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The colour of love and war, of passion and blood. With readings from Anne of Green Gables, Claude McKay, Orhan Pamuk and Liz Berry. Music by Vivaldi, John Adams and Tom Waits.

A colour that demands attention 鈥� Red 鈥� the colour of love and passion and war. Fiery red, crimson, vermilion and madder all feature as artists, writers and musicians attempt to describe its essence. In today's programme Orhan Pamuk, Wassily Kandinsky and the composer Arthur Bliss delve into its depths.

There is the life-affirming red of Sylvia Plath鈥檚 tulips that pulsate by her hospital bedside, while Derek Jarman and Claude McKay search for something more sexually alluring. The poet L.L. Barkat rolls Vermillion round her tongue in Love, Etc. (https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/book/love-etc-poems-of-love-laughter-longing-loss/) from T. S. Poetry Press (https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/book-series/all-books-ts-poetry-press/)

Communists and Martians vie for attention, transformed by the music of John Adams and Gustav Holst. And the blood red river flows through Hildegard de Bingen and Beth Orton, with Gabriel Jackson鈥檚 piano duet Rhapsody in Red throbbing ominously. The poet Liz Berry sends her wearer of the red shoes dancing off into the sunset untamed, while Tom Waits sings of the lover alone in her red shoes waiting by the drugstore.

The 鈥榬ed priest鈥� himself Vivaldi marks the autumn, and the great fictional red-heads Anne of Green Gables and Uriah Heep are brought to life by the readers 鈥� the flame-haired Bettrys Jones and Tom Goodman-Hill.

Producer: Katy Hickman, another redhead

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 4 Feb 2024 17:30
麻豆约拍 Radio 3

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Music Played

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

  • 00:01

    Igor Stravinsky

    The Firebird Suite: Infernal Dance of the King Kashchei

    Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Klaus Tennstedt.
    • Chester Music.
    • Tr9.

  • Orhan Pamuk, translated by Erdag M Goknar

    My Name Is Red, read by Tom Goodman-Hill

  • Wassily Kandinsky, translated by M.T.H. Sadler

    Concerning The Spiritual In Art, read by Bettrys Jones

  • 00:05

    Arthur Bliss

    A Colour Symphony: II. Red. Allegro vivace

    Orchestra: 麻豆约拍 National Orchestra of Wales. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • CHAN10380.
    • Tr2.
  • 00:06

    Antonio Vivaldi

    Concerto in F major RV.293, Op.8`3 (L'Autunno) for violin and orchestra

    Performer: Rachel Podger. Ensemble: Brecon Baroque.
    • Channel Classics CCS SA40318.
    • Tr7.

  • William Carlos Williams

    The Red Wheelbarrow, read by Tom Goodman-Hill

  • 00:09

    Giacomo Puccini

    Turandot, Act II: Guizza al pari di fiamma

    Singer: Maria Callas. Singer: Giuseppe Nessi. Orchestra: Orchestra of La Scala, Milan.
    • Warner Classics.
    • Tr27.

  • Claude McKay

    A Red Flower, read by Tom Goodman-Hill

  • 00:13

    Trad.

    My love is like a red, red rose

    Composer: Craig Leon. Composer: Craig Leon. Lyricist: Robert Burns. Lyricist: Robert Burns. Singer: Andreas Scholl. Singer: Andreas Scholl. Singer: Andreas Scholl. Orchestra: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Orchestra: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Orchestra: Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.
    • Decca 468499-2.
    • Tr3.

  • Derek Jarman

    Chroma, read by Tom Goodman-Hill

  • 00:17

    Sting

    Roxanne

    Performer: The Police.
    • A&M Records/Polydor.
    • Tr3.

  • Nathaniel Hawthorne

    The Scarlet Letter, read by Bettrys Jones

  • 00:22

    Arthur Bliss

    A Colour Symphony: II. Red. Allegro vivace

    Orchestra: 麻豆约拍 National Orchestra of Wales. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • CHAN10380.
    • Tr2.

  • Wilfred Owen

    Greater Love, read by Tom Goodman-Hill

  • 00:27

    Benjamin Britten

    Serenade for tenor, horn and string orchestra (Op.31), no.4; Elegy (O rose...)

    Singer: Ian Bostridge. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • EMI.
    • Tr14.
  • 00:30

    Judith Weir

    The Voice of Desire - Sweet little red feet

    Singer: Susan Bickley. Performer: Iain Burnside.
    • Signum Records SIGCD087.
    • Tr14.

  • Thomas Hardy

    Tess of the d聮Urbervilles, read by Tom Goodman-Hill

  • 00:34

    Max de Wardener

    Redshift

    Performer: Max de Wardener. Performer: Kit Downes.
    • Village Green.
    • Tr3.

  • L.L. Barkat

    Vermillion, read by Bettrys Jones聽

  • 00:36

    Hildegard von Bingen

    Red River Falling, O Rubor Sanguinis

    Singer: Norma Gentile.
    • CD Baby B00X27B6NS.
    • Tr8.
  • 00:38

    Beth Orton

    Blood Red River

    Performer: Beth Orton.
    • Sony Music.
    • Tr9.

  • Sylvia Plath

    Tulips, read by Bettrys Jones

  • 00:45

    Gustav Holst

    The Planets - suite (Op.32); Mars, the bringer of war

    Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Andrew Davis.
    • Chandos.
    • Tr10.

  • Ray Bradbury

    The Martian Chronicles, read by Tom Goodman-Hill

  • Mao Tse-Tung

    Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, read by Tom Goodman-Hill

  • 00:52

    Li Huanzhi

    The East Is Red

    Orchestra: Shanghai Orchestra. Conductor: Ding Cao.
    • Marco Polo.
    • Tr8.
  • 00:54

    John Adams

    Nixon in China, Act I Scene 1: The People Are the Heroes Now (Live)

    Orchestra: Colorado Symphony. Orchestra: Colorado Symphony. Conductor: Marin Alsop. Conductor: Marin Alsop.
    • Naxos.
    • Tr3.
  • 00:57

    Siobhan Lamb

    The Red Shoes, The Ball

    Performer: Suoni Ensemble.
    • Dacapo.
    • Tr6.

  • Liz Berry

    The Red Shoes, read by Bettrys Jones

  • 01:00

    Tom Waits

    Red Shoes By The Drugstore

    Performer: Tom Waits.
    • Asylum.
    • Tr2.

  • Charles Dickens

    David Copperfield, read by Tom Goodman-Hill

  • 01:04

    George Gershwin

    Porgy and Bess, Act 2 Scene 4: "A red-headed woman make a choo-choo jump"

    Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • Warner Classics.
    • Tr605.

  • L. M. Montgomery

    Anne of Green Gables, read by Bettrys Jones

  • 01:07

    Ed Sheeran

    Afterglow

    Performer: Ed Sheeran.
    • Atlantic Records UK.
    • Tr1.
  • 01:09

    Gabriel Jackson

    Rhapsody in Red

    Performer: Jeroen van Veen & Sandra Van Veen.
    • Brilliant Classics.
    • Tr31.

  • Anne Carson

    Autobiography of Red, read by Tom Goodman-Hill

Broadcasts

  • Sun 5 Sep 2021 17:30
    麻豆约拍 Radio 3
  • Sun 4 Feb 2024 17:30
    麻豆约拍 Radio 3

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