From Rock-a-bye Baby to Brahms to AI…Has the lullaby become a lost art?Matt Edmonds is trying to sing his child to sleep. It’s not working. As his baritone produces My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean for the 19th time and his toddler says 'Dada, stop!’, he drifts into a parallel reality. Could AI do bedtime for him? Surely it would be simpler? And he would be spared lying on the floor of his child’s bedroom.What is a lullaby? What gives it its magic? The tune? The words? The rhythm? The very act of delivery? In this programme, we join Matt Edmonds - writer, musician and father - as he falls down a rabbit hole, chasing the lost art of the lullaby. In this dreamy, musical 'sleeper hit', Matt encounters people with stories that explore the power of the lullaby.During Lullaby Hour at a neonatal unit, Matt hears first-hand the impact live lullabies have on premature babies. He talks to Roxana Vilk, whose lullabies project gathers songs from all over the world, to see if she can help. And he meets his friends, musicians Johnny and Lillie Flynn, to hear what musical tricks they use to compose and sing lullabies. Full of fresh wisdom, Matt returns to his child’s bedside, his baritone hoarse and sleep-deprived, to test if the ancient art of the lullaby still has legs. This programme is richly designed with a soundscape woven from recordings of Matt’s own attempts at lullabies, the sounds of the locations he visits, and music from Matt, Mica Bernard, Bex Ashford and from Johnny and Lillie Flynn.Presenter: Matt Edmonds
Producer: Jenny Dare
Executive Producers: Shannon Delwiche, Chris Jones and Guy NatanelWith special thanks to Dr Aniko Deierl and Irena Meza for their contributionsA Sound & Bones production for BBC Radio 4.
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The Little Box Which Contains the World
Emily Berry leads us on an exploration of agoraphobia: a poetic journey through the lives of people who don't like going on journeys.Agoraphobia is elusive and elastic – and it's very probably not what you think it is.Poet Emily Berry was diagnosed with agoraphobia over ten years ago, a condition which limits her ability to travel. And so she's setting off in a different way: on a journey into the life of the mind, guided by a chorus of fellow agoraphobics. What does it mean to come up against the boundaries of the self and how might those limits be breached through the power of the imagination – in the words of poet Vasko Popa, "the little box which contains the world."Featuring Graham Caveney, Charlotte Levin and Peter Ruppert.Includes extracts from a BBC interview with Dr Claire Weekes.
Graham Caveney's memoir is called On Agoraphobia (Picador)
Charlotte Levin's most recent novel is If I Let You Go (Mantle)
Peter Ruppert's on-line community is anxietyfitness.com
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The Piano Boat
The Piano Boat, the floating concert hall where world-renowned concert pianist Masayuki Tayama played, sits empty. His wife, Rhiana, is left with a boat with no captain and a Steinway she was never allowed to play. We join her as she processes her grief and considers the future of The Piano Boat without Masa.Rhiana and Masa commissioned the boat in 2019 and planned to run concert cruises, on board the boat, along the inland waterways. It was a dream project for both of them – a life designed for two.But, in 2021 Masa was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and although the chemotherapy turned his fingers numb, he relearned his technique and kept playing. In August 2023, a week after what would be their final round of cruises, Masa was hospitalized for the last time. He died two weeks later.Will Greenwood, who has seen the boat from creation to present day, journeys with Rhiana on the waterways and as she rebuilds her dreams while coping with her grief. She shares her honest audio diaries, the highs and lows. She is surprised by sorrow and joy as she starts to fill the boat with music once more. Beginning with playing Masa’s piano – something she had never done before.Craig Terry, Director of Steinway & Sons UK, tells us about the piano and meeting Rhiana and Masa for the first time. Concert Pianist and one of Masa’s former colleagues, Graham Caskey, and music academic, Kris Worsley, talk on the intimacy of The Piano Boat, and show us how the pieces we hear don’t need words to tell a story.Presented by Will Greenwood
Produced by Will Greenwood and Anna Scott-Brown
An Overtone production for BBC Radio 4
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Problems with Julia Masli
