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Nathalie Buscombe and Jot Davies read words about masks by writers including Rosamond Lehmann, Oscar Wilde and L茅opold Senghor alongside music by Isma毛l Lo, Bach and Offenbach.

From the masked highwaywoman described by Niamh Murphy, to the masked seducer adopted by the C18 Italian adventurer and lover extraordinaire Casanova, to the masked furies of the ancient Greek stage, masks can conjure up notions of primordial terror. But they can also be fun.

Such images and ideas are evoked in a phantasmagoria of hiding, veiling and concealing, as Nathalie Buscombe and Jot Davies read texts by Yeats, Wilde, Paul Laurence Dunbar and Schnitzler. Ancestral masks and animal masks are conjured up in poems by L茅opold Senghor and Philip Larkin, along with masks concealing the symptoms of plague and strangely winsome death masks, all set alongside music by Lindberg, Offenbach, Bach, Rodrigo and Schnittke evoking places and eras in which masking took place. Levi-Strauss and Lucretius provide a philosophical perspective: 鈥渁ll philosophising is masking鈥�, Wilde wrote in 鈥淭he Need for a Mask鈥�; the conclusion might be that we all need to take care of our masks.

Readings:

Rosamond Lehmann: The Weather in the Streets
H.V.Morton: A traveller in Rome
Sophie Werts Knudsen: Masks and Syphilis
James Harpur: The examined life XLVII: Furies
Jean Lorrain: Monsieur de Phocas
Arthur Schnitzler: Dream Story
W.B. Yeats: The Mask
Paul Lawrence Dunbar: We wear the mask
Niamh Murphy: The mask of the highwayman
Claude Levi Strauss: The way of the masks
Johnston McCulley: The Mark of Zorro
Lucretius: De rerum natura
Leopold Sedar Senghor: Prayer to Masks
Kamau Brathwaite: Masks: Atumpan
Chares Baudelaire: The Mask: An allegorical statue in the style of the Renaissance
Martin Amis: The pregnant widow, read by Jot Davies
Anon: Gas masks for dogs
Philip Larkin: Laboratory Monkeys
Heinrich Schliemann: Mycenae
Pietro Bembo: Letter to Cardinal Binniena
Giacomo Casanova: Memoirs
Karl Edward Wagner: Undertow
Richard Le Galliene: The Worshipper in the Image
Ernest Dowson: A comedy of masks
Cardinal John Deardon: Please hear what I鈥檓 not saying
Robin Hardy: The Wicker Man
Giacomo Casanova: Memoirs

Producer: Tony Sellors

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 30 Jul 2023 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

    Maurice Ravel

    Ma mere l'oye

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andr茅 Previn.
    • DG 4778114.
    • 26.

  • Rosamond Lehmann

    The Weather in the Streets, read by Nathalie Buscombe

  • 00:00

    Giuseppe Tartini

    Senti lo Mare

    Performer: Red Priest.
    • Red Priest RP004.
    • 2.

  • H.V.Morton

    A traveller in Rome, read by Jot Davies

  • 00:02

    Anon

    Saltarello II

    Performer: Luca Brunelli Felicetti (percussion), Gaspare Antonio Bartelloni (cane flute).
    • Tactus TC300003.
    • Tr5.

  • Sophie Werts Knudsen

    Masks and Syphilis, read by Nathalie Buscombe

  • 00:03

    Dmitry Shostakovich

    Symphony No 4 in C minor

    Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andris Nelsons.
    • DG 4835220.
    • 5.
  • 00:05

    Magnus Lindberg

    Graffitti

    Performer: Finish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo (conductor).
    • Ondine ODE1157-2.
    • 2.

  • James Harpur

    The examined life XLVII: Furies, read by Jot Davies

  • 00:07

    Olivier Messiaen

    La Transfiguration

    Orchestra: National Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Antal Dor谩ti.
    • Decca 4256162.
    • 1.
  • 00:07

    Arnold Bax

    November Woods

    Performer: Ulster Orchestra, Bryden Thomson (conductor).
    • Chandos CHANX10156.
    • 1.

  • Jean Lorrain

    Monsieur de Phocas, read by Jot Davies

  • Arthur Schnitzler

    Dream Story, read by Nathalie Buscombe and Jot Davies

  • 00:11

    Olivier Messiaen

    Apparition de l'Eglise Eternelle

    Performer: Olivier Latry (organ).
    • DG 4714802.
    • 1.
  • 00:11

    Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina

    Vox dilecti mei (Song of Songs, No.14)

    Choir: The Sixteen. Conductor: Harry Christophers.
    • CORO COR16124.
    • 13.
  • 00:14

    George Frideric Handel

    Hide me from Day's garish eye (L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato)

    Singer: Maria Keohane. Ensemble: Collegium Cartusianum. Conductor: Peter Neumann.
    • Carus 04009350933958.
    • 36.

  • W.B.Yeats

    The Mask, read by Nathalie Buscombe and Jot Davies

  • We wear the mask

    Paul Lawrence Dunbar, read by Nathalie Buscombe

  • 00:18

    Charles Williams

    Devil's Galop

    Orchestra: Charles Williams and His Concert Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Williams.
    • EMI CD GB 50.
    • 1.

