Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Summer Nights

From a Great Gatsby party to the calm of Wallace Stevens's home - the writers include Carol Ann Duffy, John Clare, AE Housman, with music from Miles Davis to Vaughan Williams.

Simon Russell Beale and Sian Thomas read prose and poetry reflecting on the final hours on a summer鈥檚 day.

鈥淥h, how beautiful is the summer night, which is not night, but a sunless, yet unclouded day, descending upon earth with dews and shadows and refreshing coolness鈥� was how the American writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow described the twilight hours. The English landscape is evoked in Vaughan Williams' setting of 鈥淭he Water Mill鈥� by Fredegond Shove and in John Clare鈥檚 鈥淪ummer Evening鈥� in which he captures the fearful animals, insects and birds disturbed by 鈥榩roud man鈥�.

American summers are evoked in the description of one of the famous parties in F. Scott Fitzgerald鈥檚 鈥淭he Great Gatsby鈥� where, in Gatsby鈥檚 blue gardens, there is a 鈥渟ea-change of faces and voices under the constantly changing light鈥� heard with Miles Davis鈥� 鈥淥nce upon a Summertime鈥�. The overwhelming heat of New York is brilliantly caught by Langston Hughes and by Sara Teasdale鈥檚 description of the 鈥榝ragrant darkness鈥� of the Hudson river.

T.S. Eliot鈥檚 mysterious evocation of the summer midnight rituals of man and woman 鈥渋n daunsinge, signifying matrimonie鈥� is heard with Philip Glass鈥� 鈥淗ymn to the Sun鈥� from Akhnaten. Carol Ann Duffy鈥檚鈥� The Midsummer Night鈥� is heard with Mendelssohn鈥檚 Notturno from 鈥淎 Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream鈥�. Wallace Stevens鈥� poem, 鈥漈he House was Quiet and the World was Calm鈥�, captures the calm of the poet鈥檚 home as he sits reading a book alongside the calm of the universe on a summer night and the poet鈥檚 desire to be one 鈥渢o whom The summer night is like a perfection of thought鈥�. The poem is heard with the American composer Samuel Barber鈥檚 鈥淣octurne鈥�, a piano setting which may well be exploring a similar 鈥榓ccess of perfection鈥� to Stevens鈥� poet鈥檚 dream.

Summer Nights ends with A. E. Housman鈥檚 鈥淲hen Summer鈥檚 End is Nighing鈥�, an elegy for lost youth which ends with the hope of a new beginning. As summer鈥檚 end nears the poet鈥檚 heart is reawakened:

鈥楾he ear too fondly listens
For summer鈥檚 parting sighs,
And then the heart replies.鈥�

Words and Music ends with Vaughan Williams' 鈥淭he Lark Ascending鈥�, his beautiful evocation of the English countryside, written on the eve of war in 1914 and imagining the losses to come

Readings:

Oh, how beautiful - Henry Longfellow
Night Drive - Seamus Heaney
Summer Evening - John Clare
The Prelude - William Wordsworth
Moonlight, Summer Moonlight - Emily Bront毛
Song - Walt Whitman
The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
Summer Stars - Carl Sandburg
Summer Evening - Sara Teasdale
The Four Quartets - TS Eliot
The House Was Quiet - Wallace Stevens
Summer Night - Langston Hughes
Midsummer Night - Carol Ann Duffy
When summer's end is nighing - AE Housman

1 hour, 15 minutes

Last on

Sun 26 Jul 2020 17:00
大象传媒 Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Star Light, Star Bright

Next

Monkey Business

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

    Toru Takemitsu

    Toward the Sea 聳 The Night

    Performer: Toronto New Music Ensemble.
    • NAXOS 8555859.
    • Tr3.

  • Henry Longfellow

    Oh, how beautiful, read by Sian Thomas

  • Seamus Heaney

    Night Drive, read by Simon Russell Beale

  • 00:04

    Gabriel Faur茅

    Apr猫s un R锚ve

    Performer: Veronique Gens (soprano); Roger Vignoles (piano).
    • VIRGIN CLASSICS VC5453602.
    • Tr1.

  • John Clare

    Summer Evening, read by Sian Thomas

  • 00:07

    Ralph Vaughan Williams

    The Water Mill

    Performer: The Duke Quartet, Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor), Graham Johnson (piano).
    • COLLINS CLASSICS 14882.
    • Tr4.

  • William Wordsworth

    from The Prelude, read by Simon Russell Beale

  • 00:12

    Zolt谩n Kod谩ly

    Summer Evening 聳 Meno mosso (bar 340) - Tempo I

    Performer: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4471092.
    • Tr7.

  • Emily Bront毛

    Moonlight, Summer Moonlight, read by Sian Thomas

  • 00:17

    Frederick Delius

    Summer Night on the River

    Performer: Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Neville Marriner (conductor).
    • LONDON 4213902.
    • Tr6.

  • Walt Whitman

    Song read by Simon Russell Beale

  • 00:23

    Maurice Ravel

    String Quartet in F Major, 1903 聳 Assez Vif

    Performer: Avalon String Quartet.
    • CHANNEL CLASSICS CCS14898.
    • Tr2.

  • F. Scott Fitzgerald

    from The Great Gatsby, read by Sian Thomas

  • 00:30

    Miles Davis

    Once upon a Summertime

    Performer: Miles Davis with Gil Evans and his Orchestra.
    • CBS CD85556.
    • Tr2.

