Illuminated is BBC Radio 4's home for creative and surprising one-off documentaries that shed light on hidden worlds.
Welcome to a place of audio beauty and joy, with emotion and human experience at its heart. The programmes you will find in this feed explore the reality of contemporary Britain and the world, venturing into its weirdest and most wonderful aspects.
This is a chance to meet voices that are not normally heard, open secret doors into concealed chambers and, above all, be transported by the art and inventiveness of the very best programme makers. Just press the switch.
New episodes are available weekly on Sunday evenings. Subscribe on BBC Sounds to make sure you don't miss an episode.
Illuminated is BBC Radio 4's home for creative and surprising one-off documentaries that shed light on hidden worlds.
Welcome to a place of audio beauty and joy, with emotion and human experience at its heart. The programmes you will find in this feed explore the reality of contemporary Britain and the world, venturing into its weirdest and most wonderful aspects.
This is a chance to meet voices that are not normally heard, open secret doors into concealed chambers and, above all, be transported by the art and inventiveness of the very best programme makers. Just press the switch.
New episodes are available weekly on Sunday evenings. Subscribe on BBC Sounds to make sure you don't miss an episode.
From Rock-a-bye Baby to Brahms to AI…Has the lullaby become a lost art?
Matt Edmonds is trying to sing his child to sleep. It’s not working. As his baritone produces My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean for the 19th time and his toddler says “Dada, stop!’”, he drifts into a parallel reality. Could AI do bedtime for him? Surely it would be simpler? And he would be spared lying on the floor of his child’s bedroom.
What is a lullaby? What gives it its magic? The tune? The words? The rhythm? The very act of delivery? In this programme, we join Matt Edmonds - writer, musician and father - as he falls down a rabbit hole, chasing the lost art of the lullaby. In this dreamy, musical 'sleeper hit', Matt encounters people with stories that explore the power of the lullaby.
During Lullaby Hour at a neonatal unit, Matt hears first-hand the impact live lullabies have on premature babies. He talks to Roxana Vilk, who is collecting lullabies from all over the world, to see if she can help. And he meets his friends, musicians Johnny and Lillie Flynn, to hear what musical tricks they use to compose and sing lullabies.
Full of fresh wisdom, Matt returns to his child’s bedside, his baritone hoarse and sleep-deprived, to test if the ancient art of the lullaby still has legs.
This programme is richly designed with a soundscape woven from recordings of Matt’s own attempts at lullabies, the sounds of the locations he visits, and music from Matt, Mica Bernard, Bex Ashford and from Johnny and Lillie Flynn.
A Sound & Bones production for BBC Radio 4.