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Twilight

The dimming of the day reflected in writing by Adrienne Rich, James Joyce and Peter Porter, read by Clare Perkins and Neil Pearson, plus music from Wagner to Lydia Kabadse.

Clare Perkins and Neal Pearson take us into the literary twilight, where this mysterious crossover between day and night provides rich metaphors of downfall and decline; so we’ll hear Ryszard Kapuscinki on the fall of Haile Selassie’s empire and the Norse gods being consumed by flames at the end of Wagner’s Gotterdammerung. Twilight can also be a spooky, fearful time of day – bats appear unexpectedly in a poem by DH Lawrence, while death creeps over the fields in Philip Larkin’s Going and something sinister approaches in Realm of Dusk by The Fall. This week’s twilit soundtrack also includes Richard and Linda Thompson, Sally Beamish and Mark Anthony Turnage. You can find episodes of Free Thinking, ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3's Arts and Ideas programme exploring twilight, and sleeplessness and if you want soundtracks as the clocks change and evenings set in earlier, Radio 3's mixtapes, Night Tracks, Late Junction and Unclassified are all available on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Sounds.

Photo: Jasper Goodall
Producer: Torquil MacLeod

Readings and *Music:

*Bernard Herrmann: The Twilight Zone
Philip Gross - Betweenland X
Sean Hewitt - Psalm
*Robin Pharo - Crepuscule
Christine Da Luca - Fireworks Over Bressay Sound
*Mark-Anthony Turnage - Evening Songs: II. In the half-light
Kazuo Ishiguro - The Remains of the Day
*Frank Bridge - When You Are Old
Adrienne Rich - Darklight
*Lydia Kabadse - Cantus Planus : III. Vespers
Oliver Goldsmith - The Deserted Village
*Richard and Linda Thompson - The Dimming of the Day
Ryszard Kapuscinski - The Emperor
*Richard Wagner - Gotterdammerung: Finale
Peter Porter - Ghosts
*Joanna Marsh - Arabesques: III. Fading
DH Lawrence - Bats
*Sally Beamish - Yeats Interlude
Philip Larkin - Going
*The Fall - R.O.D.
*Breaks Co-op - Twilight (instrumental)
Thomas Hardy - The Return of the Native
Ann Radcliffe - The Mysteries of Udolpho
*Pawel Lukaszewsksi - Daylight Declines
Afanasy Fet (trans. Gordon Pirie) - 'Evening. I'll go to meet them...'
* Julie London - November Twilight
TS Eliot - The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock
*Aaron Parker - easquela: suspended, spacious in a dusky half-light
*Simon Holt - Shadow Realm
James Joyce - Finnegans Wake
*James Lynam Molloy - Love's Old Sweet Song

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 29 Oct 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

  • 00:00

    Bernard Herrmann

    The Twilight Zone

    Performer: The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Paul Bateman.
    • Silva Screen Records SILCD 1208 MCPS.
    • CD2 Tr4.

  • Philip Gross

    Betweenland X read by Clare Perkins

  • Sean Hewitt Psalm

    Psalm read by Neil Pearson

  • 00:00

    Robin Pharo

    Crepuscule

    Performer: Ensemble Près de votre oreille.
    • Paraty PTY138245D.
    • Tr21.

  • Christine Da Luca

    Fireworks Over Bressay Sound read by Clare Perkins

  • 00:00

    Mark-Anthony Turnage

    Evening Songs II: In the Half Light

    Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vladimir Jurowski.
    • London Philharmonic Orchestra LPO0007D.
    • Tr3.

  • Kazuo Ishiguro

    The Remains of the Day Read by Neil Pearson

  • 00:00

    Frank Bridge

    When You Are Old H.142

    Singer: Carolyn Sampson. Performer: Joseph Middleton.
    • BIS-2413.
    • Tr14.

  • Adrienne Rich

    Darklight read by Clare Perkins

  • 00:00

    Lydia Kakabadse

    Cantus Planus: III. Vespers

    Performer: sound collective.
    • Divine Art DDA25149.
    • Tr17.

  • Oliver Goldsmith

    The Deserted Village read by Neil Pearson

  • 00:00

    Richard & Linda Thompson

    The Dimming of the Day

    Performer: Richard & Linda Thompson.
    • CD2 Tr12.

  • Ryszard KapuΕ›ciΕ„ski

    The Emperor read by Clare Perkins

  • 00:00

    Richard Wagner

    Gotterdammerung: Finale

    Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Herbert von Karajan.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • CD1 Tr13.

  • Peter Porter

    Ghosts read by Neil Pearson

  • 00:00

    Joanna Marsh

    Arabesques: III. Fading

    Choir: ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Singers. Orchestra: ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Owain Park. Conductor: Owain Park.
    • Signum Classics SIGCD644.
    • Tr4.

  • DH Lawrence

    Bats read by Neil Pearson

  • 00:00

    Sally Beamish

    Yeats Interlude

    Performer: John Turner. Performer: Richard Simpson. Performer: Benedict Holland. Performer: Nicholas Trygstad.
    • Divine Art DDA25210.
    • Tr5.

  • Philip Larkin

    Going read by Clare Perkins

  • 00:00

    The Fall

    R.O.D.

    Performer: The Fall.
    • Castle Music.
    • CD3 Tr10.
  • 00:00

    Breaks Co‐op

    Twilight (Instrumental)

    • EMI.
    • Tr13.

  • Thomas Hardy

    The Return of the Native read by Neil Pearson

  • Ann Radcliffe

    The Mysteries of Udolpho read by Clare Perkins

  • 00:00

    Pawel Lukaszewski

    Daylight Declines

    Choir: Tenebrae. Conductor: Nigel Short.
    • Signum Classics SIGCD521.
    • Tr4.

  • Afanasy Fet (trans. Gordon Pirie)

    'Evening. I'll go to meet themΒ…' read by Neil Pearson

  • 00:00

    Pete King

    November Twilight

    Composer: Paul Webster. Performer: Julie London.
    • EMI 724385995927.
    • CD1 Tr11.

  • TS Eliot

    The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock read by Clare Perkins

  • 00:00

    Aaron Parker

    easqela: suspended, spacious, in a dusky half light

    Performer: Solem Quartet.
    • Orchid Classics ORC100172.
    • Tr13.
  • 00:00

    Simon Holt

    Shadow Realm

    Ensemble: Nash Ensemble. Conductor: Lionel Friend.
    • NMC Recordings NMCD008.
    • Tr5.

  • James Joyce

    Finnegans Wake readff by Neil Pearson

  • 00:00

    James Lynam Molloy

    Love's Old Sweet Song

    Performer: Richard Crooks. Conductor: Nathaniel Shilkret.
    • Delos DE5501.
    • CD2 Tr11.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 24 Oct 2021 17:30
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3
  • Sun 29 Oct 2023 17:30
    ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 3

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