruki Murikami rediscovers the warmth of a certain phrase of music; while Zadie Smith, looking up at the sky, suggests 鈥渆veryone knows it shouldn鈥檛 be this hot!鈥.
Other featured authors include John Donne, Charles Dickens, Johann Von Goethe, Isabel Wilkerson, DH Lawrence, Emile Zola, Emily Dickinson, Richard Wright and Bai Juyi.
Complementary strains of music are given to us by - among others - David Lang, Robert Schumann, Giacomo Puccini, Piotr Tchaikovsky, Georges Bizet, Johnny Dankworth, Tori Amos, Georgy Sviridov, William Grant Still and with the comforting familiarity of 鈥楾rad鈥.

Producer: Chris Wines

1 hour, 14 minutes

On radio

Tomorrow 18:15

Clip

Music Played

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

  • 00:01

    Gavin Bryars

    Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet

    Ensemble: The Hampton String Quartet. Performer: Anon..
    • POINT MUSIC CD 442 412-2.
    • Tr.
  • 00:01

    Gavin Bryars

    Jesus' blood never failed me yet

    Ensemble: Hampton String Quartet.
  • George Orwell

    Down And Out In London and Paris鈥 read by Oliver Alvin-Wilson

  • 00:04

    Frederick Loewe

    Wouldn鈥檛 It Be Loverly

    Performer: Julie Andrews.
  • 00:04

    Frederick Loewe

    Wouldn't it be loverly (My Fair Lady)

    Singer: Julie Andrews.
  • 00:07

    David Lang

    It was terribly cold

    Performer: Matthew Brown. Performer: Michael Blanchard. Performer: Claire Fedoruk. Performer: Adriana Manfredi. Choir: Los Angeles Master Chorale. Conductor: Grant Gershon.
    • CANTALOUPE CA21119.
    • 7.
  • 00:08

    David Lang

    She lighted another match

    Performer: Matthew Brown. Performer: Michael Blanchard. Performer: Claire Fedoruk. Performer: Adriana Manfredi. Choir: Los Angeles Master Chorale. Conductor: Grant Gershon.
    • CANTALOUPE CA21119.
    • 15.
  • Hans Christian Andersen:

    The Little Match Girl read by Amanda Hale

  • Hans Christian Andersen:

    The Little Match Girl read by Amanda Hale

  • 00:11

    Liu Tianhua

    Idyllic Tune

    Performer: Yu Hong Mei, Wulin.
    • CHANNEL CLASSICS SKU 80206.
    • 1.
  • 00:11

    Yu Hong-mei

    Idyllic Tune

  • Bai Juyi

    Returning Late on the Road from Pingquan on a Winter's Day read by Oliver Alvin-Wilson

  • Ken Nesbitt

    Hot Water read by Amanda Hale

  • Ken Nesbitt

    Hot Water read by Oliver Alvin-Wilson

  • 00:13

    Driftwood

    Come Into The Warm

    • BELL 1237.
  • 00:13

    Driftwood

    Come Into The Warm

  • 00:12

    Giacomo Puccini

    La Boh猫me - Act 1 - Questo Mar Rosso

    Singer: Rolando Villaz贸n. Singer: Boaz Daniel. Singer: Vitalij Kowaljow. Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Bertrand de Billy.
    • DG 4776600.
    • 1.
  • 00:13

    Giacomo Puccini

    Questo mar rosso (La Boheme)

    Singer: Rolando Villaz贸n. Orchestra: Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Bertrand de Billy.
  • Thomas de Quincy

    Confessions of an Opium-Eater read by Oliver Alvin-Wilson

  • 00:17

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    The Seasons - January - By The Fireside鈥

    Performer: Mikhail Pletnev.
    • ERATO 4820552.
    • 5.
  • 00:17

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    January - By the fireside (The Seasons)

    Performer: Mikhail Pletnev.
  • 00:23

    Victor Hely-Hutchinson

    A Carol Symphony - 3rd Mvt: Andante quasi lento

    Orchestra: The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Gavin Sutherland.
    • NAXOS 8.557099.
    • 8.
  • Charles Dickens

    A Christmas Carol read by Amanda Hale

  • 00:24

    John Dankworth

    Winter - When Icicles Hang By The Wall

    Singer: Cleo Laine.
    • PHILIPS 830 462.
    • 3.
  • 00:24

    Cleo Laine

    When Icicles Hang by the Wall

  • Emily Dickinson

    To See Her Is A Picture read by Oliver Alvin-Wilson

  • 00:26

    Henry Purcell

    King Arthur - Act 3, Tis Love That Hath Warm'd Ye

    Singer: Elisabeth Priday. Choir: Monteverdi Choir. Ensemble: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
    • ERATO 2292-45211-2.
    • 23.
  • 00:26

    Henry Purcell

    'Tis love that hath warm'd thee (King Arthur)

    Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
  • 00:28

    John Dowland

    Mrs Winter's Jump

    Performer: Jakob Lindberg.
    • BRILLIANT CLASSICS 93698.
    • 5.
  • 00:28

    John Dowland

    Mrs Winter's Jump

    Performer: Jakob Lindberg.
  • William Shakespeare

    Sonnet 2 read by Oliver Alvin-Wilson

  • 00:29

    Tori Amos

    Winter

    • 8.
  • 00:29

    Tori Amos

    Winter

  • 00:35

    Georges Bizet

    Symphony in C - Mvt 2 Adagio

    Orchestra: Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Composer: Fran莽ois Leleux.
    • LINN CKD624.
    • 11.
  • 00:35

    Georges Bizet

    Symphony in C (2nd mvt)

    Orchestra: Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Fran莽ois Leleux.
  • 脡mile Zola

    The Fortune of the Rougons read by Amanda Hale

  • 00:38

    Donny McCaslin

    A Song The Children Dance To

    • 1.
  • 00:38

    Warmth

    A Song the Children Dance to

  • John Donne

    The Sun Rising Read by Oliver Alvin-Wilson

  • DH Lawrence

    Lady Chatterley鈥檚 Lover read by Amanda Hale

  • 00:42

    Georgy Sviridov

    The Snowstorm - 1.Troika

    Orchestra: Moscow Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Vladimir Fedoseyev.
    • ALTO ALC1317.
    • 1.
  • 00:42

    Georgy Sviridov

    Troika (The Snowstorm)

    Orchestra: USSR TV Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Vladimir Fedoseyev.
  • Alexander Pushkin

    The Blizzard from The Tales Of The Late Ivan Petrivich Beikin read by Amanda Hale

  • 00:45

    Robert Schumann

    Kennst Du Das Land?

    Performer: Barbara Sukowa. Performer: Reinbert de Leeuw. Ensemble: Sch枚nberg Ensemble.
    • WINTER & WINTER 9101322.
    • 16.
  • 00:45

    Robert Schumann

    Kennst du das Land?

    Singer: Barbara Sukowa. Ensemble: Sch枚nberg Ensemble.
  • Johann von Goethe

    Mignon鈥檚 Song - Wilhelm Meister read by Amanda Hale

  • 00:48

    Franz Schubert

    Meeresstille

    Singer: Barbara Sukowa. Ensemble: Sch枚nberg Ensemble.
  • 00:48

    Franz Schubert

    Meeresstille

    Performer: Barbara Sukowa. Performer: Reinbert de Leeuw. Ensemble: Sch枚nberg Ensemble.
    • WINTER & WINTER 9101322.
    • 7.
  • Paul Kerschen

    The Warm South read by Oliver Alvin-Wilson

  • 00:51

    Hugo Wolf

    Serenade in G Italian Serenade

    Performer: Brodsky Quartet.
    • CHANDOS CHAN 10761.
    • 1.
  • 00:51

    Hugo Wolf

    Italian Serenade

    Ensemble: Brodsky Quartet.
  • 00:57

    William Grant Still

    Symphony No 1 African American, Mvt 1 - Longing

    Orchestra: Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Neeme J盲rvi.
    • CHANDOS CHAN 9154.
    • 1.
  • 00:57

    William Grant Still

    Symphony no.1 (African-American) (1st mvt: Longing)

    Orchestra: Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Neeme J盲rvi.
  • Paul Lawrence Dunbar

    In Summer read by Amanda Hale

  • Isabel Wilkerson

    The Warmth of Other Suns read by Amanda Hale

  • Richard Wright

    The Black Boy read by Oliver Alvin-Wilson

  • 01:01

    Anushka

    Too Hot Outside

    • BANDCAMP.
    • 2.
  • 01:01

    Anushka

    Too Hot Outside

  • Zadie Smith

    NW read by Oliver Alvin-Wilson

  • Daniel Sherrell

    Coming of Age at the End of Our World Read by Amanda Hale

  • 01:03

    Peter Gregson

    Warmth

    Performer: Carducci String Quartet.
    • DG Digital Download.
  • 01:03

    Peter Gregson

    Warmth

    Ensemble: Carducci String Quartet.
  • 10:07

    Gustavo Santaolalla

    The Last Of Us - Forgotten Memories

  • 01:07

    Gustavo Santaolalla

    Forgotten Memories (The Last of Us)

  • Haruki Murikami

    Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End Of The World read by Oliver Alvin-Wilson

  • 01:09

    Trad.

    O Danny Boy

    Singer: Ren茅e Fleming. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Sebastian Lang-Lessing.
  • 01:09

    Trad.

    O Danny Boy

    Lyricist: Frederick Edward Weatherly. Singer: Ren茅e Fleming. Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Sebastian Lang-Lessing.
    • DECCA 4785107.
    • 17.
  • Hans Christian Andersen:

    The Little Match Girl read by Amanda Hale

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