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Goddesses and Monsters

The British Museum has an exhibition about feminine power around the world and in this selection of poems, prose and music we encounter Mary, Orisha, Venus, a mermaid and a witch.

From Medusa to the Madonna, this episode explores the iconography and inner lives of Greek goddesses, mermaids and sirens, oracles, witches, and Mary, mother of Jesus. The composers include Joan Tower, Amy Beach, Mica Levi and Elena Kats-Chernin among others and readings by Keziah Joseph and Jenet Le Lacheur range from poems by Nikita Gill to HD, Sojourner Truth to Mary-Kim Arnold. You can also find, on 大象传媒 Sounds, a Free Thinking discussion about goddesses from around the world linked into the current exhibition at the British Museum.

Producer: Caitlin Benedict

READINGS:
Madeleine Miller - Circe
Bettany Hughes - Venus and Aphrodite
Nikita Gill - Athena to Medusa
Edith Wharton- Pomegranate Seed
HD - Demeter
Mary-Kim Arnold - Self Portrait as Semiramis
Audre Lorde - The Winds of Orisha
Sojourner Truth - Aint I a Woman ?
Vandana Khanna - Blue Madonna
Susan Stryker - My Words to Victor Frankenstein Above the Village of Chamounix: Performing Transgender Rage
Anne Sexton - Her Kind
Sylvia Plath - Witch Burning
Dr. Veronica Wigberht-Blackwater - The Mermaid, from The Compendium of Magical Beasts
Margaret Atwood - Siren Song
Adrienne Rich - Diving into the Wreck

Feminine power: the divine to the demonic runs at the British Museum until September 25th 2022 and then tours to museums and galleries in Australia and Spain.

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 31 Jul 2022 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

  • 00:02

    Joan Tower

    Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman no.1

    Orchestra: Colorado Symphony. Conductor: Marin Alsop.

  • Madeleine Miller

    Circe, read by Keziah Joseph

  • 00:05

    Augusta Read Thomas

    Eos, goddess of the dawn

    Orchestra: Utah Symphony. Conductor: Thierry Fischer.

  • Bettany Hughes

    Venus and Aphrodite, read by Jenet Le Lacheur

  • Nikita Gill

    Athena to Medusa, read by Keziah Joseph

  • 00:11

    Fanny Mendelssohn

    March (The Year)

    Performer: Lauma Skride.

  • Edith Wharton

    Pomegranate Seed, read by Keziah Joseph

  • 00:18

    Anna Meredith

    Fin like a flower

    Performer: Lucy Wakeford. Singer: Michael Chance.

  • H.D.

    Demeter, read by Jenet Le Lacheur

  • 00:22

    Wendy Carlos

    Beauty in the Beast

    Performer: Wendy Carlos.
    • East Side Digital ESD 81552.
    • Tr 2.

  • Mary-Kim Arnold

    Self Portrait as Semiramis, read by Keziah Joseph

  • 00:27

    Amy Beach

    Piano Concerto in C sharp minor, Op.45 (2nd mvt: Scherzo)

    Performer: Danny Driver. Orchestra: 大象传媒 Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Rebecca Miller.

  • Audre Lorde

    The Winds of Orisha, read by Keziah Joseph and Jenet Le Lacheur

  • 00:35

    Florence Price

    Songs to the Dark Virgin

    Performer: Kuang-Hao Huang. Singer: Thomas Hampson.

  • Sojourner Truth

    Ain聮t I A Woman? Read by Keziah Joseph

  • 00:38

    Hildegard von Bingen

    Ave Maria, O auctrix vitae

    Choir: Sequentia.

  • Vandana Khanna

    Blue Madonna, read by Keziah Joseph

  • 00:42

    Mica Levi

    Love (from 聭Under the Skin聮)

    Performer: Mica Levi.
    • Rough Trade 399 543-2.
    • Tr 9.

  • Susan Stryker

    My Words to Victor Frankenstein Above the Village of Chamounix: Performing Transgender Rage, read by Jenet Le Lacheur

  • 00:48

    Amelia Warner

    Mary聮s Nightmare (from 聭Mary Shelley聮)

    Performer: Amelia Warner.
    • Universal.
    • Tr 13.

  • Anne Sexton

    Her Kind, read by Jenet Le Lacheur

  • 00:52

    Elena Kats鈥怌hernin

    The Witching Hour

    Orchestra: Australian World Orchestra. Conductor: Alexander Briger.

  • Sylvia Plath

    Witch Burning, read by Keziah Joseph

  • 00:58

    Geraldine Mucha

    Witches (Macbeth Suite)

    Orchestra: Hradec Kralove Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Andreas Sebastian Weiser.

  • Dr. Veronica Wigberht-Blackwater

    The Mermaid, from The Compendium of Magical Beasts: An Anatomical Study of Cryptozoology聮s Most Elusive Beings, read by Jenet Le Lacheur

  • 01:02

    Grace Williams

    Channel Sirens (Sea Sketches)

    Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: David Atherton.
  • 01:06

    Claudia Molitor

    The Singing Bridge: iv. Below the Sirens call

    Performer: Claudia Molitor.
    • NMC DL3027.
    • Tr 4.

  • Margaret Atwood

    Siren Song, read by Jenet Le Lacheur

  • 01:06

    Claudia Molitor

    Below the sirens call (The Singing Bridge)

    Performer: Claudia Molitor.

  • Adrienne Rich

    Diving into the Wreck, read by Keziah Joseph

  • 01:09

    Hannah Peel

    Sunrise through the dusty nebula

    Ensemble: Tubular Brass. Conductor: Sandy Smith.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 8 Mar 2020 17:30
    大象传媒 Radio 3
  • Sun 31 Jul 2022 17:30
    大象传媒 Radio 3

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