Rainer Maria Rilke

Apr 27, 2022 · 44m 44s
Rainer Maria Rilke
Description

A New Age mystic who fell out of favour for his apolitical views - how true a characterisation is this of the Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926)?...

show more
A New Age mystic who fell out of favour for his apolitical views - how true a characterisation is this of the Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 – 1926)? Anne McElvoy discusses the work and legacy of the visionary poet, from his idiosyncratic use of figures and images from both Classical mythology and Christianity to explore existential themes. Her guests are Lesley Chamberlain, author of a new biography; composer Ninfea Crutwell-Reade whose Vigil I is a setting of the first poem in the sequence 'Vigilien' by Rainer Maria Rilke; and New Generation Thinker Seán Williams, who lectures in German and European Cultural History at the University of Sheffield. In addition to discussing Rilke, Seán also sheds light on Walpurgisnacht Night and the folk traditions of the night before May Day when witches are said to meet on the Brocken Mountain.

You can find more about Ninfea's music at https://ninfeacruttwellreade.com/
New Generation Thinker Seán Williams has made Sunday features for Radio 3 about ice skating https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0013837
and the history of luxury https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0003rpl
Lesley Chamberlain's biography Rilke: The Last Inward Man is out now http://www.lesleychamberlain.co.uk/

Producer: Luke Mulhall
show less
Information
Author BBC
Organization BBC
Website -
Tags
-

Looks like you don't have any active episode

Browse Spreaker Catalogue to discover great new content

Current

Podcast Cover

Looks like you don't have any episodes in your queue

Browse Spreaker Catalogue to discover great new content

Next Up

Episode Cover Episode Cover

It's so quiet here...

Time to discover new episodes!

Discover
Your Library
Search