PODCAST

Soul Music

BBC Radio 4

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact

music music commentary

All Episodes

28:31

We Are Family

Soul Music ·

2019/12/18

We Are Family written by Nile Rodgers and performed by the Sledge Sisters Kathy, Kim, Debbie and Joni was released in 1978 at the height of disco's popularity. Kim Sledge says it has become the anthem for diverse groups of people around the world who come together on the dance floor to form a family. Professor Tim Lawrence says disco at its best was an inclusive music movement that welcomed people of all races and genders, unlike rock music which in the early 1970s appealed to a predominantly white

27:53

The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel

Soul Music ·

2019/12/11

People who connect directly with the lyrics and have a deep personal connection to Simon & Garfunkel's masterpiece 'The Boxer' discuss what it means to them.Seamus McDonagh is a former boxer. He describes the tumultuous time he had during and after his famous fight with Evander Holyfield in 1990. He also explains why he identifies closely with the song's lyrics.Julie Nimoy is the daughter of Leonard Nimoy and co-producer of the film 'Remembering Leonard Nimoy' which tells the life story of this

28:30

Farewell to Stromness

Soul Music ·

2019/07/31

Personal stories about Farewell to Stromness, by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Written in 1980 as a protest against uranium mining in Orkney, the music has touched and changed people's lives. The Orkney landscape which inspired Max's music is described by his partner Tim Morrison. We hear from Rosalind Newton, for whom the music provided peace after the death of her grandmother. Conductor Christopher Warren-Green recalls his performance of the music at the wedding of the Prince of Wales and Duchess

28:29

Wind of Change

Soul Music ·

2019/07/24

“I follow the Moskva, down to Gorky Park… listening to the wind of change.”The German rock band Scorpions’ lead singer Klaus Meine was inspired to write Wind of Change at a rock festival in Moscow in the summer of 1989. Politics were rapidly shifting in the Soviet Union at the time as a result of Mikhail Gorbachev’s reforms. Recalling the peaceful yet revolutionary atmosphere at the concerts, Klaus said “there was a whole new generation of Russian kids that said the Cold War would be over soon - we

27:55

Streets of London by Ralph McTell

Soul Music ·

2019/07/17

Ralph McTell and others discuss a song that was written for a heroin addict, became an anthem against homelessness, and transcended the folk genre to become an enduring classic.Ralph McTell says he’s thought constantly about the “blip in my graph” that is Streets of London. People say to him “50 years. One hit. You think you’d have given up by now”. But, Ralph says, that’s not why he writes songs. And, of course, he’s written many. Many that he considers far better than Streets of London. But this

28:37

Back to Black

Soul Music ·

2019/07/10

Amy Winehouse died in July 2011 aged just 27. 'Back to Black' - the title track of her second and final album - is a torch song to tragic love, addiction and loss. People who loved her and her music talk about how she helped them cope with their own struggles.Lesley Jamison is now a successful writer, but at 27 she was an alcoholic. She stopped drinking the same year that Amy died. Lesley reflects on how her own life could have followed the same path had she gone further into the darkness or the

27:29

Let the River Run

Soul Music ·

2019/01/23

The story of how a song from a classic 1980s movie became an inspirational anthem for a 21st-century generation.Carly Simon’s ‘Let the River Run’ was originally conceived as the title track for the 1988 movie ‘Working Girl. It went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It also went on to win the affection of people around the world.Initially thought of as a ‘hymn for New York’, ‘Let the River Run’ encapsulates the spirit of striving for a better life. As Carly Simon puts it herself, “I

27:45

Smile

Soul Music ·

2019/01/17

Charlie Chaplin wrote the music for 'Smile' in 1935 for the film 'Modern Times', but the lyrics were only added nearly 30 years later. Chris Philips tells the story of how his grandfather was inspired to write the words when he left his father at boarding school.Gemma Lowery talks about how her son Bradley loved the song; writer Bryony Rheam describes why she associates the song with her grandmother and Marine Lucas remembers flying to Michael Jackson's memorial on hearing the news of his death.

