Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Encoded

Texts and music inspired by codes, with readers Anna Maxwell Martin and Tim McInnerny. Including Conan Doyle, Greene, Le Carre and Agatha Christie, plus Bach, Shostakovich, Berg.

Today's Words and Music has more to it than meets the eye. Anna Maxwell Martin and Tim McInnerny read texts and poetry inspired by codes, and hidden messages. Codes are a staple in detective and spy novels, and we find characters sending and grappling with them in works by Conan Doyle, Graham Greene and John le Carr茅. There are also real life examples of codes being used, and broken, from Francis Bacon's ingenious cypher, Mary Queen of Scots' fatal coded letters during her imprisonment by Elizabeth I, and the top-secret work at Bletchley Park during the Second World War. The programme also includes clue-ridden text and poems, such as Agatha Christie's Manx Gold which contained cryptic clues to the whereabouts of hidden treasure prizes on the Isle of Man. There are acrostic poems with the names of loved ones hidden within them, and in a similar way, composers often embedded their own, or another's initials into their music - there are examples by Bach, Shostakovich and Berg.

Producer Ellie Mant.

1 hour, 15 minutes

Last on

Sun 18 Dec 2016 19:00
大象传媒 Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

A String of Pearls

Next

Wine

See all episodes from Words and Music

Music Played

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

  • Ella Cheever Thayer

    Wired Love: A Romance of Dots and Dashes, read by Anna Maxwell Martin

  • 00:01

    John Adams

    Phrygian Gates (extract)

    Performer: Ralph van Raat (piano).
    • NAXOS 8.559285.
    • Tr1.

  • Thomas Young

    An account of some recent discoveries in hieroglyphical literature and Egyptian antiquities, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:05

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    The Magic Flute: O Isis and Osiris

    Performer: The Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner (conductor).
    • ARCHIV 4491662.
    • CD2 tr16.

  • John Cage

    Writing Through Howl, read by Anna Maxwell Martin

  • 00:08

    John Cage

    The Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs

    Performer: Natalia Pschenitschnikova (voice), Alexei Lubimov (piano lid).
    • ECM 4764922.
    • Tr2.

  • John le Carre

    A Perfect Spy, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:11

    Alfred Schnittke

    Moz-Art a la Haydn (extract)

    Performer: Tapiola Sinfonietta.
    • BISCD1437.
    • Tr2.

  • Agatha Christie

    Manx Gold, read by Anna Maxwell Martin

  • 00:15

    Haydn Wood

    Rhapsody Mylecharane (extract)

    Performer: Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Adrian Leaper (conductor), James Wood (conductor).
    • MARCO POLO 8.223402.
    • Tr7.

  • Ralph Bennett

    Code Breakers, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:20

    Dmitry Shostakovich

    String Quartet no.8; 1st movement

    Performer: Fitzwilliam String Quartet.
    • DECCA 4214752.
    • Tr6.

  • Richmal Crompton

    William聮s Crowded Hours, read by Anna Maxwell Martin

  • 00:26

    Robert Schumann

    Carnaval: Chopin

    Performer: Stephen Hough (piano).
    • HYPERION CDA67996.
    • Tr19.

  • Edgar Allan Poe

    An Enigma, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:28

    Edward Elgar

    Enigma Variations: Dorabella

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra, Colin Davis (conductor).
    • PHILIPS 442652-2.
    • Tr11.

  • Francis Bacon

    The Advancement of Learning, read by Anna Maxwell Martin

  • 00:32

    Guillaume Dufay

    Nuper Rosarum Flores (extract)

    Performer: The Hilliard Ensemble.
    • EMI CDC7476282.
    • Tr6.

  • Graham Green

    Our Man in Havana, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:36

    Philip Glass

    The Secret Agent

    Performer: Cello Octet Iberico.
    • CODAEX CX4005.
    • Tr5.

  • Anne Lister

    I know my own Heart, read by Anna Maxwell Martin

  • 00:41

    Erik Satie

    Musiques Intime et Secretes: Nostalgie

    Performer: Steffen Schleiermacher (piano).
    • MDG61310662.
    • Tr32.

  • Rudyard Kipling

    Code of Morals, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:45

    Carl Teike

    Old Comrades (extract)

    Performer: Philip Jones Ensemble, Elgar Howarth (conductor).
    • DECCA 4173292.
    • Tr4.

  • Simon Singh

    The Code Book: The Secret History of Codes and Code-Breaking, read by Anna Maxwell Martin

  • 00:48

    William Byrd

    Mass for four voices: Agnus Dei

    Performer: The Tallis Scholars, Peter Phillips (conductor).
    • GIMELL CDGIM345.
    • Tr10.
  • 00:51

    Alban Berg

    Lyric Suite: 1st movement (extract)

    Performer: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Michael Gielen (conductor).
    • ALLEGRIA 221017205.
    • Tr6.

  • Samuel Daniel

    Eyes Hide my Love, read by Tim McInnerny

  • Nancy Mitford

    Pigeon Pie, read by Anna Maxwell Martin

  • 00:55

    Johannes Brahms

    FAE Sonata movement (extract)

    Performer: Tasmin Little (violin), John Lenehan (piano).
    • CLASSICS FOR PLEASURE 5856152.
    • Tr6.

  • Lewis Carroll

    A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:58

    Maurice Ravel

    Minuet on the name of Haydn

    Performer: Christian Zacharias (piano).
    • EMI 5570292.
    • CD1 tr9.

  • PG Wodehouse

    Summer Moonshine, read by Anna Maxwell Martin

  • 01:01

    Ruggero Leoncavallo

    Pagliacci: Vesti la Giubba (extract)

    Performer: Jose Carraras (tenor), Philharmonic Orchestra, Riccardo Muti (conductor).
    • EMI CMS7636502.
    • CD2 tr15.