  • Carl Sandburg

    Summer Stars, read by Simon Russell Beale

  • 00:34

    Claude Debussy

    Nuits d'etoiles

    Performer: Veronique Gens (soprano), Roger Vignoles (piano).
    • VIRGIN CLASSICS VC5453602.
    • Tr15.

  • Sara Teasdale

    Summer Evening, Riverside, read by Sian Thomas

  • 00:38

    Erik Satie

    Gymnopedie No. 1

    Performer: Pascal Rog茅 (piano).
    • DECCA 4102202.
    • Tr1.

  • T. S. Eliot

    From The Four Quartets, read by Simon Russell Beale

  • 00:43

    Philip Glass

    'Hymn to the Sun' from Akhnaten

    Performer: Paul Esswood (counter tenor), Stuttgart State Opera, Orchestra and Chorus,.
    • SONY SBK64133.
    • Tr8.

  • Wallace Stevens

    The House was Quiet, read by Simon Russell Beale

  • 00:50

    Samuel Barber

    Nocture, Op.33

    Performer: Michael Landrum (piano).
    • SONO LUMINUS DSL92158.
    • CD2 Tr7.

  • Langston Hughes

    Summer Night, read by Sian Thomas

  • 00:55

    Olivier Messiaen

    Les Orioles

    Performer: Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Myung-Whun Chung (conductor).
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHNON 4716172.
    • CD1 Tr2.

  • Carol Ann Duffy

    Midsummer Night, read by Sian Thomas

  • 00:57

    Felix Mendelssohn

    A Midsummer Night聮s Dream 聳 Notturno

    Performer: Wiener Philharmoniker, Andre Previn (conductor).
    • PHILIPS 420 161 2.
    • Tr6.

  • A. E. Housman

    Last Poems 聳 When summer's end is nighing, read by Simon Russell Beale

  • 01:05

    Ralph Vaughan Williams

    The Lark Ascending

    Performer: English Chamber Orchestra, Pinchas Zukerman (violin), Daniel Barenboim (conductor).
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 419 748 2.
    • Tr1.

Producer's Notes

鈥淥h, how beautiful is the summer night, which is not night, but a sunless, yet unclouded day, descending upon earth with dews and shadows and refreshing coolness鈥� was how the American writer Henry Wadsworth Longfellow described the twilight hours.聽 For this week鈥檚 Words and Music I鈥檝e chosen poetry, prose and music reflecting the final hours on a summer鈥檚 day.聽 The English landscape is evoked in Vaughan Williams' setting of 鈥淭he Water Mill鈥� by Fredegond Shove and in John Clare鈥檚 鈥淪ummer Evening鈥� in which he captures the fearful animals, insects and birds disturbed by 鈥榩roud man鈥�.聽 William Wordsworth鈥檚 moonlit journey up the mountainside from 鈥� The Prelude鈥� leads to Zoltan Kodaly鈥檚 鈥淪ummer Evening鈥�, a work the composer described as being 鈥渃onceived on summer evenings, amidst harvested cornfields, over the ripples of the Adriatic鈥�.

American summers are evoked in the description of one of the famous parties in F. Scott Fitzgerald鈥檚 鈥淭he Great Gatsby鈥� where, in Gatsby鈥檚 blue gardens, there is a 鈥渟ea-change of faces and voices under the constantly changing light鈥� heard with Miles Davis鈥� 鈥淥nce upon a Summertime鈥�.聽 The overwhelming heat of New York is brilliantly caught by Langston Hughes and by Sara Teasdale鈥檚 description of the 鈥榝ragrant darkness鈥� of the Hudson river.

T.S. Eliot鈥檚 mysterious evocation of the summer midnight rituals of man and woman 鈥渋n daunsinge, signifying matrimonie鈥� is heard with Philip Glass鈥� 鈥淗ymn to the Sun鈥� from Akhnaten.聽 Carol Ann Duffy鈥檚鈥� The Midsummer Night鈥� is heard with Mendelssohn鈥檚 Notturno from 鈥淎 Midsummer Night鈥檚 Dream鈥�.聽 Wallace Stevens鈥� poem, 鈥漈he House was Quiet and the World was Calm鈥�, captures the calm of the poet鈥檚 home as he sits reading a book alongside the calm of the universe on a summer night and the poet鈥檚 desire to be one 鈥渢o whom The summer night is like a perfection of thought鈥�.聽 The poem is heard with the American composer聽 Samuel Barber鈥檚 鈥淣octurne鈥�, a piano setting which may well be exploring a similar 鈥榓ccess of perfection鈥� to Stevens鈥� poet鈥檚 dream.

Summer Nights ends with A. E. Housman鈥檚 鈥淲hen Summer鈥檚 End is Nighing鈥�, an elegy for lost youth which ends with the hope of a new beginning.聽 As summer鈥檚 end nears the poet鈥檚 heart is reawakened:

鈥楾he ear too fondly listens
For summer鈥檚 parting sighs,
And then the heart replies.鈥�

Words and Music ends with Vaughan Williams' 鈥淭he Lark Ascending鈥�, his beautiful evocation of the English countryside, written on the eve of war in 1914 and imagining the losses to come.


Fiona McLean

Broadcasts

  • Sun 14 Aug 2016 18:15
    大象传媒 Radio 3
  • Sun 26 Jul 2020 17:00
    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