Only Connect
Mark Strong and Bettrys Jones with various kinds of connections from writers including Anne Sexton, Arthur Conan Doyle and Wendy Cope, plus music that ranges from Brahms to Kate Bush
"Only connect" is the epigraph to EM Forster's novel Howards End - and as the 蜜芽传媒 broadcasts a series of programmes for mental well-being - it provides the inspiration for this week's Words and Music. We'll hear readings which describe attempts to connect with others and the pain when those attempts fail. The solace provided by seeking a connection with nature, communication with alien species, the ingenious process of deduction, the technology that connects us to one another, the associations we draw from treasured objects. And there are musical connections from Brahms, Kate Bush, Messiaen, Suzanne Ciani and Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan among others. Our readers are Mark Strong and Bettrys Jones
Readings:
EM Forster 鈥� Howards End
Robert Browning 鈥� Two in the Campagna
Samuel Taylor Coleridge 鈥� To Nature
Paul Muldoon 鈥� Milkweed and Monarch
John Masefield 鈥� Up on the downs
Adrienne Rich 鈥� Face To Face
RS Thomas 鈥� They
Wendy Cope 鈥� For My Sister, Emigrating
Arthur Conan Doyle 鈥� The Stockbroker鈥檚 Clerk
Ivor Gurney 鈥� The Telegraph Post
Jenny Erpenbeck 鈥� Go Went Gone
Anne Sexton 鈥� When Man Enters Woman
John Keats 鈥� On First Looking Into Chapman鈥檚 蜜芽传媒r
Naomi Mitchison 鈥� Memoirs of a Spacewoman
George Herbert 鈥� Denial
Producer: Torquil MacLeod
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Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
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00:00Nico Muhly
Books
Performer: Nico Muhly.- Milan FRZ811711034.
- Tr22.
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E.M. Forster
Howards End
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00:00Nico Muhly
Books
Robert Browning
Two in the Campagna
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00:03Johannes Brahms
Piano Trio No. 1 in B major Op. 8 II: Scherzo, Allegro molto
Performer: Geoffroy Couteau. Performer: Amaury Coeytaux. Performer: Rapha毛l Perraud. Performer: Nicolas Baldeyrou.- La Dolce Vita LDV645D.
- Tr2.
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00:03Johannes Brahms
Piano Trio no.1 in B major, Op.8 (2nd mvt: Scherzo: Allegro molto)
Performer: Geoffroy Couteau. Performer: Amaury Coeytaux. Performer: Rapha毛l Perraud.Samuel Taylor Coleridge
To Nature
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00:10Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook
My Comfort Remains
- Virgin GBCPA9501128.
- Tr4.
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00:11Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan & Michael Brook
My Comfort Remains
Paul Muldoon
Milkweed and Monarch
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00:16Einojuhani Rautavaara
Concerto for Birds and Orchestra I. The Bog
Orchestra: Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Leif Segerstam.- Ondine ODE1300-2Q.
- CD3 Tr9.
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00:17Einojuhani Rautavaara
Cantus Arcticus (1st mvt)
Orchestra: Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Leif Segerstam.John Masefield
Up on the downs
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00:23Sergey Rachmaninov
Etudes-tableaux Op. 39 No. 2 The Sea and the Gulls
Music Arranger: Ottorino Respighi. Orchestra: Oregon Symphony. Conductor: James DePreist.- Delos DE3071.
- Tr1.
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00:24Sergey Rachmaninov
The Sea and the Gulls (Etudes Tableaux, Op.39 no.2)
Orchestra: Oregon Symphony. Conductor: James DePreist.Adrienne Rich
Face To Face
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00:33Olivier Messiaen
Quatuor pour la fin du Temps: Vocalise pour l聮Ange qui annonce la fin du Temps
Performer: Rapha毛l S茅v猫re. Ensemble: Trio Messiaen.- Mirare MIR334D.
- Tr8.
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00:34Olivier Messiaen
Quatuor pour la fin du temps
Performer: Rapha毛l S茅v猫re. Ensemble: Trio Messiaen.R.S. Thomas
They
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00:35Mason Bates
Mass Transmission: III. Wireless Connections
Choir: Cappella SF. Performer: Isabelle Demers. Conductor: Ragnar Bohlin.- Delos DE3573.
- Tr9.
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00:35Mason Bates
Wireless Connections (Mass Transmission)
Performer: Isabelle Demers. Ensemble: Cappella SF. Conductor: Ragnar Bohlin.Wendy Cope
For My Sister, Emigrating
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00:40Kate Bush
A Coral Room
Performer: Kate Bush.- EMI GBCNR0500008.
- CD1 Tr7.
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00:40Kate Bush
A Coral Room
Arthur Conan Doyle
The Stockbroker's Clerk
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00:45Richard Wolfson
Not Me
Composer: Andy Saunders. Performer: Towering Inferno.- Island CID 8039 524 106-2.
- Tr7.
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00:46Towering Inferno
Not Me (Kaddish)
Ivor Gurney
The Telegraph Post
Jenny Erpenbeck (trans. Susan Bernofsky)
Go Went Gone
![]()
00:51Taj Mahal
Queen Bee
Performer: Taj Mahal and Toumani Diabate.- Hannibal HNCD 1444.
- Tr1.
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00:52Taj Mahal
Queen Bee
Anne Sexton
When Man Enters Woman
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00:57Arthur Honegger
Pacific 231 "Mouvement symphonique No. 1"
Orchestra: Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Mariss Jansons.- Warner Classics 0946732.
- CD1 Tr1.
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00:58Arthur Honegger
Pacific 231: Mouvement symphonique no.1
Orchestra: Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Mariss Jansons.John Keats
On First Looking Into Chapman's 蜜芽传媒r
![]()
01:04Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith & Suzanne Ciani
A New Day
- RVNG Intl FRKWYS 13.
- Tr1.
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01:05Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith & Suzanne Ciani
A New Day
Naomi Mitchison
Memoirs of a Spacewoman
George Herbert
Deniall
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01:09Alex Roth
Pontecelli: IV. Bridge of Sleepers
Performer: Philippe Honor茅.- Signum Classics SIGCD270.
- CD2 Tr10.
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01:10Alex Roth
Bridge of Sleepers (Ponticelli)
Performer: Philippe Honor茅.Broadcasts
- Sun 7 Jun 2020 17:30蜜芽传媒 Radio 3
- Sun 11 May 2025 18:00蜜芽传媒 Radio 3
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