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The visions of heaven and hell set down in the Divine Comedy by Dante have inspired music by composers including Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Liszt, Radiohead and Soweto Kinch.

"Father of the Italian language": the writing of Dante Alighieri c. 1265 – 1321 has given us Beatrice - symbol of divine love, the visions of heaven, purgatory and hell set down in his Divine Comedy, a use of vernacular language and Tuscan dialect when most poetry was written in Latin and a three line rhyme scheme or terza rima. Today's Words and Music features readings from his key works taken from a range of different translations (and some excerpts in Italian). These are set against music inspired by his words.

In 1849 Franz Liszt wrote "Dante has become for my mind and spirit what the column of clouds was for the children of Israel when it guided them through the desert," and he went on to compose a sonata and a symphony inspired by the Italian poet. In 1876 Tchaikovsky read the fifth canto of Dante's Hell and began his symphonic poem Francesca da Rimini, a noblewoman who falls in love with her husband's brother. Rachmaninov's operatic version of this story premiered in 1906. Soweto Kinch's The Legend of Mike Smith brings Dante's Inferno and the seven deadly sins into our modern world. The idea of "people being ferried across the river of death" in an exhibition of Egyptian art inspired the track Pyramid Song by Radiohead, which takes images from Dante's journey through heaven and hell.

Readers: Christine Kavanagh and Leighton Pugh.

Producer: Tony Sellors

READINGS:
Giovanni Boccaccio Dream of Dante
Dante Alighieri (trans. Andrew Frisardi) Vita nuova
Dante Alighieri (trans. Allen Mandelbaum) Dante's Exile (Paradiso Canto 17)
Michelangelo Sonnet to Dante
Dante Alighieri (trans. Henry Francis Cary) Inferno Canto 1
Dante Alighieri (trans. Sandow Birk and Marcus Saunders) Inferno Canto 1
Dante Alighieri (trans. Henry Francis Cary) Inferno Canto 3 (The gates of Hell)
Dante Alighieri (trans. Henry Francis Cary) Inferno Canto 3
Dante Alighieri The Rivers of Hell (Inferno Canto 3, trans H.F.Cary)
Dante Alighieri Piero and Francesca (Inferno Canto 5, trans. Cary)
Dante Alighieri Canto 5 (Trans. Sandow Birk and Marcus Saunders)
Ned Denny B, Canto 5
Dante Alighieri (trans. Sandow Birk and Marcus Saunders Inferno Canto 8
Dante Alighieri, trans. Allen Mandelbaum Purgatory, Cantos 1 and 2
Dante Alighieri Purgatorio Canto 2
Dante Alighieri (trans. A.S. Kline) Canzone Two
Dante Alighieri (trans Allen Mandelbaum) Paradiso Canto 30
Dante Alighieri (trans Barbara Reynolds) Paradiso Canto 33
Michelangelo Sonnet to Dante

You can find Free Thinking episode Dante's Visions in which Rana Mitter's guests look at art inspired by the Italian writer.
You can also find an exploration of Dante's language in the Divine Comedy hearing from scholars Prue Shaw and Nick Havely, poet Sean O'Brien and writer Kevin Jackson in the Free Thinking playlist called Landmarks of Culture.

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Boxing Day 2022 18:15
Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 3

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Music Played

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

  • 00:01

    Ottorino Respighi

    Ancient Airs and Dances

    Orchestra: Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Neville Marriner.
    • HMV Classics 5743692m.
    • 1.

  • Giovanni Boccaccio

    Dream of DanteÂ’s mother, read by Christine Kavanagh

  • 00:02

    Anon.

    Saltarello II

    Performer: Luca Brunelli Felicetti. Performer: Gaspare Antonio Bartelloni.
    • Tactus TC300003.
    • 5.

  • Dante Alighieri (trans. Andrew Frisardi)

    Vita nuova, read by Leighton Pugh and Christine Kavanagh

  • 00:05

    Gavin Bryars

    Oi me Lasso

    Singer: Anna Maria Friman. Singer: John Potter.
    • GB Records BCGBC05.
    • 4.

  • Dante Alighieri (trans. Andrew Frisardi)

    Vita nuova, read by Leighton Pugh

  • 00:11

    Cristoforo Caresana

    Tarantella

    Ensemble: Il Giardino Armonico. Director: Giovanni Antonini.
    • ALPHA ALPHA450.
    • 24.

  • Dante Alighieri (trans. Allen Mandelbaum)

    DanteÂ’s Exile (Paradiso Canto 17), read by Christine Kavanagh

  • 00:14

    Anon

    Chanconeta tedescha

    Performer: Anima Mundi Consort.
    • Tactus TC300003.
    • 8.

  • Michelangelo

    Sonnet to Dante, read by Leighton Pugh

  • 00:17

    Arnold Bax

    November Woods

    Orchestra: Ulster Orchestra. Conductor: Bryden Thomson.
    • Chandos CHAN8307.
    • T1.

