The Ethereal
Composers across the ages have been aware that music's ability to evoke the ethereal can prompt extraordinary responses in a listener. Tom Service explores how and to what effect.
The opening orchestral strains of Wagner's opera Lohengrin with its high shimmering strings prompted the French poet Charles Baudelaire to observe that in Wagner's music he found "something rapt and enthralling, something aspiring to mount higher, something excessive and superlative".
The ability of music to evoke a sense of the ethereal has a strange and powerful effect on listeners, something that composers have been aware of across the ages. Tom Service examines how this music creates its affect and to what ends. He draws on examples from Hldegard of Bingen, Gregorio Allegri, Wolfgang Mozart, James Horner, Einojuhani Rautavaara and George Crumb - among others - and of course Richard Wagner.
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Music Played
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Richard Wagner
Lohengrin - opera in 3 acts
Conductor: Andris Nelsons. Performer: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.- DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
- 4797577.
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Anonymous 4
O ignee Spiritus - hymn
- HARMONIA MUNDI.
- HMU 907327.
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Gregorio Allegri
Miserere mei Deus [Psalm 51] for 9 voices
Performer: Simon Preston. Performer: Choir of Westminster Abbey.- ARCHIV.
- E4155172.
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Adagio in C major K.356 for glass harmonica
Performer: Bruno Hoffmann.- PHILIPS.
- 422 701-2.
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James Horner
James Horner: 'Wrath of Khan': "Spock"
Performer: Studio Orchestra.- RHINO ATLANTIC.
- 603497839483.
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George Crumb
Black angels - 13 images from the Dark Land for electric string quartet
Performer: Kronos Quartet.- NONESUCH.
- OMNI79553.
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George Benjamin
Written on skin - opera in 3 parts
Conductor: George Benjamin. Performer: Barbara Hannigan. Performer: Christopher Purves. Performer: Mahler Chamber Orchestra.- NIMBUS RECORDS.
- NI 58856.
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ROGER WINFIELD
ROGER WINFIELD: 'West Wind'
Performer: ROGER WINFIELD.- SAYDISC.
- SDL 394.
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Marco Beltrami
MARCO BELTRAMI: The Homesman: 'Wind Haiku'
Performer: Marco Beltrami.- VARESE SARABANDE.
- 30206731797.
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Damien Rose
Sacred/Awakening
Performer: Damien Rose.- WHITE SWAN RECORDS.
- CD02001.
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Lyz Cooper
Lyz Cooper: 'Solis'
Performer: Lyz Cooper.- ISRC.
- QM2P1877368.
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Einojuhani Rautavaara
Symphony no. 7 (Angel of light)
Conductor: Osmo Vänskä. Performer: Lahti Symphony Orchestra.- BIS.
- CD-1038.
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Salvatore Sciarrino
Salvatore Sciarrino: Lohengrin - "Canto del Cigno"
Conductor: Tito Ceccherini. Performer: Ensemble Risognanze. Performer: Marianne Pousseur.- COL LEGNO.
- COL20264.
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Richard Wagner
Lohengrin - opera in 3 acts
Conductor: Andris Nelsons. Performer: Gewandhausorchester Leipzig.- DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
- 4797577.
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Richard Wagner
Parsifal - opera in 3 acts
Conductor: Herbert von Karajan. Performer: Berlin Philharmonic Choir. Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.- DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON.
- 4133472.
Broadcasts
- Sun 8 Oct 202317:00BBC Radio 3
- Fri 13 Oct 202316:30BBC Radio 3
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The Listening Service
An odyssey through the musical universe, presented by Tom Service
