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In poetry by Donne, Shakespeare and Christina Rossetti, and music depicting Pictures at an Exhibition and a Waterloo Sunset - we explore the art of looking.

Looking can be tied up with joy or pain, with desire or despair, with judgement or disorientation. Some of the greatest poets have explored this – including John Donne, Andrew Marvell, Christina Rossetti and Emily Dickinson. You might be able to see, but your eyes can deceive you – as we’ll hear from the philosopher David Hume and the writer of ghost stories Robert Aickman, and looking is closely tied to the way we experience the world and view ourselves – which is explored in writing by the French existentialist Jean Paul Sartre, the film theory scholar Laura Mulvey and the film-maker Dziga Vertov. And composers from Beethoven to Puccini, Arvo Pärt to David Bowie have been fascinated by the textures and experiences of looking. Our readers are Ellie Piercy and Ben Miles.

Producer: Luke Mulhall

14 days left to listen

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 15 Mar 202618:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:01

    Modest Mussorgsky

    Pictures At An Exhibition: I. Promenade

    Orchestra: Sofia Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Ivan Marinov.
    • Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Festival, Capriccio Espagnol; Mussorgsky: Night on Bald Mountain, Pictures at an Exhibition.
    • Classical Gallery CLC 7089.
    • Tr4.

  • James Elkins

    The Object Stares Back: On the Nature of Seeing, read by Ben Miles

  • 00:03

    George Frideric Handel

    Susanna Overture

    Performer: Hedwig Bilgram. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Karl Richter.
    • Handel: Overtures.
    • Deutsche Grammophon 4579032.
    • Tr9.

  • John Keats

    On Looking in Chapman’s Homer, read by Ellie Piercy

  • 00:09

    Claude Debussy

    Nocturnes (Triptyque symphonique) L. 91: I. Nuages

    Orchestra: Philharmonia Orchestra. Conductor: Pierre Boulez.
    • Boulez Conducts Debussy; Printemps, Three Nocturnes, Clarinet Rhapsody.
    • Sony Classical 88697561752.
    • Tr1.

  • John Milton

    Sonnet 19: On His Blindness, read by Ben Miles

  • 00:14

    Johann Sebastian Bach

    St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244, Pt. 2: No. 39. Erbarme dich, mein Gott

    Singer: David Allsopp. Ensemble: Academy of Ancient Music. Conductor: Stephen Cleobury.
    • Bach: St. Matthew Passion.
    • Kings College Cambridge KGS0037.
    • CD2 Tr10.

  • David Hume

    Extract from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, read by Ellie Piercy

  • 00:22

    Olivier Messiaen

    Des Canyons aux étoile, III. Ce qui est écrit sur les étoiles

    Performer: Roger Muraro. Performer: Jean‐Jacques Justafré. Performer: Francis Petit. Performer: Renaud Muzzolini. Orchestra: Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France. Conductor: Myung-Whun Chung.
    • Oliver Messiaen: Des Canyons aux étoiles.
    • Deutsche Grammophon 471617-2.
    • 471 617-2.
    • Tr10.

  • Thomas Hardy

    Moments of Reflection, read by Ben Miles

  • Dorothy Parker

    Sight, read by Ellie Piercy

  • 00:26

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata No. 14 In C Sharp Minor, Op. 27 No. 2 "Moonlight": 1. Adagio sostenuto

    Performer: Ji Liu.
    • Piano Reflections.
    • Classic FM CFMD33.
    • Tr5.

  • William Wordsworth

    Composed upon Westminster Bridge, September 3, 1802, read by Ben Miles

  • 00:32

    Ray Davies

    Waterloo Sunset

    Performer: The Kinks.
    • The Kinks - Sunny Afternoon, The Very Best Of.
    • Sanctuary Records KINKSTVCD001.
    • CD2 Tr5.

  • Laura Mulvey

    Visual And Other Pleasures, read by Ellie Piercy

  • 00:35

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Rigoletto Act 3: "Bella figlia dell'amore...M'odi, ritorna a casa"

    Singer: Luciano Pavarotti. Singer: Joan Sutherland. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Bonynge. Singer: Huguette Tourangeau. Singer: Sherrill Milnes.
    • Verdi: Rigoletto.
    • Decca 00028947865865.
    • CD2 Tr11.

  • John Donne

    Witchcraft By A Picture, read by Ben Miles

  • 00:39

    Billie Holiday

    I'll Be Seeing You

    • Billie Holiday.
    • Verve Reissues 00602508517372.
    • Tr3.

  • Wallace Stevens

    Looking Across A Field And Watching The Birds Fly, read by Ben Miles

  • 00:46

    Richard Strauss

    Eine Alpensinfonie Op.64: VIII. Auf blumige Wiesen. Sehr lebhaft

    Orchestra: Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Carl Schuricht.
    • Mahler: Symphony No. 3; Strauss, R.: Eine Alpensinfonie, Op. 64.
    • Hanssler Classic CD93.151.
    • CD2 Tr9.
  • 00:46

    Richard Strauss

    Eine Alpensinfonie Op.64: VIII. Auf blumige Wiesen. Sehr lebhaft

    Orchestra: Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Carl Schuricht.
    • Mahler: Symphony No.3/ Strauss.R: Eine Alpensinfonie Op. 64.
    • Hanssler Classic.
    • CD2 Tr9.
  • 00:47

    Richard Strauss

    Eine Alpensinfonie Op.64: IX. Auf der Alm. Mäßig schnell

    Orchestra: Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Carl Schuricht.
    • Mahler: Symphony No. 3/ Strauss,R. Eine Alpensinfonie Op. 64.
    • Hanssler Classic.
    • 10.

  • Christina Rossetti

    Who Has Seen The Wind, read by Ellie Piercy

  • 00:49

    Arvo Pärt

    Spiegel im Spiegel

    Performer: Tasmin Little (violin), Martin Roscoe (piano).
    • The Sound of Arvo Pärt.
    • Erato/Warner Classics 825646080700.
    • Tr45.

  • Emily Dickinson

    The Best Things Dwell Out Of Sight, read by Ellie Piercy

  • 00:52

    Brian Easdale

    Peeping Tom: The Murder / A Childhood on Film / Peeping Tom

    Performer: Paul Bateman.
    • A History of Horror (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).
    • Silva Screen Records FILMXCD331.
    • Tr7.

  • Andrew Marvell

    Eyes & Tears, read by Ben Miles

  • Gerard Manley Hopkins

    Binsey Poplars, read by Ellie Piercy

  • 00:58

    Christoph Willibald Gluck

    Orfeo ed Euridice, Act III: Che farò senza Euridice?

    Singer: Rolando Villazón. Music Arranger: Christina Pluhar. Ensemble: L’Arpeggiata. Director: Christina Pluhar.
    • Orfeo son io.
    • Deutsche Grammophon 4867597.
    • Tr20.

  • Jean-Paul Sartre translated by Hazel E. Barnes

    Being & Nothingness, read by Ben Miles

  • 01:05

    Oscar Peterson

    On a Clear Day

    • On a Clear Day: The Oscar Peterson Trio.
    • Mack Avenue Records MAC1199.
    • Tr3.

  • Robert Aickman

    Unsettled Dust, read by Ellie Piercy

  • 01:08

    Michael Nyman

    Chasing Sheep Is Best Left To Shepherds

    Performer: Michael Nyman Band.
    • The Draughtsman's Contract: Music From The Motion Picture.
    • EMI 598 4425.
    • Tr1.

  • Dziga Vertov translated by Kevin O'Brien

    Extract from Manifesto, read by Ellie Piercy

  • 01:11

    David Bowie

    Sound & Vision

    Performer: David Bowie.
    • Low.
    • Parlophone 5219070.
    • Tr4.

Broadcast

  • Sun 15 Mar 202618:00
    BBC Radio 3

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