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Crossed Wires

Readers Jonathan Keeble and Briony Rawle on telephones and miscommunication in the words of Adrienne Rich and Raymond Chandler. Music by Poulenc, Penguin Cafe Orchestra and Berio.

Join readers Jonathan Keeble and Briony Rawle at the end of the line as they tell tales of phones and miscommunication. With music by Poulenc, Penguin Cafe Orchestra, Little George Smith, Cheryl Frances-Hoad, Berio and Menotti.

Our worlds are shaped by the technology we use to communicate - from phone conversations to text messages to letters of love and loss. Yet so often the tools we rely upon to convey our deepest feelings cause misunderstandings and revelations that we might never have imagined.

Raymond Chandler鈥檚 lonely gumshoe Philip Marlowe may yearn for his telephone to plug him into the human race - but a simple ring can also herald the deepest of human emotions: fear, grief, even nostalgia. Sylvia Plath鈥檚 half-heard syllables provoke dread, whilst Adrienne Rich and Phillip Gross consider how our ideas and identities are moulded and misshapen by the technology at our fingertips.

A thwarted conversation between Marcel Proust鈥檚 Swann and his elderly mother leaves us pondering the hereafter - whilst Carol Ann Duffy muses on the futility of words blinking on an LCD screen. Arthur C. Clarke, meanwhile, suggests a telephonic sting in the tale of a dystopian kind.

Produced by Steven Rajam.
A Reduced Listening production for 大象传媒 Radio 3.

Readings

Raymond Chandler - The Little Sister
Robert Frost - The Telephone
Philip Gross - Mappa Mundi
Sylvia Plath - Words Heard, By Accident, Over The Phone
Tony Harrison - Changing At York
Marcel Proust - The Guermantes Way
Carol Ann Duffy - Text
Thomas Hardy - Tess Of The D鈥橴rbervilles
Adrienne Rich - Cartographies Of Silence
Gail White - Ballade Of Indignation
Arthur C. Clarke - Dial F For Frankenstein
Devin Johnston - The Telephone

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 28 Jun 2020 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

    Nico Muhly

    Mothertongue I. Archive

    • Mothertongue.
    • BEDROOM COMMUNITY.
    • Track 1.

  • Raymond Chandler

    The Little Sister read by Jonathan Keeble

  • 00:03

    George 鈥淗armonica鈥� Smith

    Telephone Blues

    • Harmonica Ace.
    • ACE RECORDS.
    • Track 2.

  • Robert Frost

    The Telephone read by Briony Rawle

  • 00:07

    Guillaume Boni

    Continuation des amours: Que dis tu, que fais tu

    Performer: Ensemble Per Cantar Et Sonar. Conductor: St茅phane Caillat.
    • Les Amours de Pierre de Ronsard.
    • ARION.
    • Track 13.

  • Philip Gross

    Mappa Mundi read by Jonathan Keeble

  • 00:14

    Penguin Cafe Orchestra

    Telephone And Rubber Band

    • Penguin Cafe Orchestra.
    • VIRGIN.
    • Track 3.
  • 00:16

    Francis Poulenc

    Allo! Ah! Cheri! C'est toi (La Voix Humaine)

    Singer: Felicity Lott. Orchestra: Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. Conductor: Armin Jordan.
    • Les Amours de Pierre de Ronsard.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • Track 12.

  • Sylvia Plath

    Words Heard, By Accident, Over The Phone read by Briony Rawle

  • 00:21

    Caroline Shaw

    Passacaglia (Partita for Eight Voices)

    Performer: Roomful of Teeth.
    • Partita For Eight Voices.
    • NEW AMSTERDAM.
    • Track 4.

  • Marcel Proust

    The Guermantes Way, translated by CK Scott Moncrieff, read by Jonathan Keeble

  • 00:29

    The White Stripes

    Hello Operator

    • De Stijl.
    • XL RECORDINGS.
    • Track 2.

  • Marcel Proust

    The Guermantes Way, translated by CK Scott Moncrieff, read by Jonathan Keeble

  • 00:31

    Cheryl Frances-Hoad

    One Life Stand: II. The Pros And The Cons

    Singer: Jennifer Johnston. Performer: Joseph Middleton.
    • You Promised Me Everything.
    • CHAMPS HILL.
    • Track 2.

  • Carol Ann Duffy

    Text read by Briony Rawle

  • 00:34

    John Cage

    Imaginary Landscape no 4: March no 2

    Performer: Maelstr枚m Percussion Ensemble.
    • Partita For Eight Voices.
    • hat[now]ART.

  • Tony Harrison

    Changing At York read by Jonathan Keeble

  • 00:34

    Leos Jan谩膷ek

    String Quartet No 2 鈥淚ntimate Letters鈥� (3rd mvt)

    Performer: Pavel Haas Quartet.
    • Janacek & Haas: Quartets.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • Track 3.

  • Thomas Hardy

    Tess of the D鈥檜rbervilles read by Jonathan Keeble

  • Thomas Hardy

    Tess of the D鈥檜rbervilles read by Jonathan Keeble

  • Adrienne Rich

    Cartographies of Silence read by Briony Rawle

  • 00:42

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Cosa sento! Tosto andate (Marriage Of Figaro, Act 1)

    Singer: Anna Netrebko. Singer: Bo Skovhus. Singer: Patrick Henckens. Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
    • The Marriage Of Figaro.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
    • Track 15.

  • Gail White

    Ballade of Indignation read by Briony Rawle

  • 00:49

    Luciano Berio

    Sinfonia (3rd mvt)

    Choir: London Voices. Orchestra: Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: P茅ter E枚tv枚s.
    • Sinfonia & Ekphrasis.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
    • Track 3.
  • 01:01

    Glen Campbell

    Wichita Lineman

    • Wichita Lineman.
    • CAPITOL RECORDS.
    • Track 1.

  • Arthur C. Clarke

    Dial F. For Frankenstein read by Jonathan Keeble

  • 01:06

    Peter Maxwell Davies

    The Twittering Machine (Five Klee Pictures)

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Peter Maxwell Davies. Conductor: Peter Maxwell Davies.
    • Sinfonia & Ekphrasis.
    • NAXOS.
    • Track 10.

  • Arthur C. Clarke

    Dial F. For Frankenstein read by Jonathan Keeble

  • Devin Johnston

    The Telephone read by Briony Rawle

  • 01:09

    Gian Carlo Menotti

    The Telephone: Hello, Hello? [final scene]

    Singer: Marilyn Cotlow. Singer: Frank Rogier. Conductor: Emanuel Balaban.
    • Sinfonia & Ekphrasis.
    • NAXOS.
    • Track 25.

Broadcast

  • Sun 28 Jun 2020 17:30
    大象传媒 Radio 3

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