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Islands

Kate Fleetwood and Dominic Mafham explore literary writings about islands from John Donne's famous Meditation No.17 to A. K. Ramanujam's take on the Donne, 'No Man is an Island', and Daniel Defoe to Derek Walcott. The music includes works by Rautavaara, Purcell and Otto Luening.

1 hour, 15 minutes

Last on

Sun 1 Nov 2015 17:30
大象传媒 Radio 3

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Music Played

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

  • 00:00

    Otto Luening

    Low Speed

    Performer: Otto Luening (electronics).
    • OHM CD3670.
    • CD1 T6.

  • Robert Louis Stevenson

    Fair Isle at Sea, read by Dominic Mafham

  • Gerald Manley Hopkins

    There is an island, read by Kate Fleetwood

  • Claudian, translated by Howard Mumford Jones

    The Lonely Isle, read by Kate Fleetwood

  • 00:03

    Richard Rodney Bennett

    Sea Change for chorus (Isle full of Noyses)

    Performer: Cambridge Singers, John Rutter (director).
    • COLLEGIUM CSCD521.
    • 1.

  • Shakespeare

    The Tempest (extract, 3.2.135-142), read by Dominic Mafham

  • 00:06

    Marin Marais

    Plainte (Suite en sol)

    Performer: Hille Perl (viola da gamba), Lee Santana (theorbo).
    • DHM 82876587912.
    • 11.
  • 00:09

    Bridge

    Moonlight (The Sea)

    Performer: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Groves (conductor).
    • EMI CDM 7 69870 2.
    • 3.

  • Neruda

    XVII: The Island, read by Kate Fleetwood

  • William Golding

    Lord of the Flies (extract), read by Dominic Mafham

  • 00:16

    Fr茅d茅ric Chopin

    Nocturne in B major Op.32 No.1

    Performer: Maria Joao Pires (piano).
    • DG 447096-2.
    • 9.

  • John Keats

    Sonnet to Ailsa Craig, read by Kate Fleetwood

  • 00:21

    Rautavaara

    Isle of Bliss / Lintukoto

    Performer: Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Leif Segerstam (conductor).
    • ONDINE ODE 989-2.
    • 13.
  • 00:32

    Pierre Boulez

    Memoriale (... explosante fixe... Originel)

    Performer: Sophie Cherrier (flute), Soloists of Ensemble Intercontemporain, Pierre Boulez (conductor).
    • DG 480 6828.
    • CD7 T13.

  • Lucretia Davidson

    Sabrina. A Volcanic Island, Which Appeared Among the Azores, in 1811, read by Kate Fleetwood and Dominic Mafham

  • Seamus Heaney

    The Disappearing Islands, read by Dominic Mafham

  • Vachel Lindsay

    A Song in July, read by Kate Fleetwood

  • 00:39

    Henry Purcell

    Fairest Isle (King Arthur)

    Performer: Veronique Gens (soprano), Les Arts Florissants, William Christie (director).
    • ERATO 4509985352.
    • CD2 T10.

  • Robert Browning

    The Isle聮s Enchantress, read by Dominic Mafham

  • 00:44

    Edgard Var猫se

    Density 21.5

    Performer: Jacques Zoon (flute).
    • DECCA 460 208-2.
    • CD2 T11.

  • Rin Ishigaki

    Island, read by Kate Fleetwood

  • John Donne

    Meditation 17 (extract), read Dominic Mafham

  • A. K. Ramunujam

    No Man is an Island, read Kate Fleetwood

  • 00:49

    Sergey Prokofiev

    Scherzo humoristique, Op.12 No.9, arranged for 4 bassoons from 聭10 pieces, Op.12聮

    Performer: Martin Gatt, Meyrick Alexander, Melbon Mackie, John Orford (bassoons).
    • CONIFER CDCF173.
    • 13.

  • Hilda Conkling

    The Lonesome Wave, read Kate Fleetwood

  • 00:52

    Claude Debussy

    L聮isle joyeuse

    Performer: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano).
    • CHANDOS CHAN 10443.
    • 14.

  • Derek Walcott

    Islands, read by Dominic Mafham

  • 00:58

    Gy枚rgy Ligeti

    Aventures (extract)

    Performer: Jane Manning (soprano), Mary Thomas (mezzo soprano), William Pearson (bass), Ensemble Intercontemporain, Pierre Boulez (director).
    • DG 423244-2.
    • 11.

  • Li Po, translated by Florence Ayscough

    Parrot Island, read Kate Fleetwood

  • Daniel Defoe

    Robinson Crusoe (extract from Chapter 4), read by Dominic Mafham

  • 01:02

    Anon / Leonhard Schmidinger (instrumental music)

    Ssequentia: Victimae paschali laudes

    Performer: Martin Grubinger & Leonhard Schmidinger (percussion), Schola Cantorum of the Benedictine Abbey M眉nsterschwarzach, Godehard Joppich (director).
    • DG 4778797.
    • 8.

  • Anonymous, translated by Michael Alexander

    Wulf and Eadwacer, read by Dominic Mafham

  • 01:05

    Gabriel Prokofiev

    Spheres

    Performer: Daniel Hope (violin), Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin, Simon Halsey (conductor).
    • DG 479 0571.
    • 9.

  • Sam Taylor

    The Island at the End of the World (opening extract), read by Kate Fleetwood

  • Longfellow

    Ultima Thule, read by Dominic Mafham

  • 01:09

    Sibelius

    Chorus of Winds (The Tempest, Suite No. 2)

    Performer: Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Joseph Swensen (conductor).
    • LINN CKD 220.
    • 15.

