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The Ethereal

Composers across the ages have been aware that music's ability to evoke the ethereal can prompt extraordinary responses in a listener. Tom Service explores how and to what effect.

The opening orchestral strains of Wagner's opera Lohengrin with its high shimmering strings prompted the French poet Charles Baudelaire to observe that in Wagner's music he found "something rapt and enthralling, something aspiring to mount higher, something excessive and superlative".
The ability of music to evoke a sense of the ethereal has a strange and powerful effect on listeners, something that composers have been aware of across the ages. Tom Service examines how this music creates its affect and to what ends. He draws on examples from Hldegard of Bingen, Gregorio Allegri, Wolfgang Mozart, James Horner, Einojuhani Rautavaara and George Crumb - among others - and of course Richard Wagner.

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Fri 13 Oct 2023 16:30

Music Played

  • Richard Wagner

    Lohengrin - opera in 3 acts

    Conductor: Andris Nelsons. Performer: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
    • 4797577.
  • Anonymous 4

    O ignee Spiritus - hymn

    • HARMONIA MUNDI.
    • HMU 907327.
  • Gregorio Allegri

    Miserere mei Deus [Psalm 51] for 9 voices

    Performer: Simon Preston. Performer: Choir of Westminster Abbey.
    • ARCHIV.
    • E4155172.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Adagio in C major K.356 for glass harmonica

    Performer: Bruno Hoffmann.
    • PHILIPS.
    • 422 701-2.
  • James Horner

    James Horner: 'Wrath of Khan': "Spock"

    Performer: Studio Orchestra.
    • RHINO ATLANTIC.
    • 603497839483.
  • George Crumb

    Black angels - 13 images from the Dark Land for electric string quartet

    Performer: Kronos Quartet.
    • NONESUCH.
    • OMNI79553.
  • George Benjamin

    Written on skin - opera in 3 parts

    Conductor: George Benjamin. Performer: Barbara Hannigan. Performer: Christopher Purves. Performer: Mahler Chamber Orchestra.
    • NIMBUS RECORDS.
    • NI 58856.
  • ROGER WINFIELD

    ROGER WINFIELD: 'West Wind'

    Performer: ROGER WINFIELD.
    • SAYDISC.
    • SDL 394.
  • Marco Beltrami

    MARCO BELTRAMI: The Homesman: 'Wind Haiku'

    Performer: Marco Beltrami.
    • VARESE SARABANDE.
    • 30206731797.
  • Damien Rose

    Sacred/Awakening

    Performer: Damien Rose.
    • WHITE SWAN RECORDS.
    • CD02001.
  • Lyz Cooper

    Lyz Cooper: 'Solis'

    Performer: Lyz Cooper.
    • ISRC.
    • QM2P1877368.
  • Einojuhani Rautavaara

    Symphony no. 7 (Angel of light)

    Conductor: Osmo V盲nsk盲. Performer: Lahti Symphony Orchestra.
    • BIS.
    • CD-1038.
  • Salvatore Sciarrino

    Salvatore Sciarrino: Lohengrin - "Canto del Cigno"

    Conductor: Tito Ceccherini. Performer: Ensemble Risognanze. Performer: Marianne Pousseur.
    • COL LEGNO.
    • COL20264.
  • Richard Wagner

    Lohengrin - opera in 3 acts

    Conductor: Andris Nelsons. Performer: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
    • 4797577.
  • Richard Wagner

    Parsifal - opera in 3 acts

    Conductor: Herbert von Karajan. Performer: Berlin Philharmonic Choir. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
    • 4133472.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 8 Oct 2023 17:00
  • Fri 13 Oct 2023 16:30

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