Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Light and Shade

The paintings of 16th-century master Caravaggio prompt reflections on light and shade, with readers Ruby Bentall and Justice Ritchie and music ranging from Giramo to Lou Reed.

Dammed as depraved, and lauded as a brilliant innovator: the artist Caravaggio often depicted moments of violence and vanity, using the technique known as tenebrism, an extreme dramatic contrast between areas of light and shade. Readings from Ruby Bentall and Justice Ritchie move between darkness and light, from a hymn in praise of darkness by Caravaggio’s contemporary Edward Herbert, Lord Cherbury, to the 20th-century poet Rabindranath Tagore’s evocation of a world suffused with light, taking in all the shades in between courtesy of Milton, Elizabeth Jennings, Gerard Manley Hopkins, HD, and John Donne. We also hear John Ruskin’s assessment of Caravaggio as an artist of darkness and depravity, and Matteo Augello imagines his reply. The music includes madrigals directly depicted in Caravaggio’s work, and pieces by Mozart, Ligeti, Offenbach and the Velvet Underground.

This edition also includes original settings of poems referenced in Caravaggio's work: Petrarch's Leave Off Your Veil, and Icarus, as well as Gli Uomini Valenti, taken from a contemporary report of testimony Caravaggio gave at a trial. Original recordings by Electropastiche, Voice and translations by Matteo Augello, Guitars by William Vitali, Produced by Jodi Pedrali. You can find out more about this at dacaravaggio.com

Producer: Luke Mulhall

READINGS:
Johan Huizinga The Waning of the Middle Ages
John Ruskin Review of Lindsay’s The History of Christian Art
Elizabeth Jennings Caravaggio’s β€˜Narcissus’ in Rome
John Milton Paradise Lost
HD Evening
Caleb Femi Coping
Sir Henry Wotton To his Mistress
Martyn Crucefix At The National Gallery
George Bradley The Sound of the Sun
Lord Edward Herbery of Churbury Black Beauty
Samuel Daniel Are They Shadows
Gerard Manley Hopkins The Candle Indoors
John Donne On The Sun Rising
Rabindrath Tagore Light
Virgil, tran. A.S. Kline Ecologue X
Elizabeth Jennings A World of Light

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 9 Jul 2023 17:30
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Dante

Next

Translation

See all episodes from Words and Music

Music Played

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

  • 00:00

    Electropastiche

    Leave Off Your Veil

    Performer: Electropastiche.
    • n/a – special commission.
    • n/a.
  • 00:03

    Pietro Antonio Giramo

    Festa Riso

    Composer: Pietro Antonio Giramo. Ensemble: El Mundo. Ensemble: El Mundo. Director: Richard Savino. Director: Richard Savino.
    • Sono Luminus DSL 92195.
    • 19.

  • Johan Huizinga

    The Waning of the Middle Ages, read by Justice Ritchie

  • 00:06

    Jacques Arcadelt

    Il bianco e dolce cigno

    Performer: The King’s Singers.
    • EMI 5857142.
    • 3.

  • John Ruskin

    Review of Lindsay’s The History of Christian Art, read by Ruby Bentall

  • 00:00

    Lou Reed/David Lang

    I’ll Be Your Mirror

    Performer: The Velvet Underground.
    • Polydor.
    • 9.

  • Elizabeth Jennings

    Caravaggio’s β€˜Narcissus’ in Rome, read by Ruby Bentall

  • 00:11

    Franz Schubert

    Die Liebe hat gelogen

    Performer: Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.
    • Orfeo C826103D.
    • 31.

  • John Milton

    Paradise Lost, read by Justice Ritchie

  • 00:00

    Gyorgy Ligeti

    L’escalier du diable

    Performer: Pierre‐Laurent Aimard.
    • Sony.
    • 13.

  • HD

    Evening, read by Ruby Bentall

  • 00:20

    Luna Pearl Woolf

    Apres moi le deluge

    Performer: Matt Haimovitz.
    • Pentatone.
    • 28.

  • Caleb Femi

    Coping, read by Justice Ritchie

  • 00:24

    FrΓ©dΓ©ric Chopin

    Prelude no 4 in E minor

    Performer: Sviatoslav Richter.
    • alto ALC1159.
    • 5.

  • Sir Henry Wotton

    To his Mistress, The Queen of Bohemia, read by Justice Ritchie

  • 00:28

    W.A. Mozart

    Die Zauberflote Act 2: Der Holle Rache

    Performer: Natalie Dessay.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 15.
  • 00:31

    Louis Armstrong

    On the Sunny Side of the Street

    • Sony.
    • 6.

  • Martyn Crucefix

    At The National Gallery, read by Ruby Bentall

  • 00:36

    Steve Reich

    New York Counterpoint

    Performer: Andrea Nagy. Ensemble: Holst-Sinfonietta.
    • Naxos.
    • 4.

  • George Bradley

    The Sound of the Sun, read by Justice Ritchie

  • 00:39

    Gyorgy Ligeti

    Lux Aeterna

    Performer: Vienna Philharmonic.
    • GMI Records.
    • 3.

  • Lord Edward Herbery of Churbury

    Black Beauty, read by Ruby Bentall

  • 00:42

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No. 2 _Moonlight__ I. Adagio sosten

    Performer: JenΕ‘ JandΓ³.
    • Naxos.
    • 14.

  • Samuel Daniel

    Are They Shadows, read by Justice Ritchie

  • 00:48

    Jacques Offenbach

    Les contes d'Hoffmann: Belle nuit, Γ΄ nuit d'amour "Barcarolle"

    Performer: Forest Lake Symphony, Nicole Cabell, Alyson Cambridge.
    • Cedille.
    • 1.

  • Gerard Manley Hopkins

    The Candle Indoors, read by Ruby Bentall

  • 00:52

    John Tavener

    The Protecting Veil: II. The Nativity of the Mother of God

    Performer: Matthew Barley.
    • Signum Classics.
    • 3.

  • John Donne

    On The Sun Rising, read by Justice Ritchie

  • 00:59

    Edvard Grieg

    Peer Gynt, Act 4, No. 1_ Morning Mood

    Performer: Neville Marriner.
    • n/a.
    • n/a.

  • Rabindrath Tagore

    Light, read by Ruby Bentall

  • Virgil, tran. A.S. Kline

    Ecologue X, read by Justice Ritchie

  • 01:03

    Richard Wagner

    Dawn and Siegfried's Journey to the Rhine from Gotterdammerung, WWV 86D

    Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Klaus Tennstedt. Conductor: Klaus Tennstedt.
    • LPO.
    • 3.

  • Elizabeth Jennings

    A World of Light, read by Ruby Bentall

  • 01:08

    Giovanni Gabrieli

    Sonata No. 13 (Winter)

    Performer: London Symphony Brass. Conductor: Eric Crees.
    • Naxos.
    • Tr 17.
  • 01:10

    Electropastiche

    Icarus

    Performer: Electropastiche.
    • n/a – special commission.
    • n/a.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 19 Sep 2021 17:30
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
  • Sun 9 Jul 2023 17:30
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

The hidden history of plant-based diets

The hidden history of plant-based diets

Forget social media influencers - the meat-free movement started with the Victorians.

Books website

Get closer to books with in-depth articles, quizzes and our picks from radio & TV.