  • Andrew Young

    Islands, read by Dominic Mafham

  • C. P. Cavafy, translated by Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard

    Ithaka, read by Kate Fleetwood

  • George Barlow

    My Island, read by Kate Fleetwood

Producer's Note - Islands

Be not afeard.听 The isle is full of noises,

Sounds and sweet airs that give delight and hurt not.

听

(Shakespeare: The Tempest)

听

There is an extraordinary wealth of literary writings about islands, from Shakespeare鈥檚 Tempest to Defoe鈥檚 Robinson Crusoe, and John Donne鈥檚 Meditation 17 to A. K. Ramanujan鈥檚 take on Donne鈥檚 famous words, 鈥榥o man is an island鈥�.听 Islands offer a scenic and romantic setting for escape or contemplation, and they are also clearly-delineated places on which a drama can unfold.

听

This edition of Words and Music explores literary islands in their different guises and meanings.听 The programme beings with the names of fictional islands being layered over Otto Luening鈥檚 ground-breaking early tape composition, Low Speed, to create an ethereal seascape as we approach the first听 islands: Robert Louis Stevenson鈥檚 鈥楩air Isle at Sea鈥� and Claudian鈥檚 The Lonely Isle.听 Otto Luening鈥檚 Low Speed segues seamlessly into Richard Rodney Bennett鈥檚 Sea Change for Chorus, which sets Shakespeare鈥檚 famous words about the isle 鈥榝ull of noyses鈥� from The Tempest.听 Shakespeare鈥檚 Tempest takes place entirely on an island and its surrounding sea, and is iconic in the early literature of islands.听 The 鈥榩illars of light mournful and beautiful鈥� that open Neruda鈥檚 poem, The Island, match Caliban鈥檚 words, 鈥業 cried to dream again鈥�, from the Shakespeare.听 I chose to set the Shakespeare and Neruda over a Plainte by Marin Marais paired with Bridge鈥檚 Moonlight as they capture the melancholic beauty and wonderment of the words.听听听

听

Some of the most popular novels of all time take place on islands and this programme next visits Ralph and Piggy as it dawns on them that they have arrived on an island in William Golding鈥檚 Lord of the Flies.听 Later in the programme, Daniel Defoe鈥檚 solitary figure, Robinson Crusoe, is also newly arrived on a desert island and sets about orientating himself to find a proper place for his habitation there.听

听

Islands are born from volcanic explosions from deep on the sea bed and sometimes they disappear again.听 John Keats鈥� Sonnet to Ailsa Craig is a wonderful homage to the tectonic origins of the island: 鈥楧rown鈥檇 wast thou till an earthquake made thee steep, Another cannot wake thy giant size!鈥�, while Lucretia Davidson鈥檚 poem Sabrina tells the tale of a volcanic island which appeared and then disappeared among the Azores in 1811.听 I have set Davidson鈥檚 poem to the explosive sounds of Boulez鈥檚 Memoriale (... explosante fixe... Originel).听 The programme also includes poems by Seamus Heaney and Vachel Lindsay on disappearing islands and Atlantis respectively.

听

Perhaps one of the most famous literary references to islands is found in John Donne鈥檚 Meditation 17 and in the words, 鈥榥o man is an island鈥�.听 I explore the idea of man as an island first in the words of Rin Ishigaki, whose poem Island portrays a solitary figure looking at himself as 鈥榓 dot, a small island鈥� standing in a mirror.听 The solitary sounds of a single flute in Varese鈥檚 Destiny 21.5 counterpoint Ishigaki鈥檚 words, and then John Donne鈥檚 Meditation 17 is paired with A.K. Ramunujam鈥檚 poetic take on the Donne, No Man is an Island, in which the difficulties of living in isolation are expressed.听 There is a slightly comical end to the Ramanujam poem, which is echoed in Prokofiev鈥檚 quirky Scherzo humoristique for four bassoons.

听

Islands are places for love and Hilda Conkling鈥檚 The Lonesome Wave ends joyfully as golden waves fling themselves on the beach, leading into Debussy鈥檚 L鈥檌sle joyeuse.听 Derek Walcott claims in his poem Islands that 鈥榠slands can only exist if we have loved in them鈥�.听

听

Robinson Crusoe is the most famous inhabitant of a deserted island, but Li Po also wrote about the solitude felt by an official banished on Parrot Island as the parrots flew west to Dragon Mountain.听 The parrots are illustrated by the ambiguous sounds in Ligeti鈥檚 Aventures.听 The ancient English tale, or riddle, of Wulf and Eadwacer also places the speaker on an island separated from his lover and is characterized by the earthy sounds of Martin Grubinger and Leonhard Schmidinger playing a percussion descant to the chanting of Schola Cantorum of the Benedictine Abbey M眉nsterschwarzach.听

听

Mythical islands have also captured the imagination of writers, including Longfellow who sails for the Hesperides, tempest-haunted Orcades and then to the safe harbours of 鈥楿ltima Thule鈥�.听 C. P. Cavafy鈥檚 poem Ithaka encourages us to make the most of the journey there for the purpose of Ithaka is entirely in making that journey.听 The programme concludes with a musical reference to Shakespeare鈥檚 Tempest in music from Sibelius鈥檚 incidental music for The Tempest.听

听

Elizabeth Arno (producer)

听

Broadcast

  • Sun 1 Nov 2015 17:30
    大象传媒 Radio 3

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