bbc radio 3 essay podcast

BBC Radio 3 The Essay

Five Irish writers each take a passage from James Joyce’s Ulysses and, through a close reading, explore its meaning and significance within the wider work, as well as what it means to them. February 2022 marks the centenary of the novel's publication. Reading Ulysses is a famously challenging experience for most readers, so can our Essayists help?

In the first essay of the series, award-winning Irish writer Anne Enright explores the first couple of pages of Joyce's epic. She examines the characters of Buck Mulligan and Stephen Dedalus - the two men we first meet at the top of a tower overlooking Dublin Bay. She tells us from where Joyce drew his inspiration in creating his protagonists and she reveals a little about how she first discovered the famous tome.

In the second essay of the series, young Irish writer John Patrick McHugh selects the fourth episode of the novel: Calypso. In it we encounter the novel's main character: Leopold Bloom. John gives us a close reading of its opening which sees Mr Bloom make breakfast for his wife and feed his cat. John says it's a chapter that "smells both of melted butter and defecation" and explores Joyce's unique description of a cat's miaow. He tells us about feeling lightheaded when he first encountered Ulysses and how his experience of the book has changed on re-reading it.

In the third essay of this series, acclaimed Irish writer Colm Tóibín talks about the role of songs and singing in the novel. He says that in early 20th-century Dublin, professional and amateur concerts and operatic singing flourished - and he argues that many of the characters in Ulysses are connected by music and song.

Colm selects a passage from the Sirens episode of the book which sees the character, Simon Dedalus, sing in his rich tenor voice. Colm examines the parallels between the character of Simon Dedalus and Joyce's own father, John Stanislaus Joyce - both good singers. Colm argues that all the "badness" in Simon "is washed away by his performance as singer" and he explores how the reverberations of Simon's song echo later in book.

In the fourth essay of the series, novelist and short story writer Mary Costello selects an excerpt from an episode full of questions and answers, known as Ithaca. The episode sees Leopold Bloom, the novel's main character, and his friend Stephen Dedalus walk back to Bloom's house in the middle of the night.

In the passage which Mary selects, Bloom has got home and turns on the tap to fill the kettle. Mary says that what follows is a "magnificent, bird's-eye view of the water's journey from County Wicklow" all the way through the city to the Mr Bloom's sink. Mary argues that Ithaca is compelling not just because of the maths, science and language contained within it but also because of the fuller picture it paints of Mr Leopold Bloom.

In the final essay of the series, novelist Nuala O'Connor chooses the last episode of the book - Penelope - which is the one Nuala discovered first. In Penelope, we hear Molly Bloom, the wife of the novel's main protagonist, speak to us.

In the extract Nuala selects, Molly lies in bed, top to tail with her husband. We hear Molly consider him and his antics - and muse on what husbands, and men in general, mean to her. Nuala examines some of her favourite phrases from the passage; she reveals some of the parallels she can see in Joyce's own biography; and she tells us why the novel's final words might prove the ultimate key to unlocking the book.

Producer: Camellia Sinclair

Find out more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00141tf

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Leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond, themed across a week - insight, opinion and intellectual surprise.

Don't You Think We're Forever

In the depths of lockdown during 2020 multi-award winning musician Karine Polwart offered to play a private gig for neighbour and local legend Al Beck just weeks before he would die from cancer. The resulting correspondence became an unexpectedly rewarding collaboration as they shared their love of music through Al's choice of songs. In this final essay recounts the night of "Beckstival" and how this joyous night tinged with sadness made her reassess the scale and nature of her work. "More depth, less breadth. More local, less scattered. More conversational, less performative. And always, always more collaborative and connective." Written and Presented by Karine Polwart Producer by Peter McManus Mixed by Sean Mullervy

Couldn't Love You More

In the depths of lockdown during 2020 multi-award winning musician Karine Polwart offered to play a private gig for neighbour and local legend Al Beck just weeks before he would die from cancer. The resulting correspondence became an unexpectedly rewarding collaboration as they shared their love of music through Al's choice of songs. As the evening of the gig approaches Karine begins to understand how her discussions with Al are opening up conversations not just with her but also with his family. Written and Presented by Karine Polwart Producer by Peter McManus Mixed by Sean Mullervy

Banks of Sicily

In the depths of lockdown during 2020 multi-award-winning musician Karine Polwart offered to play a private gig for neighbour and local legend Al Beck just weeks before he would die from cancer. The resulting correspondence became an unexpectedly rewarding collaboration as they shared their love of music through Al's choice of songs. In this essay Karine reflects on the strange purposelessness she felt at the time, with no one to play for or with what use was she? The offer of to play in Al's back garden became as much a gift to her as him. Written and Presented by Karine Polwart Producer by Peter McManus Mixed by Sean Mullervy

Time Has Told Me

In the depths of lockdown during 2020 multi-award winning musician Karine Polwart offered to play a private gig for neighbour and local legend Al Beck just weeks before he would die from cancer. The resulting correspondence became an unexpectedly rewarding collaboration as they shared their love of music through Al's choice of songs. In this essay Karine considers the power of song to transport us to a place and time conjuring up important moments in our lives. Written and Presented by Karine Polwart Producer by Peter McManus Mixed by Sean Mullervy

