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Texts and music on the theme of beauty, with readings by Eve Best and Don Warrington. With Baudelaire, Sara Teasdale and Pope, plus music from Bach, Delius and Byrd.

'A thing of beauty is a joy forever.' John Keats' paean is a celebration of that which has inspired love, reverence and harmony. Beauty is an elevation of the senses or a perfect balance of nature. In this edition of Words and Music, Eve Best and Don Warrington put down their vanity mirrors and take the words of Baudelaire, Sara Teasdale and Alexander Pope to explore what became, for Narcissus, a watery obsession. With music from Bach, Delius and Byrd.

1 hour, 15 minutes

Last on

Sun 29 Apr 2012 18:30

Music Played

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

  • 00:00

    Claude Debussy

    La Fille aux chevaux de lin

    Performer: Albrecht Mayer, Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Kenneth Sillito, Mathias Monius

    • DECCA 478 2564.
  • Walter Savage Landor

    God Scatters Beauty, Eve Best

  • 00:02

    Christian Sinding

    Pinselilje

    Performer: Bodil Arnesen, Erling Ragnar Eriksen

    • NAXOS 8553905.
  • Alexander Pope

    The Rape of the Lock, Don Warrington

  • 00:04

    Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    The Sleeping Beauty

    Performer: Mikhail Pletnev

    • VIRGIN CLASSICS VC7911692.
  • William Wordsworth

    Lines composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, Eve Best

  • 00:09

    Frederick Delius

    The Walk to the Paradise Garden

    Performer: The Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera, Sir Charles Mckerras

    • ARGO 4302022.
  • Dante Gabriel Rossetti

    Genius in Beauty, Don Warrington

  • 00:17

    Vincenzo Bellini

    Casta Diva

    Performer: Joan Sutherland, Choeurs de l鈥橭pera de Paris, Orchestre de la Societe ddes concerts du Conservatoire, Paris

    • DECCA 4213052.
  • 00:22

    Johann Sebastian Bach

    Cello Suite No.2 in D minor

    Performer: Steven Isserlis

    • HYPERION CDA 675412.
  • Charles Baudelaire

    Beauty, Eve Best

  • Andrew Marvel

    To his coy mistress, Don Warrington

  • 00:26

    Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Avue Passione

    Performer: Viktoria Postnikova

    • ERATO 2292459672.
  • Emily Dickinson

    I died for beauty, Eve Best

  • 00:30

    Samuel Barber

    Antony and Cleopatra

    Performer: Christian Badea, Spoleto Festival Orchestra, Esther Hinds, Jeffrey Wells

    • NEW WORLD NW32223242.
  • Thom Gunn

    The Beautician, Don Warrington

  • 00:33

    Edvard Grieg

    Gone, Op71 No.6

    Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes

    • EMI 5572962.
  • Charles Baudelaire

    The Eyes of Beauty, Eve Best

  • 00:37

    Sergey Prokofiev

    Romeo and Juliet

    Performer: Valery Gergiev, Kirov Orchestra

    • PHILIPS 4647262.
  • Christopher Marlowe

    Hero and Leander, Don Warrington

  • 00:40

    Maurice Ravel

    Jeux D'eau

    Performer: Jean-Yves Thibaudet

    • DECCA 4335152.
  • Sara Teasdale

    Helen of Troy, Eve Best

  • 00:45

    Dmitry Shostakovich

    Symphony No.11

    Performer: Alexander Lazarev, Royal Scottish National Orchestra

    • LINN CKD247.
  • 00:51

    William Byrd

    Pavan & Galliard a 5

    Performer: Fretwork, Christopher Wilson

    • VIRGIN CLASSICS VC5450312.
  • WB Yeats

    He Remembers Forgotten Beauty, Don Warrington

  • 00:55

    Hector Berlioz

    Les Troyens

    Performer: Pierre Boulez, London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic

    • SONY CLASSICAL SM3K64103.
  • Paul Verlaine

    Moonlight, Don Warrington

  • 01:04

    Fr茅d茅ric Chopin

    Nocturne in E Minor, Op 72 No.1

    Performer: Nelson Freire

    • TELDEC 844076.
  • Pablo Neruda

    Ode to Naked Beauty, Eve Best

  • 01:10

    Claude Debussy

    Valse Romantique

    Performer: Catrin Finch

    • SONY CLASSICAL SK93103.

Broadcast

  • Sun 29 Apr 2012 18:30

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