Soul Music

Latest Episodes:

Siegfried Idyll May 31, 2017

Show notes

Wagner's peaceful Siegfried Idyll was written to thank his wife after the birth of his son Siegfried.

On her birthday in 1870, she awoke to find an orchestra on her staircase performing the music for the first time.

It's music which celebrates family relationships, and we hear from people whose lives and relationships have been touched and changed by this remarkable piece.

Cellist Nick Trygstad explains how the music conjures up scenes of domestic life and helped him cope with his homesickness when he arrived in the UK.

Karen West recalls a 50th birthday treat - a trip across lake Lucerne with her father, to visit Wagner's villa.

For Tim Reynish, the music has a special connection with his son - when William was born he recreated the first performance on the staircase of his Birmingham home; many years later he conducted the music at his son's memorial concert.

And Roberto Paternostro recalls a historic performance in Germany when he took a group of Israeli musicians to perform Wagner's music for the first time at Bayreuth - the opera house built by Wagner, and later frequented by Adolf Hitler.

Producer: Melvin Rickarby

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2017.

My Favourite Things May 24, 2017

Show notes

"Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens".

Guests from around the world share their special memories of The Sound of Music classic 'My Favourite Things'.

Written by Rodgers and Hammerstein in 1959, this deceptively simple song has travelled the globe to comfort and enthral children the world over.

Iranian Astronaut and philanthropist Anousheh Ansari's first encounter with this musical classic was in her native language of Farsi. It's a melody she held dear to her during years of unrest through the Iranian revolution and the war that was to follow. It's also the song that travelled with her as she realised her childhood dream of exploring outer space.

For vocal coach Heather Mair Thomas 'My Favourite Things' evokes memories of a happy Cornish childhood, growing up with her musical family. It has also become a reminder to always look for the good in life - come what may.

Meanwhile Jazz musician David Lieberman takes us on a journey through the 1960's New York club scene to the night where an encounter with John Coltrane's version of 'My Favourite Things' changed his life forever.

Plus Sound of Music fan Emma Poulton-White relives her very special wedding day that was topped off with a 'copper kettle' .

Featuring Tom Santopietro author of 'The Sound of Music Story'.

Producer: Nicola Humphries

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2017.

Waterloo Sunset May 17, 2017

Show notes

Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks was released in 1967.

Soul Music hears the poignant, thoughtful and life-changing memories of those who love it.

Childhood holidays were an escape from bullying for John Harvey. He describes the unforgettable moment when he heard Waterloo Sunset for the first time, on the radio, in 1967. Getting to know the music of The Kinks, and finding out about the character of its lead singer, Ray Davies, shaped and coloured his life from then on.

Allison Moore Adams is an American who married Vernon, a Brit. Waterloo Sunset was sung at his bedside following a terrible road accident. The painting used to illustrate this edition of Soul Music is of Vernon and Allison on Waterloo Bridge. It's by Allison's friend, Isabelle Logie, who also sang to Vernon in hospital.

Christopher Young used to work in mental health. For him, the lyrics of Waterloo Sunset symbolise the isolation that many people feel.

Professor Allan Moore, a musicologist, discusses why this beautiful pop song works so well.

Producer: Karen Gregor

First brodacast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2017.

The Star-Spangled Banner Nov 01, 2016

Show notes

America's national anthem was written by a lawyer, Francis Scott Key, after watching the British navy bombing Fort McHenry in 1814.

It was set to an English social men's club song and recognized as the national anthem in 1889. Notoriously difficult to sing, and traditionally played at public sports events and orchestral concerts, the anthem has inspired emotion and attracted controversy.

We hear from: * Dr John Carlos who, along with Dr Tommie Smith, raised his fist on the Olympic podium in the Mexico City Olympics in 1968, as the anthem was played.

* Jose Feliciano who sang the anthem at the 1968 World series and provoked criticism.

* Conrad Netting IV who discovered the truth about his fighter pilot father's history, which led him to a cemetery in Normandy.

* Writer Crista Cloutier who associated it with President Obama's election.

* Members of the Coldstream Guards band, who played the anthem at the changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace on the day after 9/11.

* Leon Hendrix, Jimi's brother, who was in the army at the time of Woodstock, and was put on 'potato peeling duty' because of the 'dishonourable' version his brother had played.

Producer Sara Conkey

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2016.

The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face Oct 25, 2016

Show notes

Memories of first love, first borns and loss are stirred by 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face'.

This timeless love song was written by Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, and made famous by Roberta Flack.

