Elton John's slow burner is now one of his most beloved tracks. Released in 1971 during a prolific period for Elton and Bernie Taupin, many people see themselves in the lyrics.

Eliza Hewitt grew up in a strict household in Pennsylvania. During the tumultuous early 70s, her brother introduced her to the music of Elton John, and she's still a tiny dancer in her late 60s.

Lee Hall wrote the screenplay for Rocketman, the Elton John biopic. He sees the song as a conversation between Elton and Bernie.

Podcaster Kirk Hamilton takes us through the song's slow build to a chorus which feels as though it's never going to come.

Judith Sibley's daughter Lily-Mae received a terrible diagnosis when she was just 4 years old. Along with her brother Paul and friend Steven, she channelled her efforts into recording a charity single for her ballet loving daughter, and Tiny Dancer was the obvious song.

When Ava Forte Vitali and Drew Wood met and exchanged playlists they realised how much they had in common. So much so, that Tiny Dancer had to play a part in their wedding.

Produced by Sally Heaven for BBC Audio in Bristol Technical Producer: Ilse Lademann Editor: Emma Harding.

"I never felt magic crazy as this....."

For some it's a beacon of hope, for others a metaphor for love. 'Northern Sky' is the penultimate track on Nick Drake's 1971 album 'Bryter Layter'. The sound was shaped by the Velvet Underground's John Cale who added the piano, organ and celeste. His records didn't sell well much to Nick's disappointment, but after his death in 1974 his music and genius became much better-known. These are just some of the stories from whose lives have been profoundly touched by this iconic track.

Gordon Hunter had a difficult childhood and says hearing 'Northern Sky' brought a meditative sense of calm to his life, like "finding treasure."

Nick Drake's producer Joe Boyd remembers how John Cale became involved in the recording, and his sadness that Nick never got the recognition he deserved in his own lifetime.

Singer-songwriter Alex Hart took a job on the Covid-19 111 helpline during the first lockdown and listened to 'Northern Sky' on the drives home. Alex covered the track for one of her albums.

Musicians Neil MacColl and Kate St John fell in love on the 'Way To Blue' tour in 2011 and discuss their performance of 'Northern Sky' and Kate's string arrangements. Neil walks us through Nick's guitar tunings and the song's lyrics.

It