How Happy I Am

The multi-award-winning folksinger, songwriter and storyteller, Karine Polwart, crafts an elegy in song for Al Beck, a local legend of rural East Lothian. The songs - were Al's choices for ‘Beckstival' a back garden celebration co-created in the depth of lockdown during June 2020, just weeks before Al's death from cancer. The music ranged from 60s psychedelia and pop classics to a traditional pipe march. The tender and witty email correspondence between the two gives voice to Al himself, and underpins Karine's week-long meditation on the role that song plays in each of our stories of living and dying - as lullaby and love letter, memory marker and memorial. In this first essay Karine describes making the offer of the private gig and being overwhelmed by Al's response, starting what would be remarkable collaboration for them both. Written and Presented by Karine Polwart Producer by Peter McManus Mixed by Sean Mullervy

Elizabeth Elliott

A five-part series of essays that explore the dichotomy between being a deaf professional and working with music. Each essayist tells their own story from across the deaf spectrum, including a sign language performer with a passion for music, a violinist who switched to classical piano after a cochlear implant, and a flautist who uses visual art to describe music to deaf children. From horn players to punchy performance artists, all of the essayists consider music from a deaf perspective with illuminating results. From her childhood immersed in music to her early career as a professional violinist, Elizabeth Elliott's passion for classical music endured even as she became deaf. Despite the shock of losing her hearing, she muses on how she found solace in teaching and performing in smaller groups, before concentrating on bringing up her young family. In middle age, she had a cochlear implant fitted, and she describes how this felt - reclaiming her ability to hear note by musical note. Filling us all in with a very different way to listen, Elizabeth details how through careful trial and error she pieces together a piano piece and drills herself to perform it to a high standard. She shares with us how it felt to once again be able to perform music publicly, through dedication and technology. A Different Way to Listen is produced by Sophie Allen and Emma Glassar with Mark Rickards as Executive Producer. It is a Flashing Lights Media production for BBC Radio 3. A British Sign Language version was filmed, edited and subtitled by Fifi Garfield.

Paul Whittaker OBE

A five-part series of essays that explore the dichotomy between being a deaf professional and working with music. Each essayist tells their own story from across the deaf spectrum, including a sign language performer with a passion for musicals, a violinist who switched to classical piano after a cochlear implant, and a flautist who uses visual art to describe music to deaf children. From horn players to punchy performance artists, all of the essayists consider music from a deaf perspective with illuminating results. Professional music sign language performer Paul Whittaker OBE explains how he has carved out a unique space in the classical musical world by being a pioneer in the field of sign language performance. Despite initial scepticism, he pursued a career in music starting with a degree from Oxford, before founding 'Music and the Deaf' to promote musical accessibility. With meticulous preparation and passion, Paul talks us through how he translates complex musical pieces into expressive sign language, capturing the essence of each composition. He details how he makes his sign language performance ‘sing’ in genres stretching from iconic musicals to Handel’s Messiah and how he hopes his interpretations enhance the audience's understanding and enjoyment, bridging the gap between deaf and hearing communities. A Different Way to Listen is produced by Sophie Allen and Emma Glassar with Mark Rickards as Executive Producer. It is a Flashing Lights Media production for BBC Radio 3. A British Sign Language version was filmed, edited and subtitled by Fifi Garfield.

Chisato Minamimura

A five-part series of essays that explore the dichotomy between being a deaf professional and working with music. Each essayist tells their own story from across the deaf spectrum, including a sign language performer with a passion for musicals, a violinist who switched to classical piano after a cochlear implant, and a flautist who uses visual art to describe music to deaf children. From horn players to punchy performance artists, all of the essayists consider music from a deaf perspective with illuminating results. Chisato Minamimura shares her journey of exploring sound and music. Growing up in Japan before later moving to the UK, Chisato lost her hearing at seven months, yet despite this she learned the piano - becoming the star pupil. Inspired by artists like John Cage and Tōru Takemitsu, Chisato delves into the concept of sound and music from a deaf perspective. She details how she began creating visual scores based on mathematical algorithms, turning dancers into her instruments. And she explains how she innovates new ways to interact with sound, such as feeling vibrations with her teeth or using Woojer strap to create multi-sensory experiences. Throughout her work, she invites audiences to explore the rich tapestry of sound and music through a deaf lens, opening up new possibilities for artistic expression. Dreaming of experiencing phenomena like whale songs first hand, Chisato imagines translating these experiences into tactile vibrations, further expanding her exploration of sound. A Different Way to Listen is produced by Sophie Allen and Emma Glassar with Mark Rickards as Executive Producer. It is a Flashing Lights Media production for BBC Radio 3. A British Sign Language version was filmed, edited and subtitled by Fifi Garfield.

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Autumn Flew

Brilliant writing enhanced through narration that never sounds forced or scripted. Another great one from the BBC!

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Both here (Apple podcasts) and online, download is blocked.....after the BBC History preview, I was SO looking forward to this! 😢

• 創作者 BBC Radio 3
• 活躍年代 2011年 - 2024年
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