Christmas is coming, so of course we had to have a little look at Christmas music, but not quite in the way you would expect, unless minimalist classical composer Steve Reich is a kind of santa figure for you. Steve performs a festive version of Reich's piece Clapping Music, and is nearly driven completely mad as a result.

But then the day is saved by legendary composer and music producer Nitin Sawhney. Steve heads to Nitin's studio to learn about Soleá, the genre he was allocated in episode 5, and along the way discovers a lot of commonalities between Indian classical music and flamenco, how the guitar can be used as a percussion instrument to accompany itself, and some fascinating technical insights into the sounds of flamenco. This free-flowing interview with a musical legend covers all the usual show bases in one go as we learn about the Entertaining Noises of the flamenco guitar, dig deep into Music Feary as we examine the nuts and bolts of flamenco, and of course the Genre Tombola as we look at the commonalities between musical traditions so geographically distinct.

Oh, and Steve gives you a little reminder of his brand new Patreon, where you can help support the show for just $5 a month, as well as getting access to a huge treasure trove of unedited interviews and songs from the show, ticket discounts, exclusive offers and much more.

Wilton's Music Hall tickets: https://www.wiltons.org.uk/whatson/854-steve-pretty-and-friends-on-the-origin-of-the-pieces

Nitin's website: https://www.nitinsawhney.com/

Steve's website: http://www.stevepretty.com

Little playlist of music referenced in the episode: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQPkPcql9kp8MovgfBM0u0Z-BXVWzNAR_&si=HwQLzYIDcsKmY8CJ

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