Life in a Cold Climate
Readings by Bill Paterson and Janie Dee from Torkilk Morch, John Haines and Jack London and music by Grieg and Bjorklund reflecting the many facets of living in the frozen north.
The many facets of living in the the frozen north. Bill Paterson and Janie Dee read works by Torkilk Morch, John Haines, Jack London, Alootook Ipellie, Gerda Hvisterdahl, Peter Hoeg and Jorma Etto. With music by Edvard Grieg, Terje Bjorklund, John Luther Adams, Jon Oivind Ness, Torgeir Vassvik, Sainkho Namtchylak and Esbjorn Svensson.
Producer: Torquil MacLeod.
Scroll down the webpage for more information about the music used, and the Producer's Notes.
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Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
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00:00Torgeir Vassvik
The Sea - 脕hpi
Performer: Torgeir Vassvik.- IDUT ICD061.
- Tr2.
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Torkilk Morch
Light, read by Bill Paterson
John Haines
If The Owl Calls Again, read by Janie Dee
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00:05John Luther Adams
Dream In White On White
Performer: The Apollo Quartet and Strings, Barbara Chapman (harp).- New Albion NA061CD.
- Tr1.
Netsit
Dead Man聮s Song (Dreamed by one who is alive), read by Bill Paterson
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00:14Trad.
Qattipaartuq
Performer: Rose Qiqiak, Kate Kamimalik.- Ocora C559071.
- Tr24.
Alootook Ipellie
How noisy they seem, read by Janie Dee
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00:16Sainkho Namtchylak
Inuit Wedding
Performer: Sainkho Namtchylak.- World Music Network RGNET 1174 PR.
- Tr10.
Aua
A Walrus Hunt, read by Bill Paterson
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00:21Howard Cable
The Banks of Newfoundland
Performer: The Hannaford Street Silver Band, Stephen Chenette (conductor).- CBC SMCD5136.
- Tr1.
Gerda Hvisterdahl
Where, read by Bill Paterson
Torkilk Morch
Greenland Sharks, read by Janie Dee
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00:26Terje Bj酶rklund
Sarek
Performer: TrondheimSolistene.- Victoria VCD19060.
- Tr9.
Peter Hoeg
Miss Smilla聮s Feeling For Snow, read by Janie Dee
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00:33Wimme
翱补颈苍苍谩丑耻蝉
Performer: Wimme.- World Music Network RGNET1051CD.
- Tr11.
Jorma Etto
A Finn, read by Bill Paterson
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00:38Jean Sibelius
Five Esquisses OP.114: Song in the Forest
Performer: Joseph Tong.- Quartz QTZ2111.
- Tr22.
Judith Taylor
The Lapland Woman and the Finland Woman, read by Janie Dee
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00:41Trad.
Helan g氓r
Performer: Lauritz Melchior.- Romophone 820192.
- Tr27.
Sergei Samolyenko
last year I lived at the bottom of a bottle, read by Bill Paterson
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00:45Esbj枚rn Svensson
Seven Days of Falling
Performer: E.S.T..- ACT ACT 90122.
- Tr2.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, read by Bill Paterson
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00:52Alexander Mosolov
Cello Concerto
Performer: Russian Cinematographic Symphomy Orchestra, Sergei Sudzilovsky (cello).- OLYMPIA OCD592.
- Tr5.
Alexander Pushkin
In far Siberia聮s deepest soil, read by Janie Dee
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00:58Poul Ruders
Tundra
Performer: Odense Symphony Orchestra, Scott Yoo (conductor).- Bridge BRIDGE 9382.
- Tr7.
Joanna Kavenna
The Ice Museum, read by Janie Dee
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01:04Jon 脴ivind Ness
Bogey Thresher
Performer: Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra, Oystein Baadsvik (tuba).- BIS BISSA CD2005.
- Tr4.
Jack London
In A Far Country, read by Bill Paterson
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01:12Edvard Grieg
Evening in the mountains, Op. 68, No.4
Performer: CBC Vancouver Orchestra, Mario Bernardi (conductor).- CBC SMCD5157.
- Tr9.
Life in a Cold Climate - Producer's Notes
This is a world of extremes.听 A place of intense cold where the sea can freeze and both day and night can last for months.听 In the northernmost latitudes, life has to fit around the significant challenges presented by the natural world.听 This selection aims to give a flavour of what living in these conditions is like.
Torgeir Vassvik is a Norwegian Sami musician and composer who combines the traditional 鈥榡oik鈥� singing style with drumming, traditional instruments and nature sounds.听 His composition 鈥楾he Sea鈥櫶� serves notice that we are entering a very different world.
