Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Body Beautiful

Sophie Robinson and Giles Terera turn their gaze upon the beauty and art of the human body, with reflective poems from Mark Doty, Sylvia Plath, and Claudia Rankine.

Turn your gaze upon the beauty and art of the human form, with great works about nudity, narcissism, body positivity, the male gaze, physical desire, and physical fitness.

Composers regarding their own image in the mirror include Benjamin Britten, William Horsley, and William Onyeabor, while Sylvia Plath does the same in her post-plastic-surgery poem 鈥楩ace Lift鈥. Elsewhere, Eavan Boland, Anne Carson, and Christina Rossetti all attempt to grapple with the idea of the female as muse and sitting model, and Claudia Rankine resists a world that would turn her invisible. Meanwhile, Mark Doty hits the gym in an effort to achieve the body beautiful.

The readers for this episode are the beautiful bodies (and voices) of Sophie Robinson and Giles Terera.

Readings:
Osip Mandelstam - Somebody gave me this body
Walt Whitman - I Sing the Body Electric
Robert Browning - Rhyme for a Child Viewing a Naked Venus in a Painting of 鈥淭he Judgement of Paris鈥
Eavan Boland - Self-Portrait on a Summer Evening
Christina Rossetti - In an Artist's Studio
Anne Carson - Short Talk On The Mona Lisa
Anne Carson - Short Talk On Hedonism
Lord Byron - She Walks in Beauty
Jan Beatty - Sitting Nude
Maya Angelou - Phenomenal Woman
Claudia Rankine - Citizen - An American Lyric - VII
Rupert Brooke - Thoughts on the Shape of the Human Body
Ella Wheeler Wilcox - I Love You
Federico Garcia Lorca - Casida Of The Reclining Woman
Mark Doty - At the Gym
Craig Raine - Marcel鈥檚 Fancy Dress Party
Sylvia Plath - Face Lift
Thomas Hardy - I Look Into My Glass
Constantine P. Cavafy - Remember, Body鈥

Produced by Jack Howson.
A Reduced Listening production for 91热爆 Radio 3.

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 15 Sep 2019 17:30

Music Played

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

  • 00:00

    Jon Balke

    Anodyne 2

    Librettist: Yusef Komunyakaa. Choir: Trondheim Voices. Ensemble: Batagraf.
    • Grappa.
    • 493596.
    • 2.
  • Osip Mandelstam - Somebody Gave Me This Body (trans - Paul Schmidt)

    Read by Sophie Robinson

  • Walt Whitman - I Sing the Body Electric

    Read by Giles Terera

  • 00:03

    Yusef Komunyakaa, David Cieri & Mike Brown

    Anodyne

    • White Dust.
    • 1.
  • Walt Whitman - I Sing the Body Electric

    Read by Giles Terera

  • 00:10

    Aaron Copland

    Fanfare For The Common Man

    Music Arranger: Keith Emerson. Performer: Emerson, Lake & Palmer.
    • Fanfare For The Common Man - PT. 1.
    • Atlantic 鈥.
    • 3398.
    • 1.
  • 00:13

    Arthur Bax

    The Maiden With The Daffodil

    Performer: Ashley Wass.
    • Piano Works, Vol. 3.
    • Naxos 鈥.
    • 8.557769.
    • 3.
  • Robert Browning - Rhyme for a Child Viewing a Naked Venus in a Painting of 鈥淭he Judgement of Paris鈥

    Read by Sophie Robinson

  • 00:17

    Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart

    My Funny Valentine

    Performer: Elvis Costello.
    • Armed Forces.
    • Rhino Records.
    • R2 78190.
    • 7.
  • Eavan Boland - Self-Portrait on a Summer Evening

    Read by Sophie Robinson

  • 00:19

    脡liane Radigue

    Naldjorlak I (Pour Violoncelle) - Mouvement 3

    Performer: Charles Curtis.
    • Naldjorlak I II III.
    • Shiiin 鈥.
    • shiiin 9.
    • 3.
  • Christina Rossetti - In an Artist's Studio

    Read by Giles Terera

  • 00:24

    Jay Livingstone

    Mona Lisa

    Singer: Nat King Cole. Orchestra: Les Baxter and His Orchestra. Lyricist: Ray Evans.
    • Mona Lisa.
    • Capitol Records.
    • F1010.
    • 1.
  • Anne Carson - Short Talk On The Mona Lisa

