Milton's world
Alexandra Gilbreath and Oliver Ryan with readings from Milton set alongside music by Handel, Mozart, Ligeti and John Milton Senior.
John Milton died three hundred and fifty years ago, on the 8th November 1674. In this edition of Words and Music we take a journey through the work of this man, considered one of the greatest poets in the English language. He certainly doesn鈥檛 shy away from the big themes. From Paradise Lost, we hear Satan, the fallen angel, reconciling himself to evil, join God on creation of the First Day, as well as Eve weighing up whether to share the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge with her beloved Adam. Beyond Paradise Lost, we hear Samson lamenting his blindness, the evil Comus attempting to seduce an innocent virgin, and meditations on both time and music that point beyond human life to divine salvation. Milton鈥檚 father was a musician, so we鈥檒l hear a combination of work he would have heard himself, as well as music inspired by Milton鈥檚 verse by Handel and others, and work from the likes of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven that aspires to the lofty themes of the poetry itself.
Readers: Alexandra Gilbreath and Oliver Ryan
Producer: Luke Mulhall
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