Temperatures Rising
Hot landscapes of past, present and future. Raad Rawi and Pearl Chanda evoke summer idylls, parched deserts and dystopian visions through the words of John Clare and Kamala Das.
From John Clare’s white woolsack clouds to the daydreaming figure under Meleager’s plane tree, summer days have long been a time for writers to wander into fantasies and idylls.
But summer can be a time for extreme weather too - cathartic storms and raging wildfires burst forth in the music of Vivaldi and the epic accounts of Imru’ al-Qais and Cassius Dio. And the fierce sun inspires a particular vividness in the African desert of H Rider Haggard and the noontime scene in southern India that Kamala Das conjures.
These extremes may have had an exotic appeal in the past; but now, they hint at what is likely to become far more familiar, as temperatures rise.
Pack your sunscreen and join readers Raad Rawi and Pearl Chanda in the hot landscapes of past, present and future, with music by Debussy, Orff and Jobim.
Readings:
Sonnet - John Clare
Tuck Everlasting - Natalie Babbitt
Still Life with Sea Pinks and High Tide - Maura Dooley
King Solomon’s Mines - H. Rider Haggard
Wasteland - T. S. Eliot
A Hot Noon in Malabar - Kamala Das
A Something In a Summer’s Day - Emily Dickinson
The Day-dream - Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Epigram 196 - Meleager
Unbeaten Tracks in Japan - Isabella Bird
On the Idle Hill of Summer - A. E Housman
Hyperobjects - Timothy Morton
A Mancunian Taxi-driver Foresees His Death - Michael Symmons Roberts
Sonnet - Antonio Vivaldi
Ode - Imru’ al-Qais
Roman History - Cassius Dio
In A Dark Time - Theodore Roethke
Produced by Chris Elcombe.
A Reduced Listening production for 91Èȱ¬ Radio 3.
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Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
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John Clare - Sonnet
Read by Pearl Chanda
00:01Claude Debussy
Syrinx
Performer: Emmanuel Pahud.00:01Claude Debussy
Syrinx
Performer: Emmanuel Pahud.- Sonates & Trio.
- Erato.
- 0190295773960.
- 4.
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting (Opening)
Read by Raad Rawi
00:05Carlos Niño
Gongs, Cymbals and Bells (excerpt)
- SpringrainFlight.
- Leaving Records.
- LR121.
- 1.
Maura Dooley - Still Life with Sea Pinks and High Tide, from 'The Slivering' (Bloodaxe Books, 2016)
Read by Pearl Chanda
00:07Alemu Aga
The Sacred Names of the Begenna
00:07Alèmu Aga
The Sacred Names of the Begenna
- The Begenna of Elders.
- Laika.
- 1.
H Rider Haggard - King Solomon’s Mines (excerpt from Chapter 5)
Read by Raad Rawi
00:12Modest Mussorgsky
The Catacombs (Pictures at an Exhibition)
Music Arranger: Maurice Ravel. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.00:12Modest Mussorgsky
Pictures at an Exhibition VIII: The Catacombs (Sepulchrum Romanum)
Orchestrator: Maurice Ravel. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker.- Mussorgsky: Pictures At An Exhibition - Borodin: Symphony No. 2.
- EMI.
- EMI 5 17582 2.
TS Eliot - The Wasteland (excerpt)
Read by Pearl Chanda and T.S. Eliot
00:15Antônio Carlos Jobim
God and the Devil in the Land of the Sun
00:15Antônio Carlos Jobim
God and the Devil in the Land of the Sun
- Stone Flower.
- CTI.
- 051742.
- 8.
Kamala Das - A Hot Noon in Malabar
Read by Raad Rawi
00:19Isaac Albéniz
El Corpus en Sevilla (Iberia)
Performer: Alicia de Larrocha.00:19Isaac Albéniz
Ibéria Book 3: El Corpus Christi En Sevilla
Performer: Alicia de Larrocha.- Iberia - Navarra - Suite Espaňola.
- Decca ‎.
- 78 0388.
- 3.
Emily Dickinson - A Something in a Summer's Day
Read by Pearl Chanda
00:30Anonymous
Greensleeves to a Ground
Ensemble: Hespèrion XXI. Conductor: Jordi Savall.00:30Hespèrion XXI
Greensleeves to a Ground
Performer: Jordi Savall.- Ostinato.
- Alia Vox ‎.
- AV9820.
- 2.
