Endeavour and I dive into the magnificent 1948 account of Robert Falcon Scott’s heroic but ultimately doomed attempt to be the first man to reach the South Pole. We discuss how Scott’s raw Faustian Spirit had little regard for financial or scientific incentives, the brilliant soundtrack by Vaughn Williams, and the benefits of patriotism.
I also spend some time addressing the recent unpleasantness in the superchat section.
Watched the movie before listening. which I recommend.
A major point for me is the score by Vaughan Williams. I have an old tattered copy of his collection of English Folk Songs, https://john01.substack.com/p/english-folk-songs. He was one of the champions of preserving English culture in the face of the disclocation of urban life, hence the collection. Although you hear melodies from songs such as The Lovely Joan and My Bonny Boy in his orchestral work, in the score for this movie he seems to have thrown himself into the alien soundscape with no references to familiar tunes that I can hear. Consequently the symphony he wrote subsequently from score stands out from his other work, it has none of the pastoral warmth you'll hear in a piece such as Five Variants of "Dives and Lazarus".
Listening to this going through Heathrow Airport...if security finds out defo getting body cavity search!