Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Rabindranath Tagore: Unity in Diversity

For the anniversary of the birth of Rabindranath Tagore in 2011, Mark Tully presents an edition of Something Understood exploring Tagore's vision of the unity of all creation.

For the 150th anniversary of the birth of visionary polymath Rabindranath Tagore in 2011, Mark Tully presents a special edition of Something Understood exploring Tagore's vision of the unity of all creation.

Tagore was a Nobel prize winning poet, author, musician artist and philosopher. He argued for the essential 'oneness' of humanity and aimed to heal the divisions between East and West, science and spirituality and man and nature. Mark Tully asks what we can learn from Tagore's belief that 'truth implies unity, a unity expressed through many and varied manifestations, a unity which, when we are able to realise it, gives us freedom'.

Mark speaks to Vandana Shiva, a philosopher, physicist, and globally renowned environmental campaigner, who explains her understanding of Tagore's concept of the universal.

We hear music from around the world - from sarode player Wajahat Khan to Purcell's 'Ode to St Cecelia'. And we learn that Gustav Holst immersed himself in Hindu mysticism and spirituality. His series of choral hymns from the Rig Veda, the oldest of the Hindu scriptures, was the outcome of that experience. Readings come from William Cullen Bryant - an American romantic poet inspired by the wildness of the forest, Jean-Paul Sartre and, of course, from Tagore himself.

Producer: Jo Coombs
A Loftus Media production for 成人快手 Radio 4.

30 minutes

Last on

Sun 30 Jul 2023 06:05
成人快手 Radio 4

More episodes

Previous

Side Effects

Next

Animals

See all episodes from Something Understood

Music Played

  • Imrat Khan

    Rag Gitanjali

    Performer: Wajahat Khan

    • Performance recorded on location at the Tagore Festival 2011 for this programme.
    • N/A.
    • N/A.

  • Gustav Holst

    Hymn to the Dawn

    Performer: Osian Ellis (harp), Royal College of Music Chamber Choir, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir David Willcocks (conductor)

    • Hymns from the Rig Veda.
    • Unicorn 鈥� Kanchana Digital.
    • DKP(CD)9046.
    • 2.

  • Henry Purcell

    'Tis Nature's Voice

    Performer: Susan Hamilton, Siri Thornhill, Robin Blaze, Martin van der Zeijst, Mark Padmore, Jonathan Arnold, Jonathan Brown, Peter Harvey, Choeur et Orchestre du Collegium Vocale, dir. Philippe Herreweghe

    • Odes for Saint Cecilia鈥檚 Day.
    • Harmonia Mundi.
    • HMC 901643.
    • 4.

  • Slovak Philharmonic

    The National Anthem of Bangladesh

    • Complete National Anthems of the World (vol. 1, Acadia-Burundi).
    • Marco Polo.
    • 8.223386.
    • 16.

  • Slovak Philharmonic

    The National Anthem of India

    • Complete National Anthems of the World (vol. 3, Gabon-Kyrgyzstan).
    • Marco Polo.
    • 8.223388.
    • 19.

  • Chinmoy Chatterjee

    Na,jeo Na,jeo Nako

    • Na,jeo Na,jeo Nako.
    • Saregama.
    • B001NTBDTE.
    • 1.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 31 Jul 2011 06:05
    成人快手 Radio 4
  • Sun 31 Jul 2011 23:30
    成人快手 Radio 4
  • Sun 30 Jul 2023 06:05
    成人快手 Radio 4