27:31

Schubert’s B-Flat Piano Sonata D960

Soul Music ·

2019/01/09

The B-Flat Piano Sonata D960, which Schubert completed two months before his death, in 1828, is a vast and complex work. It’s the last of a triptych of piano sonatas that Schubert wrote, possibly in response to the death of his hero Beethoven the year before. Schubert had been a pallbearer at Beethoven’s funeral.Pianists Imogen Cooper, Steven Osborne and James Lisney consider what it’s like to play this work.And Andrea Avery and Pamela Rose describe ways in which this sonata has marked and shaped

27:49

Shine On You Crazy Diamond

Soul Music ·

2018/12/26

Shine On You Crazy Diamond discussed by voices including David Gilmour of Pink Floyd.Understood to have been written about Syd Barrett, their former band member, it’s both a tribute, and a call for him to ‘shine on’ despite suffering serious mental health issues.David Gilmour of Pink Floyd recalls the legendary day that Syd Barrett unexpectedly appeared in the studio where they were recording Wish You Were Here, the album bookended by Shine On. Nobody recognised Syd at first; once handsome and

27:49

River

Soul Music ·

2018/12/19

Soul Music with stories of the lasting impact of Joni Mitchell's song 'River', from her iconic 1971 album Blue. A song about the breakdown of a relationship and of a longing to be elsewhere that has become a melancholy Christmas anthem. It's coming on Christmas They're cutting down trees They're putting up reindeer And singing songs of joy and peace Oh I wish I had a river I could skate away on....Emotional true stories of what the song means to different people, including:* Comedian Chris

27:52

True Colors

Soul Music ·

2018/05/02

"Your true colors...are beautiful, like a rainbow..."Billy Steinberg's lyrics were originally inspired by his mother but his song writing partner Tom Kelly recognised it's universal appeal and with a slight re-write, it became the song that Cyndi Lauper made famous the world over. Growing up in a small town in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Ken Kidd could never truly be himself. Watching Cyndi Lauper perform True Colors on MTV showed him that it was OK to be his authentic self. Years later he describes

27:28

God Only Knows

Soul Music ·

2018/04/25

"God only knows what I'd be without you"For artist Kim Lynch God Only Knows is a song that she has carried with her from the moment her father played it to her mother back in their 1960's London home and it's the song that resonated throughout her parents 65 years together. Meanwhile in land locked Burundi, another couple are bought together from two very different cultures. Sharing the same hopes and prayers, they began their married life by blending a traditional wedding ceremony with the

27:33

Prelude a l'Apres Midi d'un Faune by Debussy

Soul Music ·

2018/04/18

Claude Debussy's Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun speaks to artists of different kinds. Jamaican poet Ishion Hutchinson recalls hearing it through an open window in Kingston Jamaica and being mesmerised by its beauty, but not knowing what it was, setting off on a quest to find out and to write a poem that captured his feelings about the piece. Babak Kazemi was training to be a doctor in his home city of Tehran when he heard it for the first time. The piece changed his life and led him to abandon

27:44

A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum

Soul Music ·

2018/04/11

Why has Procol Harum's surreal track ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ remained enduringly popular for over 50 years? Soul Music hears the stories and memories of those who love it. Released in May 1967, it was the group's first single. It went to No. 1 in the UK, and stayed there for six weeks.Musicologist Allan Moore deconstructs the track and dismisses the almost universally accepted idea that it mimics Bach's ‘Air on a G String’.Film-maker Chris Rodley remembers the impact it had on him when he heard it

41:46

Songs of the Civil Rights Movement

Soul Music ·

2018/04/04

Actor Clarke Peters narrates this special edition to mark 50 years since the assassination of the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King on April 4th 1968. "If in doubt, pray and sing" an activist recalls how music was used as part of Dr King's non-violent resistance movement.The stories of the songs behind the Civil Rights Movement include the spirituals and freedom songs that were integral to the struggle. In the 19th century, music became a tool for protest and resistance among the enslaved peoples of

57:34

Cerys Matthews' Soul Music Mixtape - Part Three

Soul Music ·

2018/02/12

Cerys Matthews delves into the archives to put together a specially curated mixtape of her favourite stories from across 25 series of the BBC Radio 4's Soul Music.Each episode of Soul Music takes a different piece of music - it might be a pop song, or a hymn, or a piece of classical music or world music - and looks at why it moves us and what it means to different people. Cerys's choices include Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, Mozart's Requiem in D Minor, Bob Marley's Redemption Song, Puccini's La

64:53

Cerys Matthews' Soul Music Mixtape - Part One

Soul Music ·

2018/02/12

56:38

Cerys Matthews' Soul Music Mixtape - Part Two

Soul Music ·

2018/02/12

27:44

Kraftwerk: Computer World

Soul Music ·

2018/01/24

How Kraftwerk's classic album Computer World has changed people's lives. On their first wedding anniversary, David Sanborn and Jennifer Huber remember their Kraftwerk themed celebrations. Ramona Gonzales from the band Nite Jewel recounts how a car crash and a chance encounter with Computer World changed the course of her life. And Andy McCluskey from Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark recalls the Kraftwerk concert that inspired his musical career. Kraftwerk were forged in the shadow of the Second

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