Dante Gabriel Rossetti - The Day-dream
Read by Raad Rawi
00:34Edvard Grieg
Erotikon (Lyric Pieces)
Performer: Edvard Grieg.00:34Edvard Grieg
‘Erotikon’ from 6 Lyric Pieces
- Recording with Edvard Grieg (piano).
- 2L.
- 2L60SABD.
- 4.
00:37Steven Feld
keafo, morning
- Rainforest Soundwalks: Ambiences of Bosavi, Papua New Guinea.
- EarthEar.
- (696208010622).
- 2.
Meleager, trans. Charles Abraham Elton - Epigram 196
Read by Pearl Chanda
00:38John Cage
Quartet for four percussionists (2nd mvt: Very slow)
Ensemble: Percussion Ensemble Mainz.00:38John Cage
Quartet for Four Percussionists, II: Very Slow
Ensemble: Percussion Ensemble Mainz.- Music For Percussion Quartet.
- Markus Hauke Percussion Projects ‎.
- WWE 1CD 20015.
- 3.
Isabella Bird - Unbeaten Tracks in Japan (excerpt)
Read by Pearl Chanda
00:44Miles Davis
Saeta (Sketches of Spain)
00:44Miles Davis
Saeta
- Sketches Of Spain.
- Columbia.
- 88875111931.
- 1.
Housman - On The Idle Hill of Summer
Read by Raad Rawi
00:48Carlos Niño
Gongs, cymbals and bells
00:49Carlos Niño
Gongs, Cymbals and Bells (excerpt)
- SpringrainFlight.
- Leaving Records.
- 1.
Morton - Hyperobjects (excerpt)
Read by Pearl Chanda
Michael Symmons Roberts - A Mancunian Taxi-driver Foresees his Death
Read by Raad Rawi
00:53Ennio Morricone
Harmonica (Once upon a time in the West)
Performer: Soundtrack.00:53Ennio Morricone
Harmonica
- Once Upon a Time in the West - (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).
- RCA.
- 6.
Antonio Vivaldi - Sonnet for ‘Summer’ from the Four Seasons
Read by Pearl Chanda
00:55Antonio Vivaldi
Summer (The Four Seasons)
Performer: Fabio Biondi. Ensemble: Europa Galante.00:55Antonio Vivaldi
Four Seasons: ‘Summer’, 2nd movt
Performer: Fabio Biondi. Ensemble: Europa Galante.- The Four Seasons.
- Virgin Veritas.
- 7243 5 45565 2 4.
- 2.
Antonio Vivaldi - Sonnet for ‘Summer’ from the Four Seasons Part 2
Read by Pearl Chanda
00:58Antonio Vivaldi
Four Seasons: ‘Summer’, 3rd movt
Performer: Fabio Biondi. Ensemble: Europa Galante.- The Four Seasons.
- Virgin Veritas.
- 7243 5 45565 2 4.
- 3.
Imru’ al-Qais - Ode (final section)
Read by Raad Rawi
01:02Aboud Abdel Aal
Alal Rimal
01:02Aboud Abdel Aal
Alal Rimal
- Authentic Instrumental Music by the most famous Arab artists.
- Orient Records.
- LPO133.
- 1.
Cassius Dio, trans. Earnest Cary - Roman History (translation): LXII : 17
Read by Pearl Chanda
01:05Carl Orff
Olim lacus colueram (Carmina Burana)
Choir: Collegium Vocale Gent. Conductor: Jos van Immerseel.01:05Carl Orff
‘Olim lacus colueram’ from Carmina Burana
Choir: Collegium Vocale Gent. Conductor: Jos van Immerseel.- Carl Orff: Carmina Burana.
- Zigzag.
- ZZT353.
- 12.
01:09Maria Rossi & Kelly Jayne Jones
Whispering Blackbird/The River Tib
01:09Maria Rossi, Kelly Jayne Jones and Sam McLoughlin
whispering blackbird / the river Tib, Manchester’s dark CPU
- Recorded in session for Late Junction.
Theodore Roethke - In A Dark Time
Read by Raad Rawi
01:11John Lurie
What do you know about music, you're not a lawyer
01:11John Lurie
What do you know about music, you’re not a lawyer
- Down by Law and Variety.
- Made To Measure.
- MTM 14.
- 1.
Broadcasts
- Sun 4 Aug 2019 18:1591Èȱ¬ Radio 3
- Sun 7 Nov 2021 17:3091Èȱ¬ Radio 3
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