The Essay

Elizabeth Elliott


Listen Later

A five-part series of essays that explore the dichotomy between being a deaf professional and working with music. Each essayist tells their own story from across the deaf spectrum, including a sign language performer with a passion for music, a violinist who switched to classical piano after a cochlear implant, and a flautist who uses visual art to describe music to deaf children. From horn players to punchy performance artists, all of the essayists consider music from a deaf perspective with illuminating results.

From her childhood immersed in music to her early career as a professional violinist, Elizabeth Elliott's passion for classical music endured even as she became deaf. Despite the shock of losing her hearing, she muses on how she found solace in teaching and performing in smaller groups, before concentrating on bringing up her young family.

In middle age, she had a cochlear implant fitted, and she describes how this felt - reclaiming her ability to hear note by musical note. Filling us all in with a very different way to listen, Elizabeth details how through careful trial and error she pieces together a piano piece and drills herself to perform it to a high standard. She shares with us how it felt to once again be able to perform music publicly, through dedication and technology.

A Different Way to Listen is produced by Sophie Allen and Emma Glassar with Mark Rickards as Executive Producer. It is a Flashing Lights Media production for BBC Radio 3. A British Sign Language version was filmed, edited and subtitled by Fifi Garfield.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

The EssayBy BBC Radio 3

  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2
  • 4.2

4.2

82 ratings


More shows like The Essay

View all
Global News Podcast by BBC World Service

Global News Podcast

7,583 Listeners

Ask Penguin by Penguin Books UK

Ask Penguin

156 Listeners

Newshour by BBC World Service

Newshour

1,048 Listeners

In Our Time by BBC Radio 4

In Our Time

5,463 Listeners

The Documentary Podcast by BBC World Service

The Documentary Podcast

1,801 Listeners

Arts & Ideas by BBC Radio 4

Arts & Ideas

303 Listeners

6 Minute English by BBC Radio

6 Minute English

1,764 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,047 Listeners

The Infinite Monkey Cage by BBC Radio 4

The Infinite Monkey Cage

2,089 Listeners

Great Lives by BBC Radio 4

Great Lives

480 Listeners

Backlisted by Backlisted

Backlisted

580 Listeners

The Conversation by BBC World Service

The Conversation

71 Listeners

BBC Inside Science by BBC Radio 4

BBC Inside Science

413 Listeners

Thinking Allowed by BBC Radio 4

Thinking Allowed

298 Listeners

Curious Cases by BBC Radio 4

Curious Cases

825 Listeners

The Audio Long Read by The Guardian

The Audio Long Read

851 Listeners

Front Row by BBC Radio 4

Front Row

135 Listeners

All in the Mind by BBC Radio 4

All in the Mind

67 Listeners

Bookclub by BBC Radio 4

Bookclub

242 Listeners

Word of Mouth by BBC Radio 4

Word of Mouth

54 Listeners

Private Passions by BBC Radio 3

Private Passions

46 Listeners

The TLS Podcast by The TLS

The TLS Podcast

183 Listeners

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle by BBC World Service

13 Minutes Presents: The Space Shuttle

4,160 Listeners

You're Dead to Me by BBC Radio 4

You're Dead to Me

3,187 Listeners