Labyrinths
John McCarthy walks a labyrinth, an ancient pattern, and discusses the search for peace and stillness as well as the fear that we might encounter a monster at the centre
John McCarthy makes his way to the centre of the labyrinth.
Labyrinths have been created and used throughout the world in many countries, cultures and spiritual contexts. Carved onto rock, dug into the earth and built into cathedral floors these ancient patterns have been used for meditation, to tell stories and as a metaphor for life's journey.
John McCarthy walks a labyrinth with Jan Sellers, a Quaker and labyrinth facilitator, and discusses the search for peace and stillness as well as the fear that we might encounter a monster at the centre.
The programme includes readings from works by Ellen Meloy, Ted Hughes, Charles Rangley-Wilson and John Ashberry with music from Johnny Cash, The Unthanks, Gluck and Paul Giger.
The readers are Peter Marinker and Emily Taaffe.
Producer: Natalie Steed
A Whistledown Production for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4
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Music Played
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Paul Giger
Labyrinth
Performer: Paul Giger (violin).- Chartres.
- ECM.
- 8377522.
- 3.
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Trad.
Echo Song
- Traditional Tohono O'Odham Songs.
- Canyon Records.
- CR-6084.
- 11.
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Christoph Willibald Gluck
Ah! Se intorno a quest'urna funesta
Performer: Bernarda Fink (Orfeo), Rias-Kammerchor/Freiburger Barockorchester dir René Jacobs.- Orfeo ed Euridice.
- HARMONIA MUNDI.
- HMC90174243.
- 3.
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Antony
Spiralling
Performer: The Unthanks.- The Songs of Robert Wyatt and Antony & The Johnsons (Diversions Vol. 1) - Live From the Union Chapel, London.
- Rabble Rouser Music.
- 6.
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Nick Lowe
The Beast in Me
Performer: Johnny Cash.- American Recordings.
- American Recordings.
- B000062X9D.
- 3.
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Aaron Copland
Very Slowly, from Appalachian Spring
Performer: London Symphony Orchestra; cond Aaron Copland.- Copland Conducts Copland - Expanded Edition.
- Sony Classical Masterworks.
- 90403.
- 2.
-
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Paul Giger
Labyrinth
Performer: Paul Giger.- Chartres.
- ECM.
- 8377522.
- 3.
Readings
Title: ÌýÌý Just Walking Around, from Selected Poems by John Ashberry
Synopsis: The longest way is the most efficient way...
ÌýAuthor:ÌýÌý John Ashberry
Publisher: Carcanet
ÌýISBN:Ìý 978 1 857544 12 1
Ìý
Ìý
Title: ÌýÌý from A Night With the Pebble People, The Anthropology of Turquoise by Ellen Meloy
Synopsis:Ìý A description of walking in the Topock Maze in the Mojave Desert.
ÌýAuthor:ÌýÌý Ellen Meloy
Publisher: Vintage Books
ÌýISBN:Ìý 0375708138
Ìý
Title: ÌýÌý The Route, from Porcelain, by Diana Bridge
Synopsis:Ìý The importance of repeating the same journey.
ÌýAuthor:ÌýÌý Diana Bridge
Publisher: Auckland University Press
ISBN:ÌýÌý 9781869402648
Ìý
Title: ÌýÌý Amulet, from Ted Hughes’ Collected Poems
Synopsis:Ìý The wolf is conjured and contained in a circular poem.
ÌýAuthor:ÌýÌý Ted Hughes
Publisher: Faber and Faber
ISBN:ÌýÌý 0571217192
Ìý
Title: ÌýÌý The Springs, from The Selected Poems of Wendell Berry
Synopsis:Ìý Berry’s poem about the significance of springs.
ÌýAuthor:ÌýÌý Wendell Berry
Publisher: Counterpoint
ISBN:ÌýÌý 1582430373
Ìý
Title: ÌýÌý Extract from The Silt Road: Story of a Lost River by Charles Rangeley-Wilson
Synopsis:Ìý Finding peace and stillness at a spring.
ÌýAuthor:ÌýÌý Charles Rangeley- Wilson
Publisher: Chatto and Windus
ISBN:ÌýÌý 0701186437
Ìý
Title: ÌýÌý Extract from Burnt Norton, The Four Quartets by T S Eliot
Synopsis:Ìý At the still point of the turning world ...
ÌýAuthor:ÌýÌý TS Eliot
Publisher: Faber and Faber
ISBN:ÌýÌý 0571068944
Broadcasts
- Sun 18 May 2014 06:05Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4
- Sun 18 May 2014 23:30Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4
- Sun 12 Mar 2023 06:05Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4
- Sun 12 Mar 2023 23:30Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4