Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Butterflies and Moths

From the Ugly Bug Ball and Alice's caterpillar to Madame Butterfly, Kaija Saariaho's Sept Papillons, John Fowles's collector of specimens and Tennessee Williams's plague of moths.

From the hookah-smoking caterpillar in Alice and Joby Talbot's ballet score, to John Fowles's collector of specimens and Poppy Adams exploration of the behaviour of moths, Shakespeare's King Lear laughing at "gilded butterflies" and WG Sebald's tracking of silkworms to Dickens' Mr Skimpole "free as a butterfly": today's programme weaves together examples of moths and butterflies in prose and poetry, set alongside music which ranges from operas by Bellini and Puccini to Harrison Birtwistle's Moth Requiem, Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road journeys, Dolly Parton's observation that "love is like a butterfly", a Hopi butterfly dance and music from film, including Silence of the Lambs. Our readers are Erin Shanagher and Rupert Hill.

Producer: Chris Wines

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 26 May 2024 18:00

Music Played

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

  • 00:01

    Orison

    The Butterfly

  • William Wordsworth

    To A Butterfly read by Rupert Hill

  • 00:03

    Vincenzo Bellini

    La Farfalletta

    Performer: Cecilia Bartoli. Performer: James Levine.
    • Decca 4555132.
    • Tr 15.
  • 00:05

    Gabriel Faur茅

    Papillon Op.77 for cello and piano

    Performer: Fran莽ois Salque. Performer: Eric Le Sage.
    • Alpha ALPHA600.
    • Tr 1.
  • Charles Dickens

    Bleak House read by Erin Shanager

  • 00:07

    Edward Elgar

    Wand of Youth Suite No 2 - III. Moths & Butterflies

    Performer: Halle (orchestra), Mark Elder (conductor).
    • HALLE CDHLL7548.
    • Tr 10.
  • Emily Dickinson

    Two Butterflies Went Out at Noon read by Erin Shanager

  • 00:10

    David Arkenstone

    On the Wings of A Butterfly

    Performer: David Arkenstone.
    • Narada ND-64003.
    • Tr 1.
  • Henri Charri猫re trans. Patrick O鈥橞rian

    Papillon read by Rupert Hill

  • 00:11

    Robert Schumann

    Papillons Op.2 for piano mvt 1

    Performer: Leon McCawley.
    • AVIE AV0029.
    • Tr 1.
  • Rabindranath Tagore

    Poems of Time read by Erin Shanager

  • 00:12

    Robert Schumann

    Papillons Op.2 for piano mvt XI & XII

    Performer: Leon McCawley.
    • AVIE AV0029.
    • Tr 1.
  • John Keats

    To Fanny Brawne, Newport, 3 July 1819 read by Rupert Hill

  • 00:16

    Dolly Parton

    Love is Like a Butterfly

    Performer: Dolly Parton.
    • RCA Records G010003118226I.
    • Tr 1.
  • 00:19

    Ralph Vaughan Williams

    Symphony No. 3 "A Pastoral Symphony" IV Mvt

    Singer: Andrew Staples. Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • ONYX ONYX-4161.
    • Tr 4.
  • Erich Maria Remarque

    All Quiet on the Western Front read by Rupert Hill

  • 00:29

    Antonio Vivaldi

    La Farfalletta s'aggira RV.660 for soprano and continuo

    Singer: Arianna Vendittelli. Ensemble: Abchordis Ensemble. Conductor: Andrea Buccarella.
    • NAIVE OP7257.
    • Tr 15.
  • 00:34

    Harrison Birtwistle

    The Moth Requiem

    Choir: 麻豆社 Singers. Ensemble: Nash Ensemble. Conductor: Nicholas Kok.
    • SIGNUM SIGCD368.
    • Tr 8.
  • Walter de la Mere

    鈥淭he Moth鈥 read by Erin Shanger

  • Sean Borrowdale

    Drinker Moth read by Rupert Hill

  • 00:36

    Maurice Ravel

    Miroirs - I Noctuelles

    Performer: Beatrice Rana.
    • WARNER CLASSICS 9029541109.
    • Tr 1.
  • Poppy Adams

    The Behaviour of Moths read by Erin Shanager

  • 00:41

    Howard Shore

    Silence of the Lambs 鈥 鈥淔inale鈥

    Performer: M眉nchner Symphoniker.
    • MCA MCD-10194.
    • Tr 13.
  • John Fowles

    The Collector read by Rupert Hill

  • 00:44

    Serge Gainsbourg

    Les Papillons Noirs

    Performer: Mich猫le Arnaud.
    • Parlophone (France) 5099909657854.
    • Tr 12.
  • 00:47

    Giorgio Mainerio

    Schiarazula marazula

    Ensemble: Ulsamer Collegium. Conductor: Josef Ulsamer.
    • DG 4696412.
    • Tr 1.
  • William Shakespeare

    King Lear read by Rupert Hill

  • 00:48

    Trad.

    Mido Mountain

    Performer: Yo鈥怸o Ma. Ensemble: Silk Road Ensemble.
    • SONY SK 89782.
    • Tr 4.
  • WG Seabald

    The Rings of Saturn by Erin Shanager

  • Li Po trans.

    鈥淐hung Chou in Dream鈥 read by Erin Shanager

  • Vladimir Nabokov

    鈥楽peak, Memory鈥 1948 read by Rupert Hill

  • 00:52

    Joby Talbot

    Alice In Wonderland' - "The Prologue"

    Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Christopher Austin.
    • HYPERION SIGCD327.
    • Tr 1.
  • Lewis Carroll

    Alice in Wonderland read by Erin Shanager

  • 00:56

    Roger Glover

    Butterfly Ball - Love Is All

    • Universal Music 00600753874448.
    • Tr 2.
  • 00:59

    Roger Mase, The Singers From 2nd Mesa

    Hopi Butterfly Dance

    • Music Of The World CTD-126.
    • Tr 4.
  • Gerald Dawavendewa

    Hopi Butterfly Dance鈥 read by Erin Shanager

  • 01:01

    Giacomo Puccini

    Madame Butterfly. Act 2 "Humming Chorus"

    Orchestra: The Vienna State Orchestra & Choir. Conductor: Herbert von Karajan.
    • DECCA 433067-2.
  • David Henry Hwang

    M-BUTTERFLY read by Rupert Hill

  • Ray Bredbury

    The Sound of Thunder read by Rupert Hill

  • 01:04

    David Buckley

    Greenland - 鈥淏utterfly Effect鈥

    Performer: Studio Orchestra.
    • Varese Sarabande 00888072198395.
    • Tr 2.
  • Robert Frost

    Blue Butterflies read by Erin Shanager

  • 01:07

    Kaija Saariaho

    Sept papillons - Nos 1 & 6

    Performer: Anssi Karttunen.
    • ONDINE ODE10472.
    • Tr 1.
  • Tennessee Williams

    鈥淎 plague has stricken the moths鈥 read by Rupert Hill

  • 01:10

    The Frail Ophelias

    Xerces Blue

    • Tr 4.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 28 Aug 2022 17:30
  • Sun 26 May 2024 18:00

The hidden history of plant-based diets

The hidden history of plant-based diets

Forget social media influencers - the meat-free movement started with the Victorians.

Books website

Get closer to books with in-depth articles, quizzes and our picks from radio & TV.