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Happiness

Poetry and prose on the theme of the pursuit of happiness read by Helena Bonham Carter and Tim McInnerny, with happy sounds from Beethoven, Handel, Rossini, Eubie Blake and others.

Helena Bonham Carter and Tim McInnerny are the readers for a programme exploring ideas and meanings of happiness, joy and ecstasy. The Wellcome Collection opens an exhibition and a series of events exploring this theme later this week, and reflecting this, today's episode offers an anthology of thoughts on the subject conveying us from Plato to Easton Ellis by way of George Eliot, Charlotte Bronte, Margery Kempe. Ray Bradbury, Anthony Trollope, William Blake, Edmund Spencer, Chinua Achebe, Aldous Huxley and others; with music by Beethoven, Handel, Schumann, Heinrich Schutz, Hildegard of Bingen, Eubie Blake, REM, Charles Penrose, Thomas Ades ... and Ken Dodd.

Note from the producer:
The theme is β€œthe pursuit of happiness".
You’ll hear extracts from Plato’s β€˜Euthydemus’ - his Socratic dialogue in which he sets out some of his philosophical thoughts on the subject. Is good fortune the secret to happiness? Is it knowledge? Or is it about the best use of the goods that you are given? The programme features examples from across time which reflect and comment on these thoughts. For example, Ray Bradbury’s 'Fahrenheit 451' offers the suggestion that society is happier without the complexities of knowledge; Elizabeth von Arnim and Sylvia Plath enjoy the positive romantic pleasures of β€œbeing at one with nature”; Anthony Trollope focuses on the practicalities of finding happiness through love; while Brett Easton Ellis considers some of the extreme implications of materialism and happiness. And talking of extremes, both the medieval mystic, Margery Kempe and Aldous Huxley touch on differing notions and interpretations of ecstasy.

The music includes Bernstein’s take on Voltaire; Beethoven in the country; Schumann on the joys of married life; Thomas Ades at a rave; Mozart; Rogers and Hammerstein, Charles Penrose, and the inimitable Ken Dodd. And there’s also music from the early 1990s by REM - a song said to be inspired by some propaganda posters, promoting happiness, from around the time of the Tiananmen Square protests.

The programme ends its journey with piano music by Poulenc, transporting us the island of pleasure and happiness, Cythera."

Producer: Chris Wines

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

New Year's Day 2023 17:30
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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Music Played

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

  • J.B. Yeats

    Letter to His Son W.B. Yeats read by Helena Bonham-Carter

  • 00:01

    Engelbert Humperdinck

    Hansel and Gretel Act 1 Dance song 'Little Brother Dance With Me'

    Singer: Jennifer Larmore. Singer: Rebecca Evans. Performer: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • CHANDOS CHAN 3143.
    • 4.
  • 00:05

    Claude Debussy

    6 Γ‰pigraphes Antiques - 1. Pour Invoquer Pan

    Performer: Aureole Trio.
    • KOCH 1991.
    • 1.

  • Plato

    Euthydemus read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:07

    BΓ©la BartΓ³k

    Mikrokosmos Bk6 'From the Diary of a Fly' (arr. Serly)

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Hungarica. Conductor: Antal DorΓ‘ti.
    • Mercury Living Presence 4320172.
    • 10.

  • William Blake

    Little Fly from Songs of Innocence and Experience read by Helena Bonham-Carter

  • 00:09

    Leonard Bernstein

    Candide Act 1 'Life Is Happiness'

    Singer: Jerry Hadley. Singer: June Anderson. Singer: Kurt Ollmann. Singer: Della Jones. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Leonard Bernstein. Conductor: Leonard Bernstein.
    • DG 429 734-2.
    • CD1 T3.
  • 00:12

    Claude Debussy

    6 Γ‰pigraphes Antiques - 4. 'Pour la danseuse aux crotales'

    Performer: Aureole Trio.
    • KOCH 1991.
    • 5.

  • Plato

    Euthydemus read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:13

    George Frideric Handel

    Solomon Act 1 Aria 'Bless'd the day when first my eyes'

    Singer: Carolyn Sampson. Ensemble: Academy for Ancient Music Berlin. Choir: RIAS Chamber Choir. Conductor: Daniel Reuss.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI HMC901949/50.
    • CD 1 T12.

  • Ray Bradbury

    Fahrenheit 451 read by Helena Bonham-Carter

  • 00:16

    Eubie Blake & Noble Sissle and His Orchestra

    Eubie's Boogie Rag

    • 20th Fox FOX3003.
    • 2.
  • 00:17

    R.E.M.

    Shiny Happy People

    Performer: R.E.M..
    • Warner Bros. Records 9362 40078-2.
    • 1.
  • 00:18

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    Bagatelle in C Major, WoO 54, 'Lustig - Traurig'

    Performer: JenΕ‘ JandΓ³.
    • NAXOS 8.553798.
    • 8.

  • Emily Dickinson

    How Happy Is The Little Stone read by Helena Bonham-Carter

  • 00:20

    Billie Grey

    The Laughing Policeman

    Performer: Charles Penrose.
    • REGIS FRC6131.
    • 2.
  • 00:23

    Orlando Gibbons

    Galliard a 3

    Performer: Rose Consort of Viols.
    • NAXOS 8550603.
    • 29.