  • Arthur Conan Doyle

    The Adventure of the Dancing Men, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 01:04

    Mikl贸s R贸zsa

    The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes: Holmes聮 Morse Code (extract)

    Performer: The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Nic Raine (conductor).
    • TADLOW MUSIC TADLOW004.
    • Tr18.

  • Czselaw Milosz, translated by Czeslaw Milosz and Robert Hass

    Meaning, read by Anna Maxwell Martin

  • 01:06

    Johann Sebastian Bach

    A Musical Offering: Ricercar a 6

    Performer: Lucerne Festival Strings, Achim Fiedler (conductor).
    • OEHMS OC301.
    • Tr1.

Producer's Note

Today's Words and Music has more to it than meets the eye. Anna Maxwell Martin and Tim McInnerny read texts and poetry inspired by codes, and hidden messages. Codes are a staple in detective and spy novels, and there are also real life examples of codes being used, and broken. There are acrostic poems with the names of loved ones hidden within them, and in a similar way, pieces of music with the composer鈥檚 name or initials spelled out in musical note form.

The programme begins with a romance conducted over the wire between two telegraph operators; the noise of dots and dashes made by the sounder reminded me of John Adams鈥� minimal music, and I like that the 鈥榞ates鈥� in the title of his Phrygian Gates is a reference to electronic music. English scientist Thomas Young was instrumental in deciphering the Egyptian hieroglyphs on the Rosetta Stone, and I鈥檝e paired this with the chorus to the Egyptian gods Isis und Osiris from The Magic Flute. Along with elements of Egyptomania so popular at the time, Mozart also included many hidden references to Freemasonry in his opera. Next, to a poem by John Cage which he described as being mesostic; similar to acrostic, with a word or name hidden in the text, in this case the name of the poet Allen Ginsberg. This is followed by Cage鈥檚 Wonderful Widow of Eighteen Springs, for soprano and closed piano, which set a passage from Joyce鈥檚 Finnegans Wake.

A programme about codes wouldn鈥檛 be complete without a few spy stories. After an extract from le Carre鈥檚 A Perfect Spy, there鈥檚 music by Schnittke which incorporates Mozart and Haydn in his own inimitable style. Next, to a publicity stunt from the Isle of Man tourist board, which commissioned Agatha Christie to write a coded poem to lead treasure hunters to buried prizes on the island. Her Manx Gold is followed by a Manx Rhapsody by Haydn Wood. Ralph Bennett was one of the real-life code-breakers working at Bletchley Park during WW2. His description of Hut 3 is paired with a movement from Shostakovich鈥檚 String Quartet no.8, composed during a trip to Dresden in memory of victims of fascism and war. This is one of many of Shostakovich鈥檚 pieces to use his initials as a musical motif. A slightly less competent spy than Le Carre鈥檚 is Richmal Crompton鈥檚 William, as he directs his imaginary secret service men on another vital mission, with music by Schumann which is riddled with musical cryptograms. 听Poe鈥檚 poem An Enigma has the name of his friend Sarah Anna Lewis hidden within it, which has an obvious parallel with Elgar鈥檚 Enigma Variations; his Dorabella movement gently parodies his friend鈥檚 stutter.

One of the most famous ciphers is that invented by Francis Bacon, in which two codes are folded up together, the non-significant one disguising the real one. This reminded me of Dufay鈥檚 motet Nuper rosarum flores, which uses the same melody at two different pitch levels and with interlocking rhythms to represent the structural pattern of Florence Cathedral. 听Next, to a character who becomes a spy by mistake in Graham Green鈥檚 Our Man in Havana, accompanied by Philips Glass鈥� music for the film The Secret Agent. Codes are often used in letters and in diaries to hide the author鈥檚 innermost thoughts from prying eyes; I chose a diary extract from Anne Lister, who was unusual for being an openly gay woman in the 19th century.

碍颈辫濒颈苍驳鈥檚 Code of Morals illustrates what can go wrong when a code is deciphered by the wrong person. Mary Queen of Scots discovered this too while she was imprisoned by Elizabeth I; she was so confident in her encrypted letters that she was too explicit about her treasonous plans. I followed this with part of Williams Byrd鈥檚 Mass for Four Voices, which sets words of the Catholic Mass; a risky tactic in post-Reformation England. A poem by Samuel Daniel describes the coded looks between lovers, and Berg鈥檚 Lyric Suite which follows contains a hidden reference to Hanna Fuchs-Robettin with whom he was secretly in love. Nancy Mitford鈥檚 characters attempt to wink in morse code, accompanied by Brahms鈥� contribution to the FAE Sonata, which uses those letters as a musical cryptogram to represent the phrase frei aber einsam (free, but lonely, the dedicatee Joachim鈥檚 personal motto).

Lewis Carroll鈥檚 acrostic poem A Boat Beneath a Sunny Sky is based on Alice Pleasance Liddell鈥檚 name, and the following Minuet by Ravel spells out Haydn鈥檚 name in note-form.听 Wodehouse鈥檚 characters attempt the encrypted pleasures of a crossword puzzle, before we hear about code-breaking by the most famous sleuth of all 鈥� Sherlock Holmes. Finally a poem by Czelaw Milosz ponders whether there is a true meaning or pattern to the world, and the programme ends with Bach鈥檚 Ricercar a 6 from the Musical Offering, one of several of his works to incorporate his name as a musical signature.听

Ellie Mant - Producer

听

Broadcast

  • Sun 18 Dec 2016 19:00
    大象传媒 Radio 3

Featured in...

  • Arts

    Creativity, performance, debate

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