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Seeking Eurydice

After losing a friend, broadcaster Jo Fidgen sets out in search of an afterlife that even an atheist can believe in.

Orpheus' descent to the underworld to bring Eurydice back to life is a powerful myth, and one that has a special hold over artists and anyone who is grieving. But how can someone who believes in the finality of death reconcile this conviction with an Orphic reluctance to let go? After losing a friend, Jo Fidgen goes in search of an afterlife that an atheist can believe in.

With readings from Czeslaw Milosz, Rainer Maria Rilke and Ali Smith; and music by David Lang, Karl Jenkins and Beethoven. The programme also includes an interview with a Sami reindeer herder about the tradition of bringing the dead to life in song.

Readers: Emma Fielding and Jonathan Keeble
Producer: Alan Hall
A Falling Tree production for 大象传媒 Radio 4

28 minutes

Last on

Sun 2 Aug 2020 23:30
大象传媒 Radio 4

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Faith in Numbers

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The Boundaries of Reason: Part 1

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Music Played

  • Philip Glass

    VI Orphee's return

    Performer: Paul Barnes

    • The Orphee Suite for Piano.
    • Orange Mountain.
    • OMM0008.
    • 6.

  • David Farnon

    Bacchus

    • Ancient Civilisations.
    • CPM Classical Series.
    • CAR243.
    • 25.

  • Karl Jenkins

    Cantus: Song of the Spirit

    • Adiemus II: Cantata Mundi.
    • Virgin.
    • MR0002895002.
    • 3.

  • Christoph Willibald Gluck

    Orpheus And Euridice: What Is Life To Me Without You

    • Grand Opera Record Collection.
    • Castle Music Ltd.
    • 649.
    • 1.

  • Giuseppe Verdi

    Al mio pi猫 perch茅?

    Performer: Gabriele Santini

    • Don Carlo.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 4377302.
    • 5.

  • Franz Liszt

    Dance Macabre, S. 126

    Performer: St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra

    • Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1; Dance Macabre.
    • Denon Records.
    • MR0003712485.
    • 4.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Op. 130 in B flat Major, V: Cavatina (Adagio molto espressivo)

    Performer: Alban Berg Quartett

    • The Complete String Quartets.
    • EMI Classics.
    • 5 73606 2.
    • 9.

  • David Lang

    I am Walking

    Performer: Nico Muhly

    • Death Speaks.
    • Cantaloupe.
    • CA21092.
    • 5.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 15 Sep 2013 06:05
    大象传媒 Radio 4
  • Sun 15 Sep 2013 23:30
    大象传媒 Radio 4
  • Sun 2 Aug 2020 06:05
    大象传媒 Radio 4
  • Sun 2 Aug 2020 23:30
    大象传媒 Radio 4