  • Edmund Spencer

    Amoretti Sonnet LXXII read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:24

    Ivor Gurney

    5 Elizabethan Songs No. 3 Β‘Under The Greenwood TreeΒ’

    Singer: Ian Bostridge. Performer: Sir Antonio Pappano.
    • WARNER CLASSICS 9029594473.
    • 15.

  • Elizabeth von Arnim

    Elizabeth and Her German Garden read by Helena Bonham-Carter

  • 00:26

    George Frideric Handel

    Serse - 'Ombra Mai Fu'

    Singer: Andreas Scholl. Ensemble: Academy for Ancient Music Berlin.
    • Harmonica Mundi HMX2901685.
    • 7.
  • 00:28

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony No 6 in F (Pastoral) - 1st mvt 'Erwachen Heiterer Empfindungen Bei Der Ankunft Auf Dem Lande'

    Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Claudio Abbado.
    • DG 445 542-2.
    • 1.

  • Sylvia Plath

    The Bell Jar read by Helena Bonham-Carter

  • 00:34

    Claude Debussy

    6 Γ‰pigraphes Antiques - 1. Pour Invoquer Pan

    Performer: Aureole Trio.
    • KOCH 1991.
    • 1.

  • Plato

    Euthydemus read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:35

    Richard Rodgers

    Happy Talk (from South Pacific)

    Lyricist: Oscar Hammerstein II. Performer: Harpers Bizarre.
    • NOW SOUNDS CRNOW 30T3.
    • 1.

  • Louisa May Alcott

    Little Women read by Helena Bonham-Carter

  • Anthony Trollope

    The Bertrams read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:39

    Robert Schumann

    Frauen-Liebe und Leben - 3. 'Ich kannΒ’s nicht fassen, nicht glauben'

    Singer: Anne Sofie von Otter. Performer: Bengt Forsberg.
    • DG 445 881-2.
    • 3.

  • Anthony Trollope

    The Bertrams read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:41

    Robert Schumann

    Frauen-Liebe und Leben - 4. 'Du Ring an meinem Finger'

    Singer: Anne Sofie von Otter. Performer: Bengt Forsberg.
    • DG 445 881-2.
    • 4.

  • Anthony Trollope

    The Bertrams read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:45

    Arnold Schoenberg

    Verklarte Nacht

    Ensemble: Juilliard String Quartet. Performer: Walter Trampler. Performer: Yo‐Yo Ma.
    • Sony Classical SK 47690.
    • 4.
  • 00:46

    Ήσ²Ή³ά°ωΓ©

    8 Pièces Brèves Op. 84, No 5 - Improvisation

    Performer: Kotaro Fukuma.
    • NAXOS NYCC-27308.
    • 43.

  • Charlotte Bronte

    Jane Eyre read by Helena Bonham-Carter

  • 00:47

    Lennon and McCartney

    Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

    Performer: The Beatles.
    • EMI Parlophone 0946382419-8.
    • 3.

  • Aldous Huxley

    Brave New World read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:51

    Thomas Adès

    Asyla 3. Ecstasio

    Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • EMI 5568182.
    • 3.
  • 00:53

    Heinrich SchΓΌtz

    Die mit TrΓ€nen sΓ€en, werden mit Freuden ernten, SWV 378

    Choir: Collegium Vocale Gent. Choir: Collegium Vocale Gent. Choir: Collegium Vocale Gent. Conductor: Philippe Herreweghe. Conductor: Philippe Herreweghe. Conductor: Philippe Herreweghe.
    • HARMONIA MUNDI HMC901534.
    • 4.
  • 00:57

    Hildegard von Bingen

    Canticles of Ecstasy - 'O vis aeternitatis'

    Performer: Sequentia.
    • Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 05472 77320 2.
    • 1.

  • Margery Kempe

    The Book of Margery Kempe read by Helena Bonham-Carter

  • 01:00

    John Addison

    The Tom Jones Strut from the film Β‘Tom JonesΒ’

    Performer: Studio Orchestra.
    • United Artists ULP 1062.
    • 7.

  • Henry Fielding

    Tom Jones read by Tim McInnerny

  • 01:00

    Guns N’ Roses

    Sympathy For The Devil

    • Geffen Records GED 21967.
    • 1.

  • Bret Easton Ellis

    American Psycho read by Tim McInnerny

  • Charles Dickens

    David Copperfield read by Helena Bonham-Carter

  • 01:04

    °Υ°ωΓ€»ε

    Mgbe M Na Agba Egwu Medley

    Performer: Princess Salomy Egede.
    • Nigerphone NXLP 036.
    • 1.

  • Chinua Achebe

    Things Fall Apart read by Tim McInnerny

  • 01:06

    Bill Anderson

    Happiness

    Performer: Ken Dodd.
    • EMI GOLD 534 7522.
    • 1.

  • Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

    Cancer Ward read by Helena Bonham-Carter

  • 01:08

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Symphony No 39 in Eb K543 - iv Finale

    Orchestra: Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • LINN CKD308.
    • 7.

  • George Eliot

    Letters read by Helena Bonham-Carter

  • 01:12

    Francis Poulenc

    L'Embarquement pour Cythere

    Performer: Louis Lortie. Performer: Hélène Mercier.
    • CHANDOS CHAN10875.
    • 17.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 11 Jul 2021 17:30
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
  • New Year's Day 2023 17:30
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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