Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Such Sweet Sadness

A sequence of texts and music, with readings by Siobhan Redmond and Harry Anton. With AA Milne, James, Shakespeare and Maupassant, plus Schumann, Strauss, Brahms and Stolzel.

With readings from the actors Siobhan Redmond and Harry Anton - today's programme features the music of Schumann, Strauss, Brahms and Stozel, Paul Clayton and the Modern Jazz Quartet plus prose from A A Milne to Henry James, from Shakespeare to Guy de Maupassant, plus Robert Burns, Oscar Wilde, James Thompson and Charlotte Smith.

The voice of the nightingale and the lonely impulse of delight, embroidered with the sentimental and sublime, for lovers young and lovers old and those who sigh as they smile and look to die upon a kiss.

Producer: Jacqueline Smith.

1 hour, 15 minutes

Last on

Sun 18 Jun 2017 17:30
大象传媒 Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Clouds

Next

Canada: From Sea to Sea to Sea

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

    Robert Schumann

    Wenn ich ein V枚glein w盲r (Op. 43 Nr.1)

    Performer: Angelika Kirchschlager (mezzo-soprano); Barbara Bonney (soprano); Malcolm Martineau (piano).
    • Sony Classical SK93133.
    • Tr13.

  • Shakespeare

    Romeo and Juliet, read by Harry Anton

  • 00:01

    Arvo P盲rt

    Spiegel im Spiegel

    Performer: Tasmin Little (violin); Martin Roscoe (piano).
    • VIRGIN VTDCD408.
    • Tr8.

  • Shakespeare

    Extract 聭Romeo and Juliet聮 read by Siobhan Redmond

  • Shakespeare

    Extract 聭Romeo and Juliet聮 read by Siobhan Redmond

  • Guy de Maupassant

    Extract 聭One Phase of Love聮 read by Harry Anton

  • Guy de Maupassant

    Extract 聭One Phase of Love聮 read by Harry Anton

  • Shakespeare

    Extract 聭Romeo and Juliet聮 read by Siobhan Redmond

  • 00:05

    Igor Stravinsky

    Chant du Rossignol (Excerpt)

    Performer: Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz (Conductor).
    • Delos DE 1601.
    • Tr12.

  • Charlotte Smith

    Sonnet 52: To a Nightingale read by Siobhan Redmond

  • 00:07

    Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov

    The Rose And The Nightingale Op.2 No.2

    Performer: Galina Vishnevskaya (soprano); London Philharmonic Orchestra; Mstislav Rostropovich (Conductor).
    • EMI Classics 7243 5 65716 2 4.
    • CD2 Tr2.

  • R. S. Thomas

    Song read by Harry Anton

  • 00:10

    Joe 聭King聮 Oliver; Clarence Williams (vocals)

    West End Blues

    Performer: Louis Armstrong and His Hot Five.
    • ASV CDAJA5171.
    • Tr19.

  • Jonathan Safran Foer

    Extract 聭Everything Is Illuminated聮 read by Siobhan Redmond

  • 00:14

    Francisco T谩rrega

    Recuerdos de la Alhambra

    Performer: Julian Bream.
    • RCA RD86206.
    • Tr15.

  • A. A. Milne

    Tiddly Poem Song and reprises read by Harry Anton

  • Eduardo Galeano, Cedric Belfrage (translator)

    Extract from Genesis, 聭Juana at 4聮 read by Siobhan Redmond

  • 00:19

    Anon

    Shenandoah

    Performer: Paul Clayton (guitar and vocals).
    • TRADITION TCD1064.
    • Tr12.

  • Anonymous

    Bryan and Pereene: A West Indian Ballad read by Harry Anton.This tragical incident is founded on a real fact that happened in the island of St. Christopher about the beginning of the reign of George III.

  • 00:24

    Henry Purcell

    When I Am Laid in Earth (Dido聮s Lament)

    Performer: The Modern Jazz Quartet: John Lewis, Swingle Singers.
    • PHILIPS 8245452.
    • Tr5.

  • Robert Louis Stevenson

    Requiem read by Harry Anton

  • 00:29

    John Rutter

    The Lord is My Shepherd Psalm 23

    Performer: The City of London Sinfonia; Quentin Poole (oboe); The Cambridge Singers; The Philip Jones Brass Ensemble; John Rutter (Conductor).
    • COLLEGIUM COLCD100.
    • Tr6.

  • Thomas Chatterton

    Extract 聭Song from 脝lla: Under the Willow Tree聮, or, 聭Minstrel's Roundelay聮 read by Siobhan Redmond

  • Robert Burns

    John Anderson, My Jo read by Siobhan Redmond

  • 00:35

    Bill Withers

    Grandma聮s Hands

    Performer: Bill Withers.
    • CBS CD32343.
    • Tr8.
  • 00:37

    Heino Eller

    Tone Poem 聭Dawn聮 (1918)

    Performer: John Digney (solo oboe); Scottish National Orchestra; Neeme J盲rvi (Conductor).
    • CHANDOS CHAN8525.
    • Tr7.

