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The Power of the Sun

Mark Tully considers the many faces of the sun from life source to sustainer of life, from fount of cosmic energy to object of worship in both a literal and a metaphorical sense.

The sun is a powerful symbol in many cultures and many faiths. In a programme that investigates what it means to humans in religious, scientific and secular contacts, Mark Tully asks what we mean by sun worship.

He talks to Lakshmi, a sadhvi - or Hindu holy woman - from an ashram in Delhi, about the rituals of sun worship. He also explores the works of physicist John Tyndall and poets Molly Fisk and Emily Bronte on their love and loathing for the sun. There is music from Haydn, Roy Ayers and Sally Beamish.

The readers are David Westhead and Polly Frame.

Presenter: Mark Tully
Producer: Frank Stirling

A 7digital production for Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4.

30 minutes

Last on

Sun 30 Jul 2017 23:30
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4

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The Time of Our Lives

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Music Played

  • Joseph Haydn

    Die Jahreszeiten, Part 2: Der Sommer, 11. "Sie steigt herauf, die Sonne"

    Performer: Choir of the Flanders Opera, La Petite Bande, Sigiswald Kuijken.
    • Haydn : Die Jahreszeiten.
    • Warner Classics.

  • Roy Ayers

    Everybody Loves The Sunshine

    Performer: Roy Ayers.
    • The Very Best of Smooth Jazz.
    • Universal Jazz.
    • 583-4902.

  • Sally Beamish

    The Imagined Sound of Sun on Stone

    Performer: Sally Beamish.
    • Grammofon.
    • BIS-CD-1161.

  • Davi Sylvian

    Sunlight Seen Through Towering Trees

  • The Dixie Nightingales

    All I Need Is Sunshine In My Life

    • Disturb My Soul - The Stax Sessions.
    • Stax Records.
    • CDSZ086.

  • Carl Nielsen

    Helios Overture Op. 17

    Performer: Esa-Pekka Salonen, Swedish Radio Symphpny Orchestra.
    • Nielsen Symphonien No.4, op.29, Helios Overture, op.17.
    • CBS/Masterworks.
    • MK42093.

Readings

Title: Heat Considered as Mode of MotionÌý

Author: John TyndallÌý

Published by Palala Press

Ìý

Ìý

Title: The North Wind and the SunÌý

Author: AesopÌý

Ìý

Title: The Bright FieldÌý

Author: R. S. ThomasÌý

Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson

Ìý

Title: Ah! Why? Because The Dazzling SunÌý

Author: Emily BronteÌý

Published by Poetry Foundation

Ìý

Title: Winter SunÌý

Author: Molly FiskÌý

From her most recent book of Poetry, The More Difficult Beauty, published by Hip Pocket PressÌý

Ìý

Title: My Old Village

Author: Richard JefferiesÌý

Published by Project GutenbergÌý

Broadcasts

  • Sun 30 Jul 2017 06:05
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4
  • Sun 30 Jul 2017 23:30
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 4