  • The mask of the highwayman

    Niamh Murphy, read by Nathalie Buscombe and Jot Davies

  • 00:19

    Alfred Schnittke

    Concerto Grosso No 3

    Orchestra: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Conductor: Riccardo Chailly.
    • Decca 4306982.
    • 1.
  • 00:21

    Ivor Novello

    Highwayman Love

    Singer: Maryetta Midgley. Singer: Vernon Midgley. Orchestra: Festival Concert Orchestra. Conductor: Harry Rabinowitz.
    • MVM records CDNVM8105.
    • 7.

  • Claude Levi Strauss

    The way of the masks, read by Jot Davies

  • 00:25

    Joaqu铆n Rodrigo

    Concierto de Aranjuez II - Adagio

    Performer: Julian Bream. Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • EMI 094638903222.
    • 7.

  • Johnston McCulley

    The Mark of Zorro, read by Jot Davies and Nathalie Buscombe

  • Lucretius

    De rerum natura, read by Nathalie Buscombe

  • 00:28

    Isma毛l L么

    Jammu Africa

    Performer: Isma毛l L么.
    • Mercury 聳 534 233-2.
    • 1.

  • Leopold Sedar Senghor

    Prayer to Masks, read by Jot Davies

  • 00:30

    Kamau Braithwaite

    Masks: (i) Libation: (iii) Atumpan

    Performer: Kamau Braithwaite.
    • Argo PLP 1183.
    • 1.
  • 00:32

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Concerto for piano and orchestra no. 21 (K.467) in C major, 2nd mvt, Andante

    Performer: Radu Lupu. Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Uri Segal.
    • Decca 4437622.
    • 8.

  • Chares Baudelaire, trans. Graham Reynolds

    The Mask: An allegorical statue in the style of the Renaissance, read by Nathalie Buscombe and Jot Davies

  • 00:39

    Erich Wolfgang Korngold

    String Quartet No 3, Scherzo

    Performer: Doric String Quartet.
    • Chandos CHAN10611.
    • 10.

  • Martin Amis

    The pregnant widow, read by Jot Davies

  • Gas masks for dogs

    Anon, read by Nathalie Buscombe

  • 00:43

    John J. Kerr

    The A R P - My Wee Gas Mask

    Performer: Dave Willis.
    • HMV Bd 677.
    • 1.

  • Laboratory Monkeys

    Philip Larkin, read by Jot Davies

  • 00:47

    Johann Sebastian Bach

    The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, Prelude No. 8 in E-Flat Minor, BWV 853

    Performer: Daniel Barenboim.
    • Warner 9029615949.
    • 15.
  • 00:51

    Magnus Lindberg

    Seht die Sonne

    Performer: Finish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sakari Oramo (conductor).
    • Ondine ODE1157-2.
    • 7.

  • Heinrich Schliemann

    Mycenae, read by Nathalie Buscombe and Jot Davies

  • 00:55

    Ottorino Respighi

    Fontane di Roma - symphonic poem, La Fontana del Tritone al mattino

    Orchestra: The Philadelphia Orchestra. Conductor: Riccardo Muti.
    • EMI Classics CDC7 47316 2.
    • 6.

  • Pietro Bembo

    Letter to Cardinal Binniena, read by Jot Davies

  • Giacomo Casanova

    Memoirs, read by Jot Davies

  • 00:58

    Jacques Offenbach

    Barcarolle

    Orchestrator: Manuel Rosenthal. Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Seiji Ozawa.
    • DG 423 6982.
    • 16.

  • Karl Edward Wagner

    Undertow, read by Nathalie Buscombe

  • 01:02

    Maurice Ravel

    Ma mere l'oye

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andr茅 Previn.
    • DG 4778114.
    • 26.

  • Richard Le Galliene

    The Worshipper in the Image, read by Jot Davies

  • 01:05

    Sandy Wilson

    Suite from the Boyfriend - I Could be Happy

    Music Arranger: Peter Maxwell Davies. Ensemble: Aquarius. Conductor: Nicholas Cleobury.
    • NAXOS 8572408.
    • 4.

  • Ernest Dowson

    A comedy of masks, read by Nathalie Buscombe

  • Cardinal John Deardon

    Please hear what I聮m not saying, read by Nathalie Buscombe

  • 01:08

    Brendan Power

    Real Blues Reel 3.25

    Performer: Kathryn Tickell Band.
    • Not Them Again Music PRKCD39.
    • 7.

  • Robin Hardy

    The Wicker Man, read by Jot Davies

  • Giacomo Casanova

    Memoirs, read by Nathalie Buscombe

  • 00:55

    Ottorino Respighi

    Fontane di Roma - symphonic poem, La Fontana del Tritone al mattino

    Orchestra: The Philadelphia Orchestra. Conductor: Riccardo Muti.
    • EMI Classics CDC7 47316 2.
    • 6.

  • Pietro Bembo

    Letter to Cardinal Binniena, read by Jot Davies

Broadcast

  • Sun 30 Jul 2023 17:30
    大象传媒 Radio 3

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