By BBC Radio 4
Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact
4.7
133133 ratings
Labi Siffre wrote Something Inside So Strong in 1984. Widely believed to have been inspired by seeing film footage from South Africa, of young blacks being shot at by white policeman, the singer-songwriter now reveals that the lyrics were...
"It's the kind of music that makes you feel like you're just hurting so good" People of different ages reflect on why the pop country classic 'Crazy' made famous by Patsy Cline brings out such strong emotions in them. Featuring...
"I'm convinced it's the best thing ever written and recorded in the history of things written and recorded" - Moby. Rhapsody in Blue was premiered on February 12, 1924, in New York's Aeolian Hall. Through its use at the...
The story behind the song, 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas'. It was first performed by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me In St Louis', for the now famous scene in which she and her seven year...
How Brahms' German Requiem has touched and changed people’s lives. It was written as a tribute to his mother and designed to comfort the grieving, Stuart Perkins describes how the piece arrived at the right time in his life, after...
Few songs can claim to be - quite literally - as far reaching as the 1967 classic 'Can't Take My Eyes off You'. Former astronaut Christopher Ferguson heard this song as an early morning wake-up call aboard the space...
From the seat of a concert hall piano, Pascal Rogé, one of the world's greatest interpreters of French piano music, leads us through a personal and musical journey of Erik Satie's Gymnopédies. You may not immediately know the title...
"Southern trees bear a strange fruit, blood on the leaves and blood at the root..." Billie Holiday's famous song expresses the horror and anguish of those communities subjected to a campaign of lynching in the American South. Soul Music hears...
How the choral work The Dream of Gerontius, by Edward Elgar, has touched and changed people's lives. For Terry Waite, it was the first piece of music he heard as a hostage in the Lebanon, after four years in solitary...
Don't Leave Me This Way was written in the early 1970s by songwriters Huff, Gamble and Gilbert who were the composers behind the famous black American Philadelphia Sound. It was first performed by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes,...
The hymn 'Make Me a Channel of Your Peace' found its way into weddings, funerals and school assemblies and in this week's 'Soul Music' we hear how it has also embedded itself into the hearts of peace campaigners, charity workers...
Written by Joaquin Rodrigo in 1939, the Concierto de Aranjuez is a guitar classic. He wrote it amid the chaos of the Spanish Civil War, and in circumstances of poverty and personal tragedy. How has it touched and...
Stories of love, loss and friendship through the Second World War favourite, Lili Marlene. She was made famous by Marlene Dietrich - with songs sung by soldiers on both sides. Series about pieces of music with a powerful...
Written by Elvis Costello and Clive Langer for Robert Wyatt, Shipbuilding was recorded in several versions by Elvis Costello himself, Suede, June Tabor, Hue and Cry, Tamsin Archer and The Unthanks. The blend of subtle lyrics and extraordinary music makes...
The Stabat Mater's imagines the sufferings of the Virgin Mary at the foot of the cross, and Pergolesi's 18th-century setting remains a choral favourite. Pam Self tells the moving story of how this piece unites her and her friend Helen...
The Irish traditional song She Moved Through The Fair is well loved and well recorded by many. To some it is a ghost story that tells of unfulfilled longings and of hopes and aspirations cut short. Sinead O'...
More than just 'da da da dum': Beethoven's 5th Symphony is this week's Soul Music. It accompanied Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on the regular Bombay to Basra route he sailed during his early days in the Merchant Navy. Archaeologist and...
‘Is That All There Is?’, a Leiber & Stoller song made famous by Peggy Lee, is based upon a short story by Thomas Mann called 'Disillusionment'. But those who know and love it feel it's inspirational rather than a cynical,...
Bach's St Matthew Passion was written in 1727 and was probably first performed as part of the Good Friday Service at Thomaskirche in Leipzig. This programme explores ways in which Bach's St Mattew Passion touches and changes people's lives....
An exploration into the enduring appeal of the Dire Straits classic, Brothers in Arms. Although thought to have been written by Mark Knopfler in response to the Falklands war in the mid 1980's, it's a piece that people now associate...
The Skye Boat Song brings back a wealth of childhood memories for many. The words "Speed Bonnie Boat Like a Bird on the Wing" tell the story of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s escape to the Isle of Skye - dressed as...
Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major Opus 61 was written in 1806, but was not a success at its premiere. 200 years on and this Concerto is regarded as one of the greatest pieces ever written for the violin....
