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Four Seasons: Failing and Flying by Jack Gilbert

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Failing and Flying by Jack Gilbert

21/06/2018

BBC Radio 4 - Four Seasons, Failing and Flying by Jack Gilbert

Jack Gilbert's reflective poem for the midpoint of summer, read by Simon Russell Beale.

Read by Simon Russell Beale, Failing and Flying is a sparse account of a marriage as it unravels over the course of a summer, scored by William Grant Still's Moderately Slow.

Jack Gilbert's poem, Failing and Flying, read by Simon Russell Beale, is a sparse and simple recollection of a marriage as it unravels over the course of a summer. Typical of his poems, it reads like a long, steady camera shot, in which the light becomes richer as the seconds slowly pass. 

Accompanied by the music of William Grant Still, often referred to as 'The Dean' of African-American composers, this is from his piece "Moderately Slow", prelude for flute, string quintet, and piano (1962). Performed by Alexa Still on flute, Susan De Witt on piano and the New Zealand String Quartet. Lazy and relaxed, it evokes a quiet, warm afternoon. 

Producer: Sarah Addezio.

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