  • George McKay Brown

    Extract 1 聭The Year of the Whale聮 read by Harry Anton

  • George McKay Brown

    Extract 2 聭The Year of the Whale聮 read by Harry Anton

  • William Wordsworth

    Extract 1 聭Intimations of Immortality聮 read by Siobhan Redmond

  • William Wordsworth

    Extract 2 聭Intimations of Immortality聮 read by Siobhan Redmond

  • Thomas Hardy

    Extract 聭Afterwards聮 read by Harry Anton

  • A. A. Milne

    Tiddly Pom Song and reprise read by Siobhan Redmond

  • 00:45

    Georges Abel Louis Auric; Arthur Laurents

    Bonjour Tristesse

    Performer: Juliette Gr茅co.
    • El ACMEM197CD.
    • Tr1.
  • 00:49

    Alfred Newman

    I'm Sad And I'm Lonely (Outtake)

    Performer: MGM Studio Orchestra.
    • Rhino Movie Music R2 72458.
    • CD2 Tr4.

  • Robert Louis Stevenson

    Poem extract 1 聭Love聮 read by Siobhan Redmond

  • Henry James

    Prose extract 1 聭Portrait of a Lady聮 read by Harry Anton

  • Henry James

    Prose extract 2 聭Portrait of a Lady聮 read by Harry Anton

  • Robert Louis Stevenson

    Poem extract 2 聭Love聮 read by Siobhan Redmond

  • 00:52

    Guillaume de Machaut

    Mon cuer, ma suer from Le Livre du Voir-Dit (J-PR)

    Performer: Jean-Paul Racodon (reader).
    • BRILLIANT 94217.
    • CD2 Tr20.
  • 00:53

    Trad.

    Lais from the Roman de Tristan

    Performer: Frances Kelly.
    • AMON RA CDSAR36.
    • Tr1.

  • Algernon Charles Swinburne

    Poem extract 聭Tristram of Lyonesse聮 read by Siobhan Redmond

  • Matthew Arnold

    Poem extract 聭Tristram and Iseult聮 read by Harry Anton

  • Matthew Arnold

    Poem extract 聭Tristram and Iseult聮 read by Harry Anton

  • 00:56

    Trad.

    A Vous Tristan

    Performer: Ensemble Gilles Binchois; Anne-Marie Lablaude (soprano); Dominique Vellard (Conductor).
    • GLOSSA GCD P32304.
    • Tr15.
  • 01:01

    Enrico Toselli, Andr茅 Rieu (Arranger)

    Nightingale Serenade

    Performer: The Johann Strauss Orchestra, Andr茅 Rieu (Conductor).
    • Polydor ?06024 9874091 0.
    • Tr1.

  • Oscar Wilde

    Prose extract 聭The Nightingale and the Rose聮 read by Siobhan Redmond

  • 01:05

    Richard Strauss

    Im Abendrot

    Performer: Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano); London Symphony Orchestra; Andrew Davis (Conductor).
    • CBS CD76794.
    • Tr4.

  • Joseph Warton

    Ode to the Nightingale read by Harry Anton

Producer's Note: Such Sweet Sadness

The nightingales will sing no more this year but Such Sweet Sadness is in memory of these shy songsters, a muse to music makers and poets alike for many hundred years.聽 The eighteenth century poets James Thompson and Charlotte Smith wrote of their tales of love and liberty鈥� their聽 tales of tender woe offered to the moon and lovers alike, while Rimsky-Korsakov composed the passionate love-song of a nightingale enslaved by a rose鈥� and Robert Schumann鈥檚 little bird will do whatever it takes to find his mate.聽

Human stories are nearly always about one thing, death, the certainty of death 鈥� so said J. R. R. Tolkien鈥� perhaps that鈥檚 why we like a sad story so鈥� as long as it鈥檚 not too close in experience or time.聽 So Such Sweet Sadness is full of legends, of young lovers doomed not to grow old, Romeo and Juliet, Tristram and Iseult, Bryan and Pereene;聽 the poignancy of an old couple finally separated, the acceptance of death at the end of long life 鈥� Robert Burns鈥� John Anderson my Jo and Robert Louis Stevenson鈥檚 Hunter home from the hill -聽 and that idea that seems to belong to all human civilisation, the belief that once there was a Golden Age where we found our soul mate鈥� far off in time, never to come again and yet holding a promise that there is more鈥� just beyond our reach and far above our mundane senses鈥�

聽As I found the prose and poetry and music on offer here, it struck me how sweet sadness acts like a mirror 鈥� hence Arvo P盲rt鈥檚 Spiegl im Spiegl and a book-ending of nightingales.聽 Sweet Sadness is a sadness which does not hurt bitterly.聽 It reflects the real world back to us but in bearable fashion鈥� we sigh and weep over people who have endured what we have never experienced but whose immortality we envy鈥� in much the same way that as we get older we look back to our own childhoods with misty eyes and watch our children with passionate tenderness for they do not yet know what we know and their small sorrows are ones we can do something about鈥� Tiddly Pom.

So time to wallow and perhaps, just occasionally, laugh at ourselves and the kind of sadness we enjoy鈥� as Jonathan Safran Foer has written 鈥測ou cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness鈥� so time to experience both at once.聽 Let us imagine ourselves the nightingale, enslaved by a rose.聽聽

Producer: Jacqueline Smith

Broadcast

  • Sun 18 Jun 2017 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