Words and Music Episodes Episode guide
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To Byzantium
A theme about the journey of man and the vision of eternal life.
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Sleep
Poetry and music on the theme of sleep, including music by Strauss and poetry by Keats.
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The Glory of the Garden
Readings of works by Milton and Auden interspersed with music by Delius and Messiaen.
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The Ring Cycle
Words and music relating to marriage, with readings by Jane Lapotaire and Ralf Little.
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Berlin
Poems and music on the theme of Berlin, with readings by Henry Goodman and Liz Sutherland.
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Crushed
A selection of literature and accompanying music.
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Ballad of the Northern Lights
Poems and music on the theme of the North. Readings are by Stella Gonet and Douglas Hodge.
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Dancing in the Wind
Sara Kestelman and Rory Kinnear read poetry and prose about childhood, set to music.
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Ecstasy
Music and poetry evoking states of rapture, with works by Donne, Messiaen and Schubert.
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Blood Wedding
Simon Holt selects words and music reflecting the images from Lorca's Blood Wedding.
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Italian Fantasy
Poetry, prose and music inspired by travellers to Italy. With poetry by Byron and Browning
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The Wanderer
Rufus Sewell and Indira Varma read texts by Hardy and Masefield. With music by Birtwistle.
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A Chinese Anthology
Wendy Kweh and David Yip read works from two millennia of Chinese poetry.
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The Sky Smiles Down
Poems and music with a summer theme, with readings by Fiona Shaw and Robert Glenister.
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The Soft Machine
Poems read by Anna Maxwell Martin and John Rowe plus music, all on the theme of the body.
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Chains of Desire
Poetry, prose and letters interspersed with music, all linked by the theme of erotic love.
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Flowers of Evil
Antony Sher reads from Baudelaire's poem Les fleurs du mal.
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Space
With readings of works on the theme of space by Whitman, Wordsworth and Douglas Adams.
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04/05/2008
Alison Steadman and Timothy West read verse on a culinary theme. With music by Schubert.
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The Spirit World
Dominic West and Samantha Morton read poetry on the theme of the spirit world.
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Two Americas
William Hope and Yolanda Vasquez read poetry and prose on the theme of Two Americas.
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We Must Love One Another or Die
With readings from MacNeice, Steinbeck and Orwell, and music by Britten, Barber and Bartok
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The Geography of a ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½
Belinda Lang and David Bamber read poems on the theme of houses and homes.
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A Change in the Weather
Mark Strong and Niamh Cusack read poetry on the theme of the weather.
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Birth and Rebirth
With readings from Plath, Wordsworth and Browning alongside music by Delius and Bach.
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15/04/2007
Say, what shall we dance?: a sequence of music, poetry and prose on the theme of dance.
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Seventh Heaven
The number seven provides the theme for a programme of words interspersed with music.
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Memory
Saskia Reeves and Alex Jennings read works by Larkin, Carroll and Carol Ann Duffy.
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24/02/2008
Actress Fiona Shaw introduces a selection of poetry and prose on the theme of animals.
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This Is New York
A reading of poetry accompanied by the music of Dvorak, Adams, Bernstein and others.