Episodes
| Series | Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 03 | Bbc Philharmonic Presents... | 20141221 | 20230524 (6M) | To mark the winter solstice, a chance to hear a programme first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on 1st October in which Jarvis Cocker brought his award winning series Wireless Nights to Salford, forming part of this year's BBC Philharmonic Presents... series, a celebration of orchestral music in its many different forms. In front of a studio audience, Jarvis Cocker and the BBC Philharmonic weave tales of insomnia, nocturnal inspirations and dark imaginings from the world of classical music - against the backdrop of a President embroiled in the Vietnam War. There's also a special performance from Jarvis himself. Jarvis tells stories of an insomniac German Count who supposedly had Bach compose his Goldberg Variations as a sleeping aid, and a wired President Nixon listening to Rachmaninov in the small hours when he felt the urge to go on a bizarre excursion in the presidential limo. He also conjures up music that came in dreams and revelations – from Stravinsky's wild visions in the Rite of Spring to Schumann's once forgotten Violin Concerto, which apparently re-emerged during a séance many years after the composer's death. Maxime Tortelier conducts the BBC Philharmonic led by Yuri Torchinsky. Anthony Marwood plays solo violin and Peter Donohoe plays solo piano. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and repeated on 6 Music to mark the Winter Solstice. Producers: Laurence Grissell and Neil McCarthy Jarvis Cocker and the BBC Philharmonic weave dark tales of insomnia and nocturnal visions. Jarvis Cocker explores the human condition after dark, with stories of night people | |
| 03 | 02 | Reaching For The Moon | 20141020 | 20141221 (6M) 20230524 (6M) | Jarvis Cocker attempts to fly to the moon with the aid of astronaut Chris Hadfield. Jarvis Cocker explores the human condition after dark, with stories of night people |
| 03 | 03 | Lava And Ice | 20141027 | 20141221 (6M) 20230524 (6M) | Jarvis Cocker wanders the lava fields of Iceland in search of the unseen forces of night. In the midnight shadow of Snaefellsjokull, the volcano featured in Jules Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth, Jarvis considers the timelessness of the landscape, until he discovers sheep time. His sheep guides only lead him further into the unknown, through a hole in the lava floor and on a journey through a magma underworld, finding there a symphony orchestra, human seals and a wake. Producer Neil McCarthy. Jarvis Cocker explores the human condition after dark, with stories of night people |
| 03 | 04 | Bright Nights | 20141103 | 20141221 (6M) 20230524 (6M) | In the second part of his nocturnal Icelandic adventure, Jarvis goes on a journey through the long, light summer night. He meets Megas, the island's best known poet and rock and roll legend, who warns of wandering demons as he embarks on an overnight road trip. Along the way he stops to hear ghost stories in Reykjavik's oldest cemetery, meets an elf seer in a lava field and is led to a sacred waterfall, behind which he makes a wish. But will he make it back before the hour of the wolf? Producer Neil McCarthy. Jarvis Cocker goes on a journey through an Icelandic night that never falls. Jarvis Cocker explores the human condition after dark, with stories of night people |