    Read by Sophie Robinson

  • 00:27

    Sonny Sharrock

    Portrait Of Linda In Three Colors, All Black

    • Black Woman.
    • Vortex Records.
    • 2014.
    • 3.
  • Anne Carson - Short Talk On Hedonism

    Read by Sophie Robinson

  • 00:30

    Rachel Portman

    Mirror

    Orchestra: The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: David Snell.
    • Belle - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack.
    • Var猫se Sarabande 鈥.
    • VSD-7278.
    • 5.
  • Lord Byron - She Walks in Beauty

    Read by Giles Terera

  • Jan Beatty - Sitting Nude

    Read by Sophie Robinson

  • 00:34

    George Frideric Handel

    Semele, HWV 58: Act III Scene 3: Myself I shall adore

    Singer: Rosemary Joshua. Orchestra: Early Opera Company. Conductor: Christian Curnyn.
    • Handel: Semele.
    • Chandos.
    • CHAN 0745.
    • 10.
  • Maya Angelou - Phenomenal Woman

    Read by the Author

  • 00:41

    Cooper-Moore

    My Body Is My Body

    • Woo-men.
    • WFMU.
    • 1.
  • 00:44

    William Onyeabor

    Fantastic Man

    • Tomorrow.
    • Wilfilms Records.
    • WRLP 1003.
    • 2.
  • Claudia Rankine - Citizen - An American Lyric - VII

    Read by Giles Terera

  • 00:47

    Kamala Sankaram

    Keeping The Look Loose

    Librettist: Claudia Rankine. Choir: Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Conductor: Dianne Berkun Menake.
    • Keeping The Look Loose.
  • Rupert Brooke - Thoughts on the Shape of the Human Body

    Read by Sophie Robinson

  • 00:49

    厂补濒迟鈥怤鈥怭别辫补

    I Am The Body Beautiful

    • To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar - Music From The Motion Picture.
    • MCA Soundtracks.
    • MCAD-11231.
    • 1.
  • Ella Wheeler Wilcox - I Love You

    Read by Sophie Robinson

  • 00:52

    Elvis Presley

    Young And Beautiful

    • Jailhouse Rock.
    • RCA Victor 鈥.
    • EPA-4114.
    • 2.
  • Federico Garcia Lorca - Casida Of The Reclining Woman (trans - W.S. Merwin)

    Read by Giles Terera

  • 00:54

    Charles Ives

    Study No. 21 "Some South-Paw Pitching"

    Performer: Donald Berman.
    • The Unknown Ives.
    • Composers Recordings Inc. (CRI) 鈥庘.
    • CD 811.
    • 8.
  • Mark Doty - At the Gym

    Read by Giles Terera

  • 00:58

    William Horsley

    Slow Fresh Fount

    Ensemble: The Clerks of Christ Church. Librettist: Ben Jonson.
    • A Garland of the Elizabethan.
    • Somm Recordings.
    • SOMMCD 047.
    • 11.
  • Craig Raine - Marcel鈥檚 Fancy Dress Party

    Read by Giles Terera

  • 01:04

    Matmos

    California Rhinoplasty

    • A Chance To Cut Is A Chance To Cure.
    • Matador.
    • ole 489-2.
    • 7.
  • Sylvia Plath - Face Lift

    Read by Sophie Robinson

  • 01:08

    Billy Bragg

    The Busy Girl Buys Beauty

    • Life's A Riot With Spy Vs Spy.
    • Utility 鈥.
    • UTIL 1.
    • 3.
  • Thomas Hardy - I Look Into My Glass

    Read by Giles Terera

  • 01:10

    Benjamin Britten

    6 Metamorphoses After Ovid - Op. 49 X: V. Narcissus

    • BRITTEN / SAUNDERS / JACKMAN: Music for Solo Oboe.
    • BIS.
    • BIS-CD-769.
    • 5.
  • Constantine P Cavafy - Remember, Body鈥 (trans - Aliki Barnstone)

    Read by Sophie Robinson

Broadcast

  • Sun 15 Sep 2019 17:30

The hidden history of plant-based diets

The hidden history of plant-based diets

Forget social media influencers - the meat-free movement started with the Victorians.

Books website

Get closer to books with in-depth articles, quizzes and our picks from radio & TV.