成人快手

In early summer, as darkness descends, Berlin resonates with the sound of nightingales. You can hear their haunting, ever-changing songs in parks, woodlands and gardens across the city. From Kreuzberg to Treptower, Tempelhof to Hasenheide, Berlin has become a refuge for one of the most celebrated and mythologised birds on earth.

The city is the summer home for over one and a half thousand nesting pairs. Nobody鈥檚 quite sure why nightingales have adopted the city so enthusiastically. Maybe it鈥檚 Berlin鈥檚 enlightened policy towards park management which leaves areas of untended scrub and dense bushes providing ground-nesting nightingales with perfect cover.

Whatever the reason, this blossoming of nightingales means that their song has become the soundtrack to countless moments in Berlin鈥檚 residents鈥� lives: lovers listening to the nightingale鈥檚 melody in the depths of the night; a childhood memory of illness soothed by hearing the song 鈥� and the German name Nachtigall 鈥� for the first time; and a visit to one of the few architectural remnants of Germania, Hitler鈥檚 megalomaniacal plan for a new city on the site of Berlin.

This programme gathers memories of the nightingale鈥檚 lingering, multi-faceted song and the sounds of city evenings to create an audio portrait of Berlin, its people and the bird to whom it鈥檚 given refuge.

We hear too from a group of musicians who seek out nightingales in the city鈥檚 parks to play alongside them. They describe feeling their way into the nightingale鈥檚 song, the call-and-response between bird and human and the sense of each listening to the other. Some even describe themselves as nightingales: they鈥檝e travelled from far countries to make music in Berlin.

The programme is made in collaboration with Berlin Museum of Natural History鈥檚 Forschungsfall Nachtigall project that asks members of the public to record nightingales and send in their recordings 鈥� along with stories and memories of the bird which has become a symbol of the city.

With the voices of Sarah Darwin, Korhan Erel, Gaby Hartel, Volker Lankow, Christopher and Erika Lehmpfuhl, Charlotte Neidhardt, Philip Oltermann, Sascha Penshorn, Tina Roeske, David Rothenberg and Cymin Samawatie.

Featuring music from David Rothenberg鈥檚 'Nightingale Cities' project and 'Berlin B眉lb眉l by David Rothenberg and Korhan Erel.

Location recordings in Berlin by Martyna Pozna艅ska and Monika Dorniak.

Producer: Jeremy Grange

Photograph courtesy of Kim Mortega

Show less