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When an Angel Passes

A glimpse of the angelic in the everyday can surprise, delight and unsettle us at any moment. Alan Hall reflects on those moments 'when an angel passes'.

William Blake's childhood vision of a tree on Peckham Rye filled with angels, 'bright angelic wings bespangling every bough like stars', offers a starting point for Alan Hall's reflections on the angelic in the everyday.

He makes reference to a short story by Gabriel Garcia Marquez about a 'very old man with enormous wings', poems by Rainer Maria Rilke and John Agard, and an extract from the moving conclusion of James Agee's novel about the death of his father.

The programme also includes music by Sufjan Stevens, Gillian Welch and Johannes Brahms and a clip from the Powell and Pressburger film 'A Matter of Life and Death'.

Produced by Eleanor McDowall.
A Falling Tree production for Ö÷²¥´óÐã Radio 4.

30 minutes

Last on

Sun 23 Dec 2012 23:30

Music Played

  • Sufjan Stevens

    Concerning the UFO Sighting near Highland, Illinois

    • Come on Feel The Illinoise.
    • Asthmatic Kitty Records.
    • AKR014.
    • 1.
  • Einojuhani Rautavaara

    Symphony no. 7 'Angel of Light'

    Performers: Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra/Leif Segerstam

    • Ondine Catalogue.
    • Ondine.
    • ODE6992.
    • 5.
  • Gillian Welch

    Tennessee

    Performer: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

    • The Harrow & The Harvest.
    • Acony.
    • 5052498671724.
    • 5.
  • Allan Gray

    A Matter of Life and Death

    • British Film Music from the 1940s and 50s.
    • EMI.
    • CDGO2059.
    • 8.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115 – Mvt 2 Adagio

    Performers: Karl Leister (clarinet)/Leipzig String Quartet

    • Brahms.
    • MDG Gold.
    • MDG 307 0719-2.
    • 2.
  • Pererik Moraeus

    Koppangen (Holy Night)

    Performer: Anne Sofie von Otter

    • Ö÷²¥´óÐã For Christmas.
    • DG.
    • 459 685-2.
    • 1.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 23 Dec 2012 06:05
  • Sun 23 Dec 2012 23:30

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