Published in 1932, some 17 years before George Orwell's equally dystopian 1984, Brave New World was prompted by Aldous Huxley's visit to the United States and his shock at the all-embracing commercialization he encountered. Set in the 26th century, the book depicts a world in which the masses are socially engineered and subconsciously indoctrinated for their roles in society, and kept docile and content by a combination of drugs (Soma), promiscuous sex, synthesized Muzak and mindless entertainment (the feelies). Solitary pursuits such as reading are discouraged in favor of group activities, while the nuclear family has been replaced by the Hatcheries and Conditioning Centres that control every aspect of the period between artificial conception and childhood. This extraordinary musical radio production of Huxley's masterpiece attracted a suitably stellar cast of performers including the author himself in the role of narrator and the great film composer Bernard Hermann, a titan of cinema now remembered for such undisputed masterpieces as Citizen Kane, Psycho and Taxi Driver. Here, his palette was necessarily constrained by budgetary considerations, but he nevertheless deployed his slender resources -- organ and percussion instruments -- with typical ingenuity. In the first part of the programme we hear eight cues of Bernard Herrmann's original score followed by the original radio production in its entirety with Herrmann's music as broadcast by the CBS Radio Workshop in January and February 1956.

 

Track Listing:

Disc 1
01.	Aldous Huxley's Brave New World	00:46	listen
02.	Aldous Huxley's Brave New World	00:54	listen
03.	Aldous Huxley's Brave New World	00:57	listen
04.	Aldous Huxley's Brave New World	01:20	listen
05.	Aldous Huxley's Brave New World	01:13	listen
06.	Aldous Huxley's Brave New World	02:09	listen
07.	Aldous Huxley's Brave New World	00:50	listen
08.	Aldous Huxley's Brave New World	00:34	listen
09.	Aldous Huxley's Brave New World - Part One	30:06	listen
10.	Aldous Huxley's Brave New World - Part Two	29:53	listen