Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Music on the Brink

The world on the brink of war in poetry, letters, diaries and music. The readings, by Samuel West and Carolyn Pickles, include work by Proust, Stefan Zweig, John Masefield, Isaac Rosenberg, Adelaide Mack and Edmund Gosse with music by Satie, Ravel, Zemlinsky, Berg, Rachmaninov and Webern.

1 hour, 15 minutes

Last on

Sun 5 Jan 2014 17:30
大象传媒 Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Party!

Next

Passing the Time of Day

See all episodes from Words and Music

Music Played

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

  • 00:00

    Erik Satie

    Chapitres tourn茅s en tous sens

    Performer: Jean鈥怸ves Thibaudet.
    • Decca 4736202.
    • Tr17.

  • Stefan Zweig

    The World of Yesterday read by Carolyn Pickles

  • 00:02

    Charles Koechlin

    Sonata for Piano and Flute op 52

    Performer: Philippe Racine and Daniel Cholette.
    • Claves CD509003.
    • Tr4.

  • Marcel Proust

    from In Search of Lost Time read by Samuel West

  • 00:09

    Maurice Ravel

    笔谤茅濒耻诲别

    Performer: Steven Osborne.
    • Hyperion CDA6777312.
    • Tr11.
  • 00:10

    Ferr茅 and Apollinaire

    Le Pont Mirabeau

    Performer: Yvette Giraud.
    • Marianne Melodie.
    • Tr9.

  • Adelaide Mack

    Magnetic Paris read by Carolyn Pickles

  • 00:15

    Leo Orstein

    Three Moods - Joy

    Performer: Daniele Lombardi.
    • Nuova Era 7240.
    • Tr12.

  • Karl Jung

    Letter from Jung to Freud read by Samuel West

  • 00:19

    Alexander von Zemlinsky

    String Quartet no 2 op 15

    Performer: LaSalle Quartet.
    • Deutsche Grammophon 4274212.
    • Tr5.

  • D.H. Lawrence

    Ben Hennef read by Carolyn Pickles

  • 00:23

    Charles Tomlinson Griffes

    Three Tone Pictures

    Performer: Victoria Bogdashevskaya and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.
    • Naxos 8559724.
    • Tr11.

  • Edmund Gosse

    Letter to Lord Spencer read by Samuel West

  • 00:25

    Edward Elgar

    Carissima

    Performer: Northern Sinfonia of England.
    • EMI CDC7476722.
    • Tr14.

  • Rainer Maria Rilke

    Before Summer Rain read by Carolyn Pickles

  • 00:38

    Alban Berg

    St眉cke fur Klarinette und Klavier

    Performer: Sabine Meyer and Oleg Maisenberg and Kremerata Musica.
    • Deutsche Grammophon 4471122.
    • Tr9.

  • James Joyce

    Extract from The Dead read by Samuel West

  • 00:33

    John Tavener

    To a Child Dancing in the Wind

    Performer: Patricia Rozario.
    • Collins Classics 14282.
    • Tr3.

  • Georg Trakl

    De Profundis read by Samuel West

  • 00:36

    Sergey Rachmaninov

    Sonata for Piano op 36

    Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy.
    • Decca 4144172.
    • Tr12.
  • 00:43

    Anton Webern

    Cello-Sonate

    Performer: Clemens Hagen.
    • Deutsche Grammophon 4471122.
    • Tr16.

  • Gottfried Benn - Translated by David Paisey

    Express-Train read by Samuel West

  • 00:45

    Ferruccio Busoni

    Nocturne Symphonique

    Performer: Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin.
    • Capriccio 10479.
    • Tr2.
  • 00:53

    Leo Orstein

    Three Moods - Grief

    Performer: Daniele Lombardi.
    • Nuova Era 7240.
    • Tr11.

  • Isaac Rosenberg

    On Receiving the First News of the War read by Carolyn Pickles

  • Stefan Zweig

    The World of Yesterday read by Samuel West

  • 00:58

    Ernest Bloch

    Nigun

    Performer: Itzhak Perlman.
    • RCA 82876625172.
    • Tr16.

  • John Masefield

    August 1914 read by Samuel West and Carolyn Pickles

  • 01:06

    George Butterworth

    The Banks of Green Willow

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra.
    • Chandos Chan9902.
    • Tr1.

Producer's Note 鈥� Music on the Brink

This Words and Music forms part of Radio 3鈥檚 Music on the Brink week. The idea is to give a cultural snapshot of Europe in the period when the threat of war became an increasing possibility, a time of both great excitement and great fear. The programme opens with a reading from Stefan Zweig鈥檚 鈥楾he World of Yesterday鈥�, one of the greatest memoirs of the twentieth century. His recollection of the optimism and unlimited promise of the pre-war years is heard alongside Koechlin鈥檚 Sonata for Piano and Flute. A belief in progress, in ideas, in openness was the mood in those years. And, in 1913, the year before the outbreak of war, saw the publication of one of the great novels of the century, Proust鈥檚 鈥楻emembrance of Time Past鈥� and hear we hear the famous madeleine moment of his lost youth. We remain in Paris for a reading from Adelaide Mack鈥檚 breathless travelogue of the city followed by Yvette Giraud鈥檚 setting of Apollinaire鈥檚 poem, 鈥楲e Pont Mirabeau鈥�.

听

The first conversation between Freud and Jung is reported to have lasted for 13 hours. In 1908 they toured America together but, by 1913, their friendship had become strained. A letter in which Jung accuses Freud of reducing everyone to the level of children demonstrates how embittered Jung felt by this point. A firmer and more touching friendship is heard in Edmund Gosse鈥檚 letter to Lord Spencer, written in the days before the declaration of war, in which he acknowledges that the world will never be the same again and heard alongside Elgar鈥檚 melancholic 鈥楥arissima鈥�, the first work of the composer鈥檚 to be recorded.

听

Storm clouds are gathering in Rainer Maria Rilke鈥檚 dreamlike poem, 鈥楤efore Summer Rain鈥� in which an impending storm heralds the approach of an unknown terror. The music too anticipates the war to come with Webern鈥檚 鈥楥ello Sonate鈥� and Rachmaninov鈥檚 鈥楽onata no 2鈥� (1913 version). The programme ends with John Masefield鈥檚 鈥楢ugust 1913鈥檞ritten on the very eve of war and George Butterworth鈥檚 鈥極n the Banks of Green Willow鈥�, both exploring in their own ways ideas of Englishness and what was to be lost in the conflict to come. During the war Masefield, considered too old for active duty, worked as a hospital orderly in France. The concert premiere of 鈥極n the Banks of Green Willow鈥� was in 1914, the final time Butterworth heard his own music. George Butterworth was killed in the Battle of the Somme. As Philip Larkin described it in his poem, 鈥楳CMXIV鈥�, 鈥楴ever such innocence, never before or since鈥�..never such innocence again鈥�.

Broadcast

  • Sun 5 Jan 2014 17:30
    大象传媒 Radio 3

The hidden history of plant-based diets

The hidden history of plant-based diets

Forget social media influencers - the meat-free movement started with the Victorians.

Books website

Get closer to books with in-depth articles, quizzes and our picks from radio & TV.

Gallery