In the depths of winter, the idea of weeks of unbroken daylight may seem like a longed for dream, but the Greenlandic poet Torkilk M酶rch reminds us, in his poem 鈥楲ight鈥�, that constant sunlight can be as oppressive and disorientating听 as unending darkness.听 While the Alaskan poet John Haines hints at the strange, dream-like aspects of life in the north in his poem听 鈥業f The Owl Calls Again鈥�.
The composer John Luther Adams lived in Alaska from 1978 to 2014 and much of his music is inspired by the nature and landscape of the region. 听He describes his 1992 work 鈥楧ream In White On White鈥� as 鈥榓 response...to the treeless, windswept expanses of western Alaska鈥�.
Netsit was an Inuit poet, living in northern Canada and writing in the early 20th century.听 His 鈥楧ead Man鈥檚 Song (Dreamed by one who is alive)鈥� details many of the key aspects of Inuit life at the time, but also captures the universal frustration of being too preoccupied with mundane anxieties to fully enjoy life before it passes.
Vocal games form an important part of Inuit culture.听 Here we have an example of a game called Qattipaartuq, recorded on King William Island in Canada in 1975 and performed by Rose Qiqiak and Kate Kamimalik.听 Qattipaartuq is a narrative game which has two characteristics 鈥� the refrain is always 鈥榟apapi, hapapi, ha鈥� and the voice undergoes a prolonged modulation on one syllable of the refrain.
Alootook Ipellie was an Inuit graphic artist, satirical cartoonist and writer who also lived in northern Canada.听 He spent his childhood and early teenage years adjusting with his family to the transition from their traditional, nomadic Inuit way of life, to life in government-sponsored Inuit settlements. This poem 鈥� How noisy they seem鈥� has a strong sense of nostalgia for a lost world.
Sainkho Namtchylak is a Siberian singer with a seven octave range who is noted for her mix of Tuvan throat-singing and avant-garde improvisation.听 Although she grew up in Tuva, this song -听 鈥業nuit Wedding鈥� 鈥� keeps us firmly in the frozen north.
Aua was an Iglulik Inuit shaman and poet, born in 1870 in Nunavut, northern Canada.听 Although the younger Inuit generation are no longer skilled in hunting like their ancestors and are growing more accustomed to the Qallunaat ("white people") food that they receive from the south,听 in Aua鈥檚 time hunting was a vital part of the Inuit way of life and here is a chest-thumpingly boastful account of a successful, single-handed walrus hunt.
Staying in Canada, we travel a bit further south for Howard Cable鈥檚 鈥楾he Banks of Newfoundland鈥� performed by the Toronto-based Hannaford Street Silver Band.听 In 1979, Cable adapted his 鈥橬ewfoundland Rhapsody鈥� 鈥� originally written for a wind ensemble -听 for brass band, adding three movements to the folk tunes he had already collected in Newfoundland in 1947.
Hunting could, and in some regions of the north still does, mean the difference between life and death.听 In Greenlandic poet Gerda Hvisterdahl鈥檚 鈥榃here鈥�, the bemused hunter trudges across the white wilderness, searching vainly for his prey.听 Torkilk M酶rch鈥檚 鈥楪reenland Sharks鈥� alludes to a harsh and marginal existence where risking death is better than going hungry.
Sarek National Park is a mountainous area in the north of Sweden.听 Sven H酶rnell鈥檚 photographs of the dramatic landscape 鈥� displayed in his studio close to the mountains - inspired the Norwegian jazz pianist and composer Terje Bj酶rklund to write 鈥楽arek鈥�.听 The piece is performed by The Trondheim Soloists, for whom it was composed.Peter H酶eg is a Danish writer, but the protagonist of his 1992 novel 鈥楳iss Smilla鈥檚 Feeling for Snow鈥� is the daughter of an Inuit mother and Danish father and spends her childhood in Greenland before moving to Denmark.听 As a child, she develops an almost intuitive understanding of all types of snow and their characteristics and here she describes how she first discovered this gift. Wimme Saari is one of the best known Sami joikers from Finland.听 He combines traditional Sami singing with his own improvisations, usually to a techno-ambient accompaniment by members of Finnish electronic group RinneRadio.听 鈥槹坎咕辈圆悦〕蟪懿踱�� tells of a journey from Wimme鈥檚 home mountain up to the frosty sky and the Northern Lights, and then beyond to the 鈥榬eal鈥� world beyond the stars.
