The Long and Winding Road
Our readers Claire Rushbrooke and Paul Higgins give us the road not taken, road songs, the road to freedom and street walking, with music by Stravinsky, Pergolesi, Ivor Novello.
Roads join the here and the there, the past and the present, the known and the unknown. They provide that important interim stage when change lies ahead. With readers Claire Rushbrooke and Paul Higgins, we'll go wandering down all sorts of roads, from the Road of the Wanderer to the Road of Paradise, with a selection of poetry and prose by Robert Frost, Nelson Mandela, Jospehine Peabody and Christina Rossetti among others. The musical accompaniment to our ramble comes courtesy of Vaughan Williams, Janacek, Haydn and The Hollies.
Producer: Dominic Wells
READINGS:
Thomas Hardy The Wanderer
Robert Morris Tarrying in the Shade
George Edward Woodberry 30
Nelson Mandela Long Walk to Freedom
Rachel Hadas The Road
Josephine Peabody Road Songs
William Blake The Marriage of Heaven and Hell
Robert Frost The Road not Taken
John Gay The Art of Walking the Streets of London
Henry Clarence Kendall To Damascus
Minna Irving Marching Still
Aubrey Thomas De Vere The Meeting on Calvary
Gaius Valerius Catullus A Â鶹ԼÅÄ-Coming
Christina Rosetti Saints and Angels
Last on
Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
-
00:00
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Songs of Travel: The Vagabond
Performer: Bryn Terfel (baritone), Malcolm Martineau (piano).- DG 4459462.
- Tr1.
-
Thomas Hardy
The Wanderer, read by Paul Higgins
00:00Franz Schubert arr. N. Forget
Winterreise: Der Wegweiser
Performer: Christoph Pregardien (tenor), Joseph Petric (accordion), Pentaèdre (ensemble).- ATMA ACD22546.
- Tr16.
Robert Morris
Tarrying in the Shade, read by Claire Rushbrook
00:00Joby Talbot
Path of Miracles: Leon
Performer: Tenebrae, Nigel Short (conductor).- SIGNUM SIGCD078.
- Tr3.
George Edward Woodberry
30, read by Paul Higgins
00:00Joseph Haydn
Symphony No. 59 ‘Fire’: 4th mvt
Performer: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Frans Bruggen (conductor).- PHILIPS 4627032.
- Tr17.
Nelson Mandela
Long Walk to Freedom (excerpt), read by Paul Higgins
00:00Enoch Mankayi Sontonga
Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrica
Performer: Arne Church (Africa).- WRASSE RECORDS WRASS 080.
- Tr9.
00:00Andrjez Panufnik
Landscape
Performer: London Symphony Orchestra, Andrjez Panufnik (conductor).- UNICORN-KANCHARA 2020.
- Tr2.
Rachel Hadas
The Road, read by Claire Rushbrook
Josephine Peabody
Road Songs, read by Paul Higgins
00:00Bobby Scott and Bob Russell
He ainÂ’t heavy HeÂ’s my brother
Performer: The Hollies.- EMI 7243 5 20130 2 9.
- Tr16.
William Blake
The Marriage of Heaven and Hell (excerpt), read by Claire Rushbrook
00:00Oliver Knussen
The Way to Castle Yonder (excerpt)
Performer: London Sinfonietta, Oliver Knussen (conductor).- DG 4495722.
- Tr4.
Robert Frost
The Road not Taken, read by Paul Higgins
00:00Leos JanáÄek
On an Overgrown Path: In Tears
Performer: Charles Owen (piano).- SOMM 028.
- Tr11.
John Gay
The Art of Walking the Streets of London, Book 3: Of Walking the Streets by Night, read by Claire Rushbrook
00:00Igor Stravinsky
Oedipus rex, Act II (excerpt)
Performer: Jennifer Johnson (mezzo-soprano), London Symphony Orchestra, John Eliot Gardiner (conductor).- LSO LIVE LSO0751.
- Tr4.
Henry Clarence Kendall
To Damascus (excerpt), read by Paul Higgins
00:00Anders Hillborg
O dessa ogon
Performer: Hannah Holgersson (soprano), Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Sakari Oramo (conductor).- BIS 2114.
- Tr2.
Minna Irving
Marching Still, read by Claire Rushbrook
00:00Ivor Novello
Keep the Â鶹ԼÅÄ-Fires Burning
Performer: Steven Isserlis (cello), Connie Shih (piano).- BIS 2312.
- Tr14.
Aubrey Thomas De Vere
The Meeting on Calvary, read by Claire Rushbrook
00:00Giovanni Battista Pergolesi
Stabat mater: Quis est homo
Performer: Barbara Bonney (soprano), Andreas Scholl (counter-tenor), Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset (conductor).- DECCA 4661342.
- Tr5.
Gaius Valerius CatullusÂ
A Â鶹ԼÅÄ-Coming, long ago, read by Paul Higgins
00:01AntonÃn Dvořák
GoinÂ’ Â鶹ԼÅÄ
Performer: Alisa Weilerstein (cello), Anna Polonsky (piano).- DECCA 478 5705.
- Tr6.
Christina Rosetti
Saints and Angels, read by Claire Rushbrook
00:01William Henry Harris
Faire is the Heaven
Performer: Choir of Westminster Cathedral, James OÂ’Donnell (conductor).- HYPERION CDA66669.
- Tr6.
Words and Music: The Long and Winding Road
Producer Notes
The subject of roads appealed to me for its breadth, permitting interpretations both literal and metaphorical. Roads take us from one place to another, from one stage of life to another, from one level of perception to another. For that, we should be grateful, for change is rarely comfortable, and roads provide that important intermediary stage to help us prepare – where preparation is possible – for whatever lies ahead.
We begin by stepping upon The Road of the Wanderer (Vaughan Williams and Schubert), after which our wanderer finds himself upon The Road of Pilgrimage, Leon being one of four places of pilgrimage that inspired Joby Talbot to write his virtuosic choral work Path of Miracles. The Road to Enlightenment is portrayed by one of the quintessential Enlightenment composers, Haydn, and it seemed appropriate to follow this with words from one of the most enlightened figures of recent times, Nelson Mandela, whose Road to Freedom – his long walk to freedom – tested the human spirit to its limits.
Panufnik provides the musical Landscape for The Deserted Road, while The Long and Winding Road could only be represented by one song: the Hollies’ 1969 classic He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother. More sinister roads follow: The Perilous Road with poetry by William Blake, coupled with music by Oliver Knussen; and the Untrodden Road with Robert Frost’s The Road not Taken, which instantly made me think of Janacek’s piano cycle On An Overgrown Path to accompany the traveller in this unknown territory.Â
Two ancient stories, both concerning eyes, take us down the next pair of roads, with Stravinsky’s retelling of the ancient myth of Oedipus, who unwittingly killed his father at a crossroads; while Paul’s new vision on the road to Damascus is accompanied by Hillborg’s O Dessa Ogon (O Those Eyes).
The next two roads are laced with tragedy, referring to a mother’s grief at the loss of her son/s: the Road to War, and the Road to Calvary. But while roads can be daunting, they can also offer comfort, and the sheer joy of the Road Â鶹ԼÅÄ is expressed rapturously by the ancient Roman poet Catullus. Having returned home, there is just one more road to take, the last leg of this musical journey: the Road to Paradise. Christina Rosetti’s repetitions of ‘faire’ in the third stanza of Saints and Angels led me to William Harris’ Faire is the Heaven.Â
 Producer: Dominic Wells
Broadcasts
- Sun 15 Apr 2018 17:30Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 3
- Thu 29 Dec 2022 18:15Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 3
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