Welcome To Heartbreak
Zubin Varla and Katie West guide you through the operatic emotions of a broken heart, reading exquisitely painful poetry from Audre Lorde, Alice Meynell, and Derek Walcott.
There cannot be a phenomenon in all the world that inspires poets and composers more than heartbreak. It is a universal experience, and yet at the same time feels utterly unique.
With Valentine’s Day approaching, why not indulge yourself in expressions of exquisite pain from the likes of Audre Lorde, Alice Meynell, Don Paterson and Derek Walcott, whose words take you through the stages of despair, denial, regret, acceptance and so on. All of it accompanied, of course, by lovelorn, lovesick music courtesy of Leoncavallo, Puccini, Tchaikovsky and Tom Waits.
Living through the operatic emotions of a broken heart alongside you are readers Zubin Varla and Katie West.
Readings:
Derek Walcott - The Fist
Walt Whitman - Sometimes with One I Love
Elizabeth Smart - By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept
Sean Bonney - In Fear of Memory (after Pasolini)
Elizabeth Smart - By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept
Alice Meynell - Renouncement
Percey Bysshe Shelley - When the Lamp is Broken
Anon - Donal Og (translated by Lady Augusta Gregory)
Don Paterson - A Vow
Pablo Neruda - Sonnet LXV (translated by Stephen Tapscott)
Lynn Emanuel - Frying Trout While Drunk from ‘The Nerve Of It: Poems Selected and New’ (2015). Aired by permission of University Of Pittsburgh Press.
Ernest Dowson - Non sum qualis eram bonae sub regno Cynarae
Ovid - Remedia Amoris (translated by Rolfe Humphries)
Kahlil Gibran - On Pain
Edna St. Vincent Millay - Time does not bring relief
Frank Bidart - Catullus: Excrucior
Frank Bidart - Catullus: Odi et Amo
Frank Bidart - Catullus: Id faciam
Kit Wright - My Version
Christina Rossetti - Mirage
Audre Lorde - Movement Song
Derek Walcott - Love After Love
Louis MacNeice - Autumn Journal: Canto XIX
Produced by Jack Howson.
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
-
00:00
The Carter Family
Just Another Broken Heart
-
Derek Walcott
The Fist, read by Katie West
00:02Billie Holiday
Good Morning Heartache
- Billie Holiday: The Essential Recordings.
Walt Whitman
Sometimes with One I Love, read by Zubin Varla
00:04Sam Cooke
Good Morning Heartache
- The World Of Sam Cooke.
Elizabeth Smart
Extract from By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, read by Katie West
00:05Ruggero Leoncavallo
Pagliacci / Act 1: "Vesti la giubba"
Singer: Luciano Pavarotti. Orchestra: Vienna Volksoper Orchestra. Conductor: Leone Magiera.- I Pagliacci.
Sean Bonney
In Fear of Memory (after Pasolini), read by Zubin Varla
00:08Alban Berg
Lyric Suite For String Quartet (1926): VI. Largo desolato
Ensemble: Emerson String Quartet.- Complete Recordings.
Elizabeth Smart
Extract from By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept, read by Katie West
00:14Rahsaan Roland Kirk
Ain't No Sunshine
- Blacknuss.
Alice Meynell
Renouncement, read by Katie West
00:17Missy Mazzoli
Heartbreaker
Performer: Michael Mizrahi.- Heartbreaker.
Percey Bysshe Shelley
When the Lamp is Broken, read by Zubin Varla
00:22Tom Waits
Bad Liver And A Broken Heart (In Lowell)
- Small Change.
Anon, translated by Lady Augusta Gregory
Donal Og, read by Katie West
00:27John Tavener
Prayer Of The Heart
Singer: Björk. Ensemble: Brodsky Quartet.- Prayer Of The Heart.
Don Paterson
A Vow, read by Zubin Varla
00:29Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
None But the Lonely Heart, Op. 6 No. 6
Performer: Sir Stephen Hough.- Three Piano Concerts - Concert Fantasia.
- Hyperion.
Pablo Neruda, translated by Stephen Tapscott
Sonnet LXV, read by Zubin Varla
00:32Amy Winehouse
Like Smoke (DEMO)
- AMY.
Lynn Emanuel
Frying Trout While Drunk, read by Katie West
00:35Sidney Bechet
Blues In My Heart
- Sidney Bechet With Claude Luter And His Orchestra.
Ernest Dowson
Non sum qualis eram bonae sub regno Cynarae, read by Zubin Varla
00:38Toby Young
I Carry Your Heart (SATB)
Choir: The Oxford Choir. Librettist: E. E. Cummings.- Oxford Choral Highlights 2019.
Ovid, translated by Rolfe Humphries
Remedia Amoris, read by Zubin Varla
00:41Traditional
"My Heart Was Burnt By Love" - Traditional Egyptian Folk Song
Performer: Michael Levy.- The Ancient Lyre.
Kahlil Gibran
On Pain, read by Zubin Varla
00:44Franz Schubert
Fantasie in F Minor D.940, Op.103: Largo
Performer: Leon Fleisher. Performer: Katherine Jacobson.- Four Hands.
Edna St. Vincent Millay
Time does not bring relief, read by Katie West
Frank Bidart
Catullus: Excrucior, read by Zubin Varla
Frank Bidart
Catullus: Odi et Amo, read by Katie West
Frank Bidart
Catullus: Id faciam, read by Zubin Varla
00:47Jacobus Gallus
Odi Et Amo
Choir: Niederaltaicher Scholaren. Transcriber: Konrad Ruhland.- Carl Orff - Ante - Post.
Kit Wright
My Version, read by Zubin Varla
00:49Giacomo Puccini
Le Villi - Opera in 2 Acts / Act 2: La Tregenda
Orchestra: German Symphony Orchestra Berlin.- Puccini: Orchestral Music.
Christina Rossetti
Mirage, read by Katie West
00:54Joanna Newsom
Does Not Suffice
- Have One On Me.
Audre Lorde
Movement Song, read by Zubin Varla
01:02Bill Evans & Chet Baker
Alone Together
- The Complete Legendary Session.
Derek Walcott
Love After Love, read by Katie West
Louis MacNeice
Extract from Autumn Journal: Canto XIX, read by Zubin Varla
01:11Daniel Johnston
True Love Will Find You In The End
- Welcome To My World.
Broadcast
- Sun 9 Feb 2020 17:3091Èȱ¬ Radio 3