Soul Music

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Ma Vlast Sep 14, 2010

Show notes

At the core of Czech cultural identity sits Bedrich Smetana’s Ma Vlast.

Written in the late 19th century, it's a series of six symphonic poems. For a western audience the most popular and best loved is Vltava, a soundscape conjuring up vivid images of the river which runs through Prague.

Jan Kaplan is a Czech born film-maker who has lived in the UK since 1968. He describes the 'educational concerts' he had to attend as a young boy when - bored to tears - he would endure long performances of Smetana's music.

However, as an adult living in exile, his experience of Czech culture was tinged with a remote sense of patriotism and he grew to appreciate his national composer. When - following the 1989 Velvet revolution - he was eventually able to return home, he witnessed one of the most famous and moving performances of Ma Vlast at Smetana Hall in 1990.

Also at that concert was musicologist, Professor Jan Smaczny, who describes his memories of that evening, and explains the history and mythology portrayed in Ma Vlast.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2010.

Send in the Clowns Sep 07, 2010

Show notes

Stephen Sondheim's song, Send In the Clowns, from the musical 'A Little Night Music' was written late in rehearsals for the actress Glynis Johns, playing the part of Desiree.

A song of regret and anger, the part has famously been played by Judi Dench, and the song became an independent hit, sung by Judy Collins, Shirley Bassey and Barbra Streisand.

Hannah Waddingham played the youngest ever Desiree in Trevor Nunn's production, and used her memories of an unhappy relationship to inspire her performance.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Sara Conkey.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2010.

Bach's Goldberg Variations Mar 23, 2010

Show notes

Bach wrote his Goldberg Variations for harpsichord in the 1740s, but today it's performed by pianists all over the world.

People describe the place these pieces have in their lives.

This includes:

* A neuroscientist from New York * Pianist Angela Hewitt * A father driving his family through the night in the Australian Outback * A woman from Oregon whose life was transformed, perhaps even saved, by this music.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Sarah Conkey

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2010.

He's Got the Whole World in His Hands Mar 16, 2010

Show notes

He's Got the Whole World in His Hands is a spiritual song originating in the USA.

But it first caught the public's attention when Laurie London took it to the top of the charts in 1958.

In this programme, people describe the place that the song has in their lives. Including the conductor of a choir for refugees and asylum seekers and the minister who led prayers on President Obama's first day in office.

There's also a performance from Washington Performing Arts Society's Children of the Gospel Choir. They sang an arrangement of He's Got the Whole World in His Hands made by their conductor and Artistic Director Stanley J Thurston at the National Prayer Service at the Washington National Cathedral on January 21, 2009.

President Barack Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden and their families attended this service and the sermon was given by the Reverend Sharon E Watkins.

Contributors:

John Copley Ian Bradley Amy Mclean Philip Wright Sharon Watkins Mike McGrother

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Sara Conkey

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2010.

Dido's Lament Mar 09, 2010

Show notes

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Dido's Lament is a popular name for a famous aria, 'When I am laid in earth', from the opera Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell, with the libretto by Nahum Tate. Mezzo soprano Sarah Connolly talks about why she finds the piece, sung by the likes of Janet Baker and Emma Kirkby, so extraordinary, and the skill it takes to perform it. Composer and cellist Philip Shepperd's musical life was transformed when he was part of the rock singer Jeff Buckley's performance of the piece at the 1995 Meltdown Festival.

Contributors: Alison Moyet Sarah Connolly Jeremy summerly Graham Jones Sheryl Sarnet Nicholas Witchell Philip Sheppard

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.

Mendelssohn Violin Concerto Mar 02, 2010

Show notes

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

When Mendelssohn wrote his Violin Concerto in 1844 he could hardly have imagined how famous and well loved it would become. In this programme, people tell how it has played an important part in their lives.

Violinist Daniel Hope tells how he got caught practising this concerto secretly locked in the bathroom at school. Harry Atterbury remembers hearing the Mendelssohn for the first time on the night before a Second world War air raid which turned his life upside down. Composer Stephen Pratt describes discovering that his father had played this concerto to cheer fellow soldiers in the jungle in Burma, and explains how this inspired him to write his own violin concerto.

To find out more about Stephen Pratt's Violin Concerto, go to:

http://www.liverpoolphil.com./1132/rlpo-recordings/stephen-pratt-lovebytes.html

The recording of the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto featured in this programme was by violinist Maxim Vengerov with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Kurt Masur. Teldec 4509-90875-2.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.

Praise My Soul Feb 23, 2010

Show notes

Based on Psalm 103, this hymn was written by Henry Francis Lyte, who also penned Abide With Me.

It's most asssociated with the tune by John Goss - even though the two men never met.

Their hymn has become one of the most popular for weddings, and was used at those of the Queen and Prince Philip and Charles and Camilla.

Increasingly it is also used at funerals, and the widow of DC Stephen Oake, killed while on duty during an anti-terrorist raid, explains why it's so important to her and her family.

It's also the perfect tune for teaching young choristers to sight read music, although these days they often misplace the comma in the line, 'Father like, he tends and spares us'.

Contributors:

John Ridyard Lesley Jenkins Ian Bradley Gordon Giles Daniel Hyde Rob White John Ganjavi Gillian Warson

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Rosie Boulton

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.

Richard Strauss' Four Last Songs Sep 29, 2009

Show notes

Richard Strauss was aged 84 when he completed his final composition.

It was 'Four Last Songs', which, although dealing death, conveys a sense of calm acceptance.

Though written in 1948, it still touches the hearts of many listeners today.

As the soprano voice delves ever deeper into the richness of the music, interviewees tell how the Four Last Songs have brought calm and beauty at key moments in their lives.

Featuring:

Alan Yentob Michael Kennedy Gillian Weir Margaret Nelson Jamie Nichols Gabe Meline

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Rosie Boulton

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2009.

You've Got a Friend Sep 22, 2009

Show notes

Written by Carole King and made famous by James Taylor, You've Got a Friend won a Grammy Award in 1971.

In this programme people tell how this song has affected their lives.

Contributors:

Carole King Nick Barraclough Marcella Erskine Estelle Williams Karen Garner James Taylor

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Terry Carter

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2009.

Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme, by Thomas Tallis Sep 15, 2009

Show notes

When Vaughan Williams wrote his Tallis Fantasia in 1910, he changed the course of British music.

Here at last was a piece of music which was no longer under the Teutonic influence, but which drew on old English hymn tunes and folk idioms for its themes.

As the string music builds to a climax, interviewees tell how this music has brought solace and hope in times of tragedy and changed the course of their lives.

When composers Herbert Howells and Ivor Gurney heard the premiere of Vaughan Williams' Tallis Fantasia in Gloucester Cathedral in 1910, it's said that they walked the streets of Gloucester all night because of the sheer excitement of possibility that this new piece had awakened in them.

Discover how the beauty and richness of Vaughan Williams' Tallis Fantasia awakened a life long love of classical music in a nine year old boy at bedtime; how it served as comfort for an artist in despair and how it brought solace to a grieving father

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Contributors:

Michael Kennedy Ian Clarke EM Marshall Rolf Jordan Peter Phillips Harry Atterbury Colin Wood

Producer: Rosie Boulton

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2009.

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