Activist and folk musician Peggy Seeger recalls her first meeting with the Scottish folk musician, which would inspire him to write the song, and talks about what the song means to her today. Ewan MacColl's biographer Ben Harker explains why this song is so different from much of his other work.

Julie Young talks about singing the song to her son Reagan, who had severe complex needs following a cardiac arrest as a baby.

Writer Louise Janson speaks about what the song came to mean to her as she set out on the path to becoming a mother on her own.

Writer and academic Jason King tells the story of how Roberta Flack came to cover this ballad, and how it catapulted her to fame.

And Kandace Springs, a singer and pianist from Nashville, Tennessee, records her version of the song and talks about why the song is one of the greatest love songs of all time.

Producer: Mair Bosworth

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2016.

Jerusalem Oct 18, 2016

Show notes

"Jerusalem" has become a quintessentially middle-class and very English song, but it's also held in the hearts and memories of people from different backgrounds and cultures.

There is a bit of cricket - commentator Jonathan Agnew (Aggers) discusses England's stunning and unexpected victory in the 2005 Ashes. Jerusalem reminds him of that extraordinary summer.

Pamela Davenport is the daughter of a man who felt that the words of Jerusalem highlighted inequality in society; lack of money prevented him fulfilling his academic potential and he died in a care home that didn't care well enough for him.

For American poet, Ann Lauterbach, the unusual and little-known Paul Robeson version was the theme-tune to her escape from the difficult years of Nixon and Vietnam to 1960s London.

Singer, Janet Shell, recalls the burial of her Great Uncle who was killed during World War One, but whose body was only discovered in 2009.

Susanne Sklar - a scholar of William Blake - discusses the inspiration behind the words of the poem. Probably, she says, he wrote them while awaiting his trial for sedition; he was in trouble for fighting with a soldier who had urinated in his garden.

Composer and writer, Paul Spicer, plays, sings and talks through the tune which was composed by Sir Hubert Parry.

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact.

Producer: Karen Gregor

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2016.

A Change Is Gonna Come, by Sam Cooke Oct 12, 2016

Show notes

Sam Cooke's A Change Is Gonna Come has become synonymous with the American Civil Rights Movement.

It was released in December 1964, two weeks after the influential singer was shot dead in Los Angeles.

Contributors include:

Sam Cooke's brother LC, singer Bettye Lavette who sang it for Barack Obama at his inaugural ceremony and civil rights activists from the Freedom Summer of 64, Jennifer Lawson and Mary King.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2016.

Feed the Birds May 03, 2016

Show notes

'Feed The Birds' was written for the film Mary Poppins by Richard and Robert Sherman.

Mozart's Requiem Apr 26, 2016

Show notes

How Mozart's Requiem, written when he was dying, has touched and changed people's lives.

Crime writer Val McDermid recalls how this music helped her after the loss of her father. Hypnotist Athanasios Komianos recounts how the piece took him to the darker side of the spirit world. And a friend of ballet dancer Edward Stierle, Lissette Salgado-Lucas, explains how Eddie turned his struggle with HIV into a ballet inspired by Mozart's music.

Basement Jaxx used the Requiem in their live shows while Felix Buxton reveals his love for Mozart and the divine nature of the Requiem.

And Mozart expert Cliff Eisen takes us inside the composer's world: how the orchestra and choir conjure visions of funerals, beauty, hellfire and the confusion of death. He recounts how Mozart was commissioned to write the piece by a nobleman who may have intended to pass off the work as his own. The stern challenge faced by people trying to complete the piece are described by composer Michael Finnissy, who himself wrote a completion of the work.

The Requiem was performed at the funerals of many heroic figures - Beethoven, Napoleon and JF Kennedy, among others.

Gordana Blazinovic remembers one extraordinary performance during the horrors of the Bosnian war - a show of defiance and grief from the ruins of Sarajevo City Hall.

Producer: Melvin Rickarby.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2016.

The Way You Look Tonight Apr 19, 2016

Show notes

'The Way You Look Tonight' was written by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields for the 1936 film 'Swing Time'.

Sung by Fred Astaire to Ginger Rogers while she was washing her hair, the song won an Oscar. It has been recorded by Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday.

Sarah Woodward, daughter of actor Edward, recalls how aged seven, she watched him sing it on The Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show with his 'angelic' voice.

Theatre director Michael Bawtree remembers the song being his father's favourite, and being distraught when he broke the gramophone record as a five-year-old.

And Glaswegian singer, Eddie Toal describes making an album of jazz songs, including 'The Way You Look Tonight' to remember his late wife, Irene.

Series about pieces of music that make a powerful emotional impact.

Producer: Sara Conkey

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2016.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected