[Music] BBC Philharmonic - The Beethoven Experience

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By the Gods, its been seven years since a good friend of mine told me about the Beethoven Experience.

I was in secondary school...

I can't put to words how much listening to this brilliant version (thought you'd stop reading if I said rendition) of Beethoven's Symphonies has influenced me. Let's say through the bad times and the good, B-dog has had my back. This exquisite St. Bernard with his heavenly slobber has woken me each morning with a wag in his tail and whiskey in his barrel-

oh wrong one.

There's a curt introduction at the start of each symphony, which includes some interesting tidbits about Beethoven's life, what he intended with certain movements, his inspirations or the reaction his music caused at the time.

As stated here, the BBC have no plans to make the series available for upload anytime soon (7 years not long enough?) and at the risk of the Philharmonic Orchestra raiding my house, or some tuba player parping and tooting angrily outside my window, I'm just gonna upload this here, and hope to gods there's not a word from any of you to that murderous orchestra.

Enjoy!


The Archivist

[Audiobook] Alan Watts - Do You Do It? Or Does It Do You?

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Some more words from Alan Watts, this one is more about the nature of duality. I'd recommend it for anyone feeling anxious about being.

Alan Watts - His voice is clear and soothing, with a soft British accent. His ideas are powerful and incredibly lucid. He strings together profound ideas gleaned from Buddhist and Hindu thought, weaving them into poetic braids of enlightenment and inspiration. Lest you worry these will be enigmatic zen-type teachings, rest assured they are conversational in tone and accessible to everyone. It's like listening to a favorite professor espousing lessons that are at once simple yet monumental.

[Audiobook] - The Essential Kipling

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Most readers know at least some of Kipling—his immortal creations Mowgli and the Just So Stories. But Kipling's range is far wider, encompassing poetry, journalism, children's writing, and letters. 

This collection samples the best of Kipling's work in all these genres. Here are unforgettable scenes from his fiction, like the magnificent moment when Mowgli leaves the wolves; superb poems like "Recessional," "East Is East," "If," and "The Female of the Species"; heartfelt letters to his children, including some of those to his beloved son Jack, who went missing in war and was never quite right again. 

The four CDs are clearly categorized into sections for listening ease—"India and Empire," "Animal Stories," "Children and Family," and "War and Other"—and each track is individually cued. Read by four of the most renowned British voices (whose biographies, with Kipling's, appear in an enclosed booklet), The Essential Kipling brings the best of this timeless author to longtime fans and new readers.

[BBC Radio 4] - '...But Still They Come'

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'...But Still They Come' explores the enormous impact and influence of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of The World's, telling the story of the recording of the original album, the various incarnations produced in the 35 years since its release and the 2012 version, re-recorded for a new generation.

This programme explains how and why Jeff Wayne began working on a concept album based on H.G. Wells' science fiction masterpiece and the years of hard work it took to realise his vision.

In the summer of 1978, the UK album charts were dominated by Disco and Punk, with the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack firmly entrenched at number one. It was an audacious move and a huge gamble to release a double concept album based on a Victorian science fiction novel. But the compelling blend of progressive rock, classical music, Richard Burton's narration and the fascinating story struck a chord with music fans all over the world and the album became a massive hit, supported by the singles Forever Autumn and Eve of the War.

Guests contributing recollections of the part they played in Jeff's creation include David Essex who voiced The Artilleryman and Justin Hayward who sang Forever Autumn. The programme also contains never-before-heard studio interaction with Richard Burton, David Essex and Jeff Wayne during the original recording sessions.

In the years since its release The War Of The Worlds has morphed in to live stage shows, computer games and apps. Now Jeff has re-interpreted the record for a 21st century audience with a new recording featuring Liam Neeson and Gary Barlow (who both contribute to this programme), and Joss Stone.

Produced by Des Shaw and Chris O'Shaughnessy 
A Ten Alps production for BBC Radio 4

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Bonus Download

Bonus Download

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Jeff Wayne - The War Of The Worlds [Special Edition] - 1996 [MP3 @ 320]

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds is a 1978 concept album by Jeff Wayne, retelling the story of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. 

Its format is progressive rock and string orchestra, using narration (by Richard freaking Burton!) and leitmotifs to carry the story via rhyming melodic lyrics that express the feelings of the various characters.


Enjoy!

[BBC Archive on 4] - Embracing Idleness

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The writer, Oliver Burkeman, wanders through the archives, thinking about the pros and cons of idleness. 

In these goal obsessed, triple-dip recession conscious days, the merest hint of idleness can send politicians and headline writers into a state of near apoplexy. Front-benchers from all political parties seem to be tripping over themselves in a bid to establish the supremacy of their moral devotion to the 'hard working families' and upstanding citizens of 'alarm clock Britain'. 

Oliver Burkeman steps back from the fray to unravel the complications of idleness and even discover some of its merits. As a non-idler who confesses to that feeling of smugness at having achieved tasks before breakfast time, Oliver nonetheless questions whether our target driven culture can ever bring any sense of contentment or happiness. The crux of the conflict seems to be that although idleness may be the dream, we spend most of our lives actively rejecting it. And so we admire, despise and envy the idler, all at once. 