There are so many problems in the world. For the past three years, Estonian clown Julia Masli - armed with a microphone taped to a mannequin leg - has been trying to solve them.So far, during the performances of her live show ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, where Julia asks audience members their problem, she has recorded 1574 problems. A few people feel homesick, some worry about the collapse of society, and many lament their retreating hairlines. But we are not alone with our problems: Janet is not the only one with a broken fridge. Simon shares his back pain. Alexandra might feel lonely, but Aisha does too. This clown might not be able to solve all of our problems, but she’s going to try. Photo: Cameron Whitman
Original music composed by Alessio Festuccia
Produced by Talia Augustidis and Julia Masli
Dramaturgy by Kim Noble (director of ha ha ha ha ha ha ha)
Executive producers Alan Hall and Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for BBC Radio 4
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The Findhorn Garden
This is a story about a community on the north east coast of Scotland that talked to plants with miraculous results.Established in 1962, the Findhorn community gained international recognition for 40lb cabbages, 8-foot delphiniums, and roses that bloomed in snow.With seemingly no gardening experience, community founders Peter and Eileen Caddy and their friend Dorothy Maclean transformed the barren sand dunes surrounding the 30-foot caravan they were living in, into a modern-day garden of Eden.The public wanted to know how this was possible. What was the source of this horticultural miracle? People flocked to Findhorn from around the world to witness this incredible transformation first-hand.An extraordinary story began to emerge. Peter, Eileen and Dorothy - along with Scottish writer and supernatural enthusiast Robert Ogilvie Crombie (ROC) - attributed their success to one thing: collaboration with the ‘intelligence of nature’.They claimed they had pierced the veil of the nature spirit realm, and were regularly receiving guidance from fairies, floral spirits and angelic forms Dorothy called 'Devas' - the ‘architects’ of the natural world. Moreover, they had been called upon by these entities to transform the Findhorn Garden into a centre of spiritual light. What started with a single family in a caravan quickly grew into a thriving international village of hundreds of people united by shared social, spiritual and ecological values.Inspired by the media's enduring fascination with Findhorn's supernatural origins, sound designer Jonathan Webb travels to Findhorn in search of transmissions from the nature spirit realm.Trawling through the archives, in conversation with community elders, and in pursuit of sonic traces of higher elemental worlds, Jonathan brings into focus the echoes and reverberations of Findhorn’s strange and magical past.Produced, Edited & Sound Designed by Jonathan Webb
Executive Producer: Carys WallA Bespoken Media Scotland production for BBC Radio 4Additional field recordings by Brenda Hutchinson.With grateful thanks to Jonathan Caddy, Judy McAllister and Karl Jay-Lewin, whose kindness and generosity made this programme possible.Thank you to the Findhorn Foundation for providing access and permission to use recordings from the Findhorn Foundation archive.The Findhorn Garden includes excerpts from ‘The River’ by Lark Batteau and ‘Love One Another’ by David Spangler and Milenko Matanovic, performing as The New Troubadours (Findhorn community band, 1970-1973)Jonathan Webb makes no claim to authorship or ownership over any of the quotations or repurposed recordings used in the production of this work, and for practical and artistic reasons it has not been possible to reference and cite them individually. Jonathan Webb’s authorship is in the overall conception, arrangement, treatment and presentation of this audio artwork in its context.
Illuminated is BBC Radio 4's home for creative and surprising one-off documentaries that shed light on hidden worlds.Welcome to a place of audio beauty and joy, with emotion and human experience at its heart. The programmes you will find in this feed explore the reality of contemporary Britain and the world, venturing into its weirdest and most wonderful aspects. This is a chance to meet voices that are not normally heard, open secret doors into concealed chambers and, above all, be transported by the art and inventiveness of the very best programme makers. Just press the switch.New episodes are available weekly on Sunday evenings. Subscribe on BBC Sounds to make sure you don't miss an episode.
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