鈥楢 Finn鈥� is the best known poem by the Finnish writer Jorma Etto and is a bracingly self-deprecating dissection of the Finnish character.听
One of the most famous Finns is surely Jean Sibelius.听 If you listen to all the coverage celebrating the 150th anniversary of his birth, you should be able to decide whether or not he matches up to听 Jorma Etto鈥檚 description.听 听Here is 鈥楽ong in the Forest鈥�, one of five 鈥楨squisses鈥� from 1929 鈥� the last pieces Sibelius composed for solo piano.听 It鈥檚 played by Joseph Tong.
There is no shortage of myths and fairy tales associated with the far north and you can find out more about them elsewhere in the Northern Lights season.听 Although 鈥楾he Lapland Woman and the Finland Woman鈥� by Judith Taylor takes Andersen鈥檚 鈥楾he Snow Queen鈥� as its starting point, it zooms in on two minor characters who exemplify the qualities of resilience and hospitality which make life in such an uncompromising part of the world possible.
One of the ways in which people throughout the northern latitudes deal with the inescapable cold and darkness of winter is by drinking.听 The Danish tenor Lauritz Melchior sings the traditional Swedish drinking song 鈥楬elan G氓r鈥檞ith appropriate gusto.听 Then Siberian poet Sergey Samoylenko anatomises the downside of riding out the winter this way in 鈥楲ast year I lived at the bottom of a bottle鈥�.
鈥楽even Days of Falling鈥� sounds like a typical week in the life of Samoylenko鈥檚 neighbour, but it鈥檚 a composition from 2003 by Swedish jazz pianist Esbj枚rn Svensson.听 Svensson鈥檚 untimely death five years later brought an abrupt end to what promised to be a long and distinguished career.
The cold north of Siberia has become the unwelcome home for many exiles over the years.听 In the 20th century, the notorious GULAG system saw millions of individuals in the USSR sent to live in forced labour camps.听 The conditions in these camps were described in detail by Alexander Solzhenitsyn 听in听 鈥楾he Gulag Archipelago鈥� , published in 1973. This extract is from his earlier, fictional work听 鈥極ne Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich鈥�.
The composer Alexander Mosolov was another artist who fell foul of the Soviet authorities.听 He was arrested in 1937 and sentenced to eight years hard labour.听 Fortunately a petition led to his sentence being reduced in 1938 to a five year ban on entering Moscow, Leningrad or Kiev.听 This is from his Cello Concerto which he wrote in 1946, performed by Sergei Sudzilovsky with the Russian Cinematographic Symphony Orchestra.
Over a century earlier, in 1825, a group of young Russian officers took part in the Decembrist uprising in St Petersburg.听 Five of the ring-leaders were hanged and the others were exiled to Siberia for life.听 Several of them were friends of Alexander Pushkin and in 1827 he sent 听them this poetic message of hope 鈥� 鈥業n far Siberia鈥檚 deepest soil鈥�.
鈥楾undra鈥� by the Danish composer Poul Ruders was commissioned by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of Sibelius鈥檚 birth.听 Ruders has said that the title is 鈥榓 word which represents the quintessence of the far North鈥�.听 The piece is performed here by the Odense Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Scott Yoo.
Even when they are not sent there as a punishment, those who travel to the extreme north for work can find themselves trapped in a harsh and forbidding world.听 When the writer Joanna Kavenna visited Greenland,听 she found the remains of remote, deserted mining camp which hinted at the hardships that had been endured there.
The Norwegian composer Jon 脴ivind Ness explains the title of his 2011 piece 鈥楤ogey Thresher鈥� thus: 鈥楢 Bogey Thresher is a threshing machine for ghosts, a machine designed to harvest spectres鈥�.听 Who knows what it might have found at that eerie mining camp?听 It鈥檚 performed by 脴ystein Baadsvik with the Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra.听 The Klondike gold rush in the late 19th century saw thousands of prospectors travelling to Alaska, hoping it strike it rich.听 As Jack London put it 鈥榃hen the world rang with the tale of Arctic gold...the lure of the North gripped the heartstrings of men鈥�.听 In his short story 鈥業n A Far Country鈥�,听 two men 鈥� Weatherbee and Cuthfert 鈥� join the stampede, but find themselves wholly unprepared for the rigours of the North and, overwhelmed, their expedition unravels.
As we leave Cuthfert standing desolate in the dark,cold solitude of an Alaskan winter, Edvard Grieg provides us with a more consoling vision of a Northern landscape on which to end.听 鈥楨vening in the mountains鈥� is one of the composer鈥檚 Lyric Pieces and draws on his walks in the spectacular scenery of the Jotunheimen mountains in western Norway.
Torquil MacLeod
听
Broadcast
- Sun 13 Dec 2015 17:30鲍鱼tv Radio 3
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