The Conquering Engines
David Hendy explores the work of the writer David Thoreau, and how the sounds of nature gave way before the industrial din.
Henry David Thoreau is one of history's great listeners. His classic work Walden is dense with descriptions of the natural sounds he discovered when he swapped his Concord home for a simple cabin in the woods. But his peace was disturbed by a noise that presaged the age to come: the snort of the iron horse.
Professor David Hendy of the University of Sussex explains how the sounds of nature gave way before the industrial din.
30-part series made in collaboration with the British Library Sound Archive.
Signature tune composed by Joe Acheson.
Producer: Matt Thompson
A Rockethouse production for BBC Radio 4.
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Mon 15 Apr 201313:45BBC Radio 4- Mon 16 Nov 201514:15BBC Radio 4 Extra
- Tue 17 Nov 201502:15BBC Radio 4 Extra
- Mon 17 Jun 201914:15BBC Radio 4 Extra
- Tue 18 Jun 201902:15BBC Radio 4 Extra
Noise retold by Matthew Herbert
The head of the New Radiophonic Workshop retells the Noise series using only the sounds.