While for many, it will be always associated with brown bread, the Largo from Dvorak's New World Symphony is an enduring a piece that never fails to move and inspire. Anti- apartheid campaigner Albie Sachs explains that through whistling...
The Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah is stirring, emotional and unmistakable. The Alzheimer's Society runs a group called 'Singing for the Brain'. It's for people with dementia or Alzheimer’s and their carers who come together to sing in a group....
The powerful song, Non, je ne regrette rien was made famous by Edith Piaf. Written in 1960 by Charles Dumont, in a fit of despair, he gave the music to lyricist Michel Vaucaire, but was surprised by the words he...
Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto - famously featured in David Lean's film "Brief Encounter" - is one of the world's most popular pieces of classical music. Some of its fans describe the way in which it has touched and shaped...
An exploration of the haunting melancholy of Gresford, the Miners' Hymn. Written by a former miner, Robert Saint, to commemorate the Gresford pit disaster in 1934, it has been played at mining events ever since. George Leslie...
Baker Street is Gerry Rafferty's glorious and instantly recognisable hit. It’s arguably the most popular track from his widely respected musical legacy. (Gerry sadly died aged just 63 in 2011) His daughter Martha Rafferty recalls hearing him...
Irving Berlin’s enduring classic, Let's Face the Music and Dance is celebrated by those for whom it has a special significance. It was written in 1932 as a dance number for the film ‘Follow the Fleet’ starring Fred Astaire...
The words of one of our most loved hymns, Dear Lord and Father of Mankind, were taken from the last six verses of John Greenleaf Whittier's poem, The Brewing of Soma, an attack on ostentatious and overt religious practise. ...
Exploring the impact that Estonian composer Arvo Pärt's Spiegel im Spiegel has had on people's lives. Written in 1978, just prior to his departure from Estonia, Arvo’s piece for piano and violin is musically minimal, yet produces a serene tranquillity....
Witchita Lineman is the ultimate country/pop crossover track - written by Jimmy Webb for the Country star Glen Campbell. Released in 1968, it tells the story of a lonely lineman in the American Midwest, travelling vast distances to mend...
An exploration of the impact that Mendelssohn's Octet has had on different people's lives, demonstrating the healing power of music in a variety of situations around the world. Felix Mendelssohn wrote his Octet for double string quartet in 1825 aged...
Gustav Mahler wrote his 5th Symphony during the summers of 1901 and 1902. The Adagietto is the 4th movement which is thought to have been inspired by falling in love with Alma who he married around this time. This...
Winterreise was written the year before Franz Schubert's death aged just 31, these 24 songs based on poems by Wilhelm Müller describe a journey that takes us ever deeper into the frozen landscape of the soul. Singers Thomas Hampson,...
In this series that explores those pieces of music that never fail to move us, this week we feature, 'The Impossible Dream', a song that talks of the resilience of the human spirit. It tells the story of a...
Simple Gifts started life as a Shaker Hymn and became incorporated into the hymn Lord of the Dance and Aaron Copland's ballet suite Appalachian Spring. Nora Guthrie describes the central place this tune has played throughout her life. Pete...
Mozart's Clarinet Quintet was written in 1789, two years before the composer’s death. The first ever work for string quartet plus clarinet remains a firm favourite for music lovers around the world. Professor Paul Robertson describes how his...
Beethoven's fifth and final piano concerto, The Emperor is majestic and moving in equal measure. Richard McMahon plays extracts and discusses the virtuosic it demands. Australian film producer, Hal McElroy, talks about using the Adagio (the second movement) to...
An examination of the enduring popularity of the hymn, How Great Thou Art. Based on a Swedish poem by Carl Gustav Boberg, it was written by the British missionary Stuart Hine in 1949. It subsequently become an Elvis Presley...
"He wanted it to be something that's consoling and helpful. It's the end of their lives where they can rest in peace." World renowned choral conductor Sir David Willcocks, shares his personal reflections on the Faure Requiem alongside those for...
At the core of Czech cultural identity 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...
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...
Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal. 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,...
Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal. He's Got the Whole World in His Hands is a spiritual song originating in the United States, but it first caught the public's attention when Laurie London took it to...
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...
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...
Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal. Based on Psalm 103, this hymn was written by Henry Francis Lyte, who also penned Abide With Me, and is most asssociated with the tune by John Goss - even...
Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal. Richard Strauss was 84 when he completed his last work. It was the Four Last Songs, which, although about death, convey a sense of calm acceptance. It was...
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...