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In Pursuit

The dramatic chase in John Buchan's The Thirty Nine Steps to Carroll's Hunting of the Snark and Sylvia Plath's poem Pursuit, alongside music by Strauss, Michael Nyman, Ethel Smyth.

An otter, a dangerous enemy, the search for the Holy Grail: Is the chase sometimes better than the catch? Perhaps it depends on what you鈥檙e pursuing. In this edition of Words and Music, Heather Craney and Clive Hayward bring us readings in which the net closes in on fugitives from justice; a ghost is chased and so are rainbows. There鈥檚 a suffragette composer, jailed for her pursuit of equality. A priest scans the sea, in search of religious revelation, while in the Kalahari, a bushman sings a hunting song. The music includes Puccini, Weather Report, J.S. Bach, George Crumb and Judy Garland, amongst others.

Readings:
H.D. (Hilda Doolittle) 鈥� Pursuit
Alexander Pushkin (trans. D.M. Thomas) 鈥� The Bronze Horseman
John Buchan 鈥� The Thirty-Nine Steps
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 鈥� The Sign of Four
Richard Matheson 鈥� Duel
Henry Williamson 鈥� Tarka the Otter
Anon (trans, Burton Raffel) 鈥� Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Lewis Carroll 鈥� The Hunting of the Snark
Thomas Hardy 鈥� The Glimpse
Sylvia Plath 鈥� Pursuit
Alfred Lord Tennyson 鈥� Idylls of the King
Pascale Petit 鈥� Snow Leopard Woman, Mama Amazonica
R.S. Thomas 鈥� Sea-watching
Edward Thomas 鈥� The Unknown Bird

Producer: Torquil MacLeod

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Mon 3 Jan 2022 18:15
蜜芽传媒 Radio 3

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Music Played

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

  • 00:00

    Ren Guang (arr. Wang Jain-zhong)

    Silver Clouds Chasing the Moon

    Performer: Jie Chen.
    • NAXOS 8570602.
    • Tr3.

  • H.D. (Hilda Doolittle)

    Pursuit

  • 00:02

    Michael Nyman

    Chasing sheep is best left to shepherds

    Performer: Michael Nyman Band.
    • MN MNRCD105.
    • Tr1.

  • Alexander Pushkin (trans. DM Thomas)

    The Bronze Horseman

  • 00:05

    Giacomo Puccini

    La Fanciulla del West (Act 3)

    Performer: Silvio Maionica (bass), Cornell Macneil (baritone), Orchestra e Coro dell聮Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Roma, Franco Capuana (conductor).
    • DECCA 4215952.
    • CD2 Tr15.
  • 00:10

    Giacomo Puccini

    La Fanciulla del West (Act 3)

    Performer: Silvio Maionica (bass), Cornell Macneil (baritone), Orchestra e Coro dell聮Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Roma, Franco Capuana (conductor).
    • DECCA 4215952.
    • CD2 Tr16.
  • 00:10

    Pink Floyd

    On The Run

    • EMI Records.
    • Tr3.

  • John Buchan

    The Thirty-Nine Steps

  • 00:13

    Jerome J Garcia, Robert C Hunter, John C Dawson

    Friend of the Devil

    Performer: Grateful Dead.
    • Warner Music UK Limited.
    • Tr2.

  • Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle

    The Sign of Four

  • 00:18

    Johan Baptist Georg Neruda

    Concerto in E flat major for Corno da caccia, Strings and Basso continuo - Allegro

    Performer: Ludwig Guttler (Corno da caccia), Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum Leipzig, Max Pommer (conductor).
    • CAPRICCIO 10008.
    • Tr10.

  • Richard Matheson

    Duel

  • 00:26

    Benjamin Britten

    Our Hunting Fathers 聳 Dance of Death

    Performer: Heather Harper (soprano), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink (conductor).
    • LPO LPO0002.
    • Tr5.

  • Henry Williamson

    Tarka the Otter

  • 00:34

    Tebogo Frank Tshotetsi, Trad

    Hunting Song

    Performer: G Wi Khoe, G Ana Khoe.
    • ARC Music.
    • Tr21.

  • Anon (trans. Burton Raffel)

    Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

  • 00:37

    Johann Strauss II

    Auf der Jagd op. 373

    Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan (conductor).
    • DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON 4232212.
    • Tr2.

  • Lewis Carroll

    The Hunting of the Snark

  • 00:40

    Joseph Schwantner

    Chasing Light聟 - 2. Calliope聮s Rainbowed Song

    Performer: Nashville Symphony, Giancarlo Guerrero (conductor).
    • NAXOS 8559678.
    • Tr6.

  • Thomas Hardy

    The Glimpse

  • 00:47

    Harry Carroll, Frederic Francois Chopin, Joseph McCarthy

    I聮m Always Chasing Rainbows

    Performer: Judy Garland.
    • Universal Music.
    • Tr8.

  • Sylvia Plath

    Pursuit

  • 00:52

    Ethel Smyth

    String Quintet op. 1 in E major 聳 Andantino poco allegretto

    Performer: Mannheim String Quartet. Performer: Joachim Griesheimer.
    • CPO 9993522.
    • Tr6.

  • Alfred Lord Tennyson

    Idylls of the King

  • 00:56

    George Crumb

    Quest 聳 2. Fugitive Sounds

    Ensemble: Ensemble New Art. Conductor: Fuat Kent.
    • NAXOS 855820607.
    • CD2 Tr16.

  • Pascale Petit

    Snow Leopard Woman

  • 01:00

    Johann Sebastian Bach

    Aria: Jagen ist die Lust der Gotter

    Performer: Helen Donath (soprano), Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Helmuth Rilling (conductor).
    • MUSICAPHON M51351.
    • Tr2.

  • R.S. Thomas

    Sea-watching

  • 01:03

    Joe Zawinul

    The Pursuit of the Woman with the Feathered Hat

    Performer: Weather Report.
    • COLUMBIA 4682082.
    • Tr1.

  • Edward Thomas

    The Unknown Bird

  • 01:10

    Edvard Grieg

    Sommerfugl

    Performer: Sigurd Sl氓ttebrekk.
    • SIMAX CLASSICS PSC1299.
    • Tr6.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 19 Jan 2020 21:00
    蜜芽传媒 Radio 3
  • Mon 3 Jan 2022 18:15
    蜜芽传媒 Radio 3

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