Faust
Carolyn Pickles (reader)
Neil Dudgeon (reader)
L'homme moyen sensuel - the phrase could have been invented for Faust although there's absolutely nothing average about his desire for knowledge or his passion for all that the sublunary world has to offer.
But maybe that's the point. In any case I find it unnerving to read about Faust or to listen to the music his story has inspired because it can be like looking into a mirror. Faust is the story of modern man. His features are all too recognisable. Eyes shaped by curiosity, ambition and lust; a selfish heart lit by flashes of compassion; and a mind aching for self knowledge and understanding.
In this edition of Words and Music I've chosen the great German writer, Goethe, as our guide to the Faust legend. After all, his monumental play is the most comprehensive engagement with the story that we have. This means that we begin with the fateful wager for Faust's soul and finish with his eventual redemption.
It's a treacherous, beautiful, occasionally comic and frequently terrifying path where Mephistopheles leads and Liszt, Goethe, Schubert, The Rolling Stones and Mikhail Bulgakov follow. There's a smell of sulphur along the way of course but also, I hope, one of frankincense and myrrh.
As with all things Faustian you can expect diversions - sideways, backwards and forwards in time - after all broken promises, second thoughts, bad faith, love and rapture have been part of people's lives throughout the ages and they're still part of our world today.
Zahid Warley - Producer
Details of music and readings
Timings are from the beginning of the programme
00:00:00
Alfred Schnittke
Historia von D.Johann Fausten
Track 1
00:01:17
GOETHE
Faust Part One - Prologue in Heaven
The wager between God and the Devil for Faust's soul.
Readers: Carolyn Pickles and Neil Dudgeon
00:02:49
LISZT
Zweiter Teil. Gretchen
Faust Symphonie
BBC Philharmonic, c.b. Gianandrea Noseda
Liszt: Symphonic Poems, Vol 2.
CHAN 10375
Track 12
00:07:23
GOETHE
Faust Part One
Faust in his study..soliloquy about knowledge
Reader: Neil Dudgeon
00:09:05
JIMMY PAGE AND ROBERT PLANT
Stairway to Heaven
Rodrigo and Gabriela
Rodrigo y Gabriela
RWXCD37L
Track 6
00:13:46
GOETHE
Faust Part One
Faust pursued by the poodle
Readers: Carolyn Pickles and Neil Dudgeon
00:16:19
MICK JAGGER AND KEITH RICHARDS
Sympathy for The Devil
The Neptunes Remix
The Rolling Stones Sympathy For the Devil Remix
0602498106129
Track 1
00:16:42
GOETHE
Faust Part One
Faust and Mephistopheles - the pact.
Readers: Neil Dudgeon and Carolyn Pickles
00:17:51
GOETHE
Faust Part One
Faust's pledge to end like all humanity
Readers: Neil Dudgeon and Carolyn Pickles
00:20:58
TARTINI
La Sonata del Diavolo
Andrew Manze
The Devils Sonata: Manze
HMU907213
Track 3
00:27:08
TARTINI
Letter to J.J. de LaLande
Voyage d'un Francois en Italie
Reader: Neil Dudgeon
00:28:05
TRADITIONAL
Cross Road Blues
Robert Johnson
The 29 Songs
JASMCD 3001
Track 12
00:30:44
D.J. ENRIGHT
Faust desires to have as his paramour that beautiful and delightfull peece Helen of Troy
The Faust Book
Reader: Neil Dudgeon
00:31:30
KIMMO POHJONEN
Ammoin
Kimmo Pohjonen
Kielo
ZENCO2060
Track 10
00:32:39
D.J. ENRIGHT
In extenuation of taking a concubine, Faust pleads vagueness
The Faust Book
Reader: Neil Dudgeon
00:34:23
D. J. ENRIGHT
Mephistopheles Reveals The Marvels of Science
The Faust Book
Reader: Neil Dudgeon
00:35:15
JOCELYN POOK
Oppenheimer
Jocelyn Pook
Flood
7243
84815O28
Track 4
00:41:53
GOETHE
Faust Demands Gretchen
Faust Part 1
Readers: Neil Dudgeon and Carolyn Pickles
00:42:52
LISZT
Zweiter Teil. Gretchen
Faust Symphonie
BBC Philharmonic, c.b. Gianandrea Noseda
Liszt: Symphonic Poems, Vol 2.
CHAN 10375
Track 11
00:48:00
GOETHE
Faust and Gretchen in bliss
Faust Part 1
Readers: Neil Dudgeon and Carolyn Pickles
00:49:02
SCHUBERT
Der Konig in Thule D 367
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Gerald Moore
Schubert: Goethe Lieder
457-747-2
Track 20
00:51:58
GOETHE
Gretchen Abandoned
Faust Part 1
Readers: Neil Dudgeon and Carolyn Pickles
00:53:09
SCHUBERT
Gretchen am Spinnrad D. 118
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Schubert: Lieder
B00004YU8E
Track 6
00:56:32
BYRNE AND ENO
Jezebel Spirit
David Byrne and Brian Eno
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
B000EHS72C
Track 5
01:01:11
BULGAKOV
The Master and Margarita
Reader: Carolyn Pickles
01:06:20
RACHMANINOV
Piano Sonata No 1 Opus 28
Lydia Jardon
Rachmaninov: The Two Piano Sonatas
AR202-4
Track 1
01:16:56
GOETHE
Evil spirit chiding Gretchen for her sins.
Goethe Faust Part One
Readers: Neil Dudgeon and Carolyn Pickles
01:17:44
BOITO
Margherita mourning her drowned child
Sofia National Opera Orchestra
Boito - Mefistofele
B000B8T0WA
CD 2, track 6
01:24:13
GOETHE
Faust's fury
Goethe Faust Part One
Reader: Neil Dudgeon
01:24:59
GEORGE CRUMB
Black Angels
Kronos Quartet
Black Angels
B000005J0D
Track 3
01:26:10
GOETHE
Faust tries in vain to rescue Gretchen
Faust Part One
Readers: Neil Dudgeon and Carolyn Pickles
01:27:09
BOITO
Epilogo
Sofia National Opera Orchestra
Boito - Mefistofele
B000B8T0WA
