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Flights of Fancy

Barbara Flynn and Hugo Speer with readings on the theme of flight, both imaginative and physical and including music by Dilys Elwyn-Edwards, Tan Dun and George Walker.

Barbara Flynn and Hugo Speer read poetry and prose on the theme of flight, both literal and imaginative. The readings in this edition of Words and Music have been roughly grouped into three sections that flow seamlessly into each other. They are: flight in nature, human flight and flights of the imagination.

We encounter characters from Shakespeare: Ariel, Queen Mab and one of Titania's fairies, witness a new speed record for seagulls, peruse Dylan Thomas's sleeping fishing village, climb into the wild and majestic mountains with William Wordsworth and face the fantastical monsters of Lewis Carroll and H.P. Lovecraft.

We're on the wing with Einojuhani Rautavaara and a flock of migrating with swans. Kevin Volans takes us to South Africa with tribal rhythms that accompany Horatio Clare's observations of African Swallows. Paul Lawrence Dunbar's inability to see the sparrows at his window rings as true now as it would have been when the poem was written over 100 years ago. Kathleen Jamie's insight into the habits of peregrine falcons is as much an insight into her own life as that of the birds.

John Gillespie Magee wrote his sonnet High Flight after flying a Spitfire Mk1 and it has been paired here with Fatboy Slim's vision of the transonic jet fighter plane the Hawker Hunter, also known as the Bird of Prey. Both share the sense of freedom and exhilaration of fast flight.
Vaughan Williams is better known for his pastoral sound but his motet "A vision of aeroplanes" is a veritable whirlwind. He takes a passage from the biblical Book of Ezekiel that seems to prophesy an aeroplane appearing through the clouds and sets it to tumultuous organ and vocal writing.

Flying for humans obviously involves rather more logistics than for birds but there are some airports around the world that add character and spark to what is mostly a necessary evil. We hear a little about the quirks of flying in Bolivia and Ecuador and Britain's only 3 runway airport, Barra, which is on a beach in north Scotland and lit by car headlights.

Readings:
Horatio Clare: A Single Swallow
Kathleen Jamie: Findings
John Gillespie Magee: High Flight
Sarah Arvio: Flying
Lonely Planet: Bolivia - Air travel
Undiscovered Scotland: Barra Airport
Lonely Planet: Ecuador - Air travel
Shakespeare: Where the Bee Sucks there suck I - Ariel, Act 5 Sc 1 The Tempest
Richard Bach: Jonathan Livingstone Seagull
Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet, Act 1 sc 4, Queen Mab speech (Mercutio)
Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream: Over Hill, Over Dale - Fairy, Act 2 sc 1,
Paul Laurence Dunbar: The Sparrow
Dylan Thomas: Under Milk Wood (To Begin at the Beginning)
William Wordsworth: The Prelude, Book 13 (extract)
Lewis Carroll: Jabberwocky
H.P. Lovecraft: The call of Cthulhu (Chapter III – The Madness from the Sea)

Produced by Barnaby Gordon

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 13 Aug 2023 17:30
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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Music Played

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

  • 00:01

    Kevin Volans

    String Quartet No 1 (White Man Sleeps; First Dance)

    Performer: Kronos Quartet.

  • Horatio Clare

    A Single Swallow (extract), read by Hugo Speer

  • Kathleen Jamie

    Findings, read by Barbara Flynn

  • 00:07

    Jim Morrison

    Sunset (Bird of Prey)

    Composer: Norman Cook. Performer: Fatboy Slim.

  • John Gillespie Magee

    High Flight, read by Hugo Speer

  • 00:10

    Jonathan Dove

    Airport scenes - suite from the opera 'Flight' (No 4: Departures)

    Orchestra: Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Philharmonic. Conductor: Timothy Redmond.

  • Sarah Arvio

    Flying, read by Barbara Flynn

  • 00:15

    Brian Eno

    Music for Airports

    Performer: Brian Eno.

  • Lonely Planet

    Bolivia - Air travel, read by Barbara Flynn

  • Undiscovered Scotland

    Barra Airport, read by Hugo Speer

  • Lonely Planet

    Ecuador - Air travel, read by Barbara Flynn

  • 00:19

    Joni Mitchell

    This Flight Tonight

    Performer: Joni Mitchell. Performer: Sneaky Pete Kleinow.
  • 00:20

    Natalie Klouda

    Fantasy Triptych (I. Explorations: Clara)

    Ensemble: Monte Piano Trio.

  • William Shakespeare

    Where the Bee Sucks there suck I - Ariel, Act 5 Sc 1, The Tempest, read by Barbara Flynn

  • 00:25

    Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Three Shakespeare Songs: No 1 Full fathom five

    Choir: The Cambridge Singers. Conductor: John Rutter.

  • Richard Bach

    Jonathan Livingston Seagull- A story (extract), read by Barbara Flynn

  • 00:30

    Einojuhani Rautavaara

    Cantus Arcticus, Op. 61 (Concerto for Birds & Orchestra) - III. Swans Migrating

    Orchestra: Lahti Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Osmo Vänskä.
  • 00:36

    Sue Rothstein

    Flying with the Birds

    Performer: Gwenllian Llyr.

  • William Shakespeare

    Queen Mab speech - Mercutio, Act 1 sc 4, Romeo and Juliet, read by Hugo Speer

  • William Shakespeare

    Over Hill, Over Dale - Fairy, Act 2 sc1, A Midsummer Night's Dream, read by Barbara Flynn

  • 00:43

    Dilys Elwyn-Edwards

    Nos o haf (Summer Night)

    Performer: Jocelyn Freeman. Singer: Elin Manahan Thomas.

  • Dylan Thomas

    Under Milk Wood (To Begin at the Beginning), read by Barbara Flynn

  • 00:48

    George Walker

    Lyric for strings

    Orchestra: Chicago Sinfonietta.

  • William Wordsworth

    The Prelude, Book 13 (extract), read by Hugo Speer

  • 00:54

    Tan Dun

    8 Memories in Watercolor: No. 7, Floating Clouds

    Performer: Warren Lee.
  • 00:56

    John Powell

    How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019) - Night Fury Killer

    Orchestra: Studio Orchestra.

  • Lewis Carroll

    Jabberwocky, read by Barbara Flynn

  • 01:00

    Howard Shore

    Lord Of The Rings: The Fellowship Of The Ring (2001): A Journey in the Dark

    Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Choir: London Voices. Conductor: Howard Shore.

  • H.P. Lovecraft

    The call of Cthulhu (Chapter 3 – The Madness from the Sea) (extract), read by Hugo Speer

  • 01:02

    Ralph Vaughan Williams

    A Vision of Aeroplanes

    Performer: James McVinnie. Choir: Clare College Chapel Choir. Conductor: Timothy Brown.
  • 01:11

    Sadie Harrison

    Gallery for Solo Violin, Room 1: The Flight of Swallows

    Performer: Peter Sheppard Skaerved.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 21 Jun 2020 17:30
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
  • Sun 13 Aug 2023 17:30
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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