  • Dante Alighieri (trans. Henry Francis Cary)

    Inferno Canto 1, read by Leighton Pugh

  • Dante Alighieri (trans. Sandow Birk and Marcus Saunders)

    Inferno Canto 1, read by Christine Kavanagh

  • 00:25

    Luigi Dallapiccola

    Three Questions with Two Answers

    Orchestra: Â鶹ԼÅÄ Philharmonic. Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda.
    • CHANDOS CHAN10561.
    • 17.

  • Dante Alighieri (trans. Henry Francis Cary)

    Inferno Canto 3 (The gates of Hell), read by Leighton Pugh and Christine Kavanagh

  • 00:26

    Franz Liszt

    Dante Symphony

    Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Daniel Barenboim.
    • Elatus 2564617802.
    • 1.
  • 00:33

    Sergey Rachmaninov

    Francesca da Rimini, Op. 25

    Performer: Â鶹ԼÅÄ Singers, Â鶹ԼÅÄ Philharmonic, Gianandrea Noseda (conductor).
    • CHANDOS CHAN10442.
    • 1.

  • Dante Alighieri (trans. Henry Francis Cary)

    Inferno Canto 3 (read by Christine Kavanagh)

  • 00:34

    Wojciech Kilar

    The Ring of Fire

    Orchestra: Studio Orchestra. Performer: Anton Coppola.
    • Columbia – CK 53165.
    • 12.
  • 00:36

    Radiohead

    Pyramid Song

    Performer: Radiohead.
    • Parlophone – CDSFHEIT 45102.
    • 1.

  • Dante Alighieri

    The Rivers of Hell (Inferno Canto 3, trans H.F.Cary), read by Leighton Pugh and Christine Kavanagh

  • 00:37

    Sergey Rachmaninov

    The Isle of the Dead

    Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vasily Petrenko.
    • Avie AV2188.
    • 4.
  • 00:42

    Luciano Berio

    Coro

    Choir: WDR Rundfunkchor Köln. Orchestra: WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne. Conductor: Luciano Berio.
    • DG 00028947158721.
    • 2.

  • Dante Alighieri

    Piero and Francesca (Inferno Canto 5, trans. Cary) read by Leighton Pugh and Christine Kavanagh

  • 00:44

    Hans Werner Henze

    Tristan

    Orchestra: WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne. Conductor: Hans Werner Henze.
    • DG 4498662.
    • 10.

  • Dante Alighieri

    Canto 5 (Trans. Sandow Birk and Marcus Saunders)

  • 00:46

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Francesca da Rimini

    Orchestra: Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich. Conductor: Paavo Järvi.
    • Alpha Classics ALPHA 659.
    • 5.

  • Ned Denny

    B, Canto 5, read by Christine Kavanagh

  • 00:55

    White Noise

    Electric Storm In Hell

    Performer: White Noise.
    • Island Records.
    • 7.

  • Dante Alighieri (trans. Sandow Birk and Marcus Saunders

    Inferno Canto 8, read by Leighton Pugh and Christine Kavanagh

  • 00:55

    Soweto Kinch

    The Legend of Mike Smith: Invidia

    Performer: Soweto Kinch.
    • Soweto Kinch Recordings SKP003CD.
    • 8.
  • 01:00

    Franz Liszt

    Dante Symphony

    Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Daniel Barenboim.
    • Elatus 2564617802.
    • 2.

  • Dante Alighieri, trans. Allen Mandelbaum

    Purgatory, Cantos 1 and 2 read by Leighton Pugh and Christine Kavanagh

  • 01:02

    Leonhard Paminger

    In exitu Israel de Aegypto, Psalm 114/115

    Performer: Stimmwerck.
    • Christophorus CHR77331.
    • 6.

  • Dante Alighieri

    Purgatorio Canto 2, read by Leighton Pugh and Christine Kavanagh

  • 01:07

    Maurice Duruflé

    Requiem In Paradisum

    Orchestra: Orchestre national de France. Choir: Chœur de Radio France. Conductor: Maurice Duruflé.
    • Apex 2564611392.
    • T9.

  • Dante Alighieri (trans. A.S. Kline)

    Canzone Two, read by Christine Kavanagh

  • Dante Alighieri (trans Allen Mandelbaum)

    Paradiso Canto 1, read by Christine Kavanagh and Leighton Pugh

  • 01:10

    Gabriel Fauré

    Requiem In Paradisum

    Choir: The Cambridge Singers. Orchestra: City of London Sinfonia. Conductor: John Rutter.
    • Collegium COLCD109.
    • 7.

  • Dante Alighieri (trans Allen Mandelbaum)

    Paradiso Canto 30, read by Christine Kavanagh and Leighton Pugh

  • Dante Alighieri (trans Barbara Reynolds)

    Paradiso Canto 33, read by Leighton Pugh

  • Michelangelo

    Sonnet to Dante, read by Christine Kavanagh

Broadcasts

  • Sun 12 Sep 2021 17:30
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 3
  • Boxing Day 2022 18:15
    Â鶹ԼÅÄ Radio 3

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