Oliver consults a diverse range of characters from the archive to untangle some of the complications. These include Bagpuss, Rab C Nesbitt, Tony Hancock, Waynetta Slob and Ronald Reagan, who all help Oliver examine idleness and its relation to childhood, creativity, boredom, social class and subversion. There are also wonderful insights from 'real people'. There's the testimony of a schoolboy from 1960s Birmingham, dreaming of the island life. Unbothered by the noise of everyday life (including The Queen chasing him for rates) he is able to compose opera by seeking inspiration from nature. A gloriously grand Colonel's wife flagrantly tells of her life of luxury, being fed and watered by her husband with bath time Brandy and Ginger Ales, iced coffees, only occasionally talking to the children through the intercom if she is particularly bored. Then there's the fisherman who believes that idleness and death go hand in hand and that the introduction of the Welfare State could only turn him into a sluggard. And there's the moving testimony of a former miner, who began work in the pits during his school holidays in 1925, and then paradoxically found the greatest moments of happiness and freedom during the months of idleness brought about by the General Strike. 

Oliver also meets with the founder of The Idler magazine, Tom Hodgkinson, for a whistle stop history of idleness and the philosophical debate, to discover how the work ethic became so inculcated. Tom argues that at least part of the reason for this is because, by their very nature, pro-idlers are bound to be less zealous in spreading the idleness word. There's also an appealing aside, when Oliver observes that in the right person, idleness and that special insouciance that can go with it, is simply 'cool'. With fantastic music, enquiry, and laughter, join Oliver Burkeman, Embracing Idleness.


Producer: Sarah Langan.

[Audiobook] Ken Robinson - Out Of Our Minds

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"It is often said that education and training are the keys to the future. They are, but a key can be turned in two directions. Turn it one way and you lock resources away, even from those they belong to. Turn it the other way and you release resources and give people back to themselves.

To realize our true creative potential—in our organizations, in our schools and in our communities—we need to think differently about ourselves and to act differently towards each other. We must learn to be creative."

—Ken Robinson



There is a paradox. As children, most of us think we are highly creative; as adults many of us think we are not. What changes as children grow up? Organizations across the globe are competing in a world that is changing faster than ever. They say they need people who can think creatively, who are flexible and quick to adapt. Too often they say they can't find them. Why not? In this provocative and inspiring book, Ken Robinson addresses three vital questions: 

• Why is it essential to promote creativity? Business leaders, politicians and educators emphasize the vital importance of promoting creativity andinnovation. Why does this matter so much?
  
• What is the problem? Why do so many people think they're not creative? Young children are buzzing with ideas. What happens as we grow up and go through school to make us think we arenot creative?
  
• What can be done about it? What is creativity? What can companies, schools and organizations do to develop creativity and innovation in a deliberate and systematic way? 

In this extensively revised and updated version of his bestselling classic, Out of Our Minds, Ken Robinson offers a groundbreaking approach to understanding creativity in education and in business. He argues that people and organizations everywhere are dealing with problems that originate in schools and universities and that many people leave education with no idea at all of their real creative abilities. Out of Our Minds is a passionate and powerful call for radically different approaches to leadership, teaching and professional development to help us all to meet the extraordinary challenges of living and working in the 21st century.

[Audiobook] Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind

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"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few." 

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is a book of teachings by the late Shunryu Suzuki, a compilation of talks given to his satellite Zen center in Los Altos, California. 

Published in 1970 by Weatherhill, the book is not academic. These are frank and direct transcriptions of Suzukis' talks recorded by his student Marian Derby.

According to some, it has become a spiritual classic, helping readers to steer clear from the trappings of intellectualism.

In the forty years since its original publication, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind has become one of the great modern spiritual classics, much beloved, much reread, and much recommended as the best first book to read on Zen. 

Suzuki Roshi presents the basics—from the details of posture and breathing in zazen to the perception of nonduality—in a way that is not only remarkably clear, but that also resonates with the joy of insight from the first to the last page.

Enjoy!

Ladies and Gentlemen, we're moving home...

Mediafailure

It's clear to see Mediafire isn't a safe place for us anymore, even with my efforts of re-uploading, re-naming and password protecting our files, it would seem the golden age of file hosting has come to an end...

Our Glorious Leader

...or has it? Enter our Dear Leader Kim Dotcom and his Megaupload reboot - Mega.

I signed up to Mega on the eve of its creation, but have been hesitant in using the service in fear of a premature take-down.

It's been exactly a month without any problems, on top of them offering  €10,000 to anyone who can break Mega's open source encryption (yet to be broken).

So here's

• I will begin the process of re-uploading all links on BBC4Free as Mega links, and continue uploading great audio.

• Once we've hit the maximum capacity (50 GB) of storage on Mega's Free Account Service, I will add a donate button to this website, for any good souls who wish to help us get a 'Mega Pro Account'  - storage (500 GB) and bandwidth (1 TB) - (€10 per month/100 per year) 

Please keep your comments and suggestions coming, I love reading them.

Till then, enjoy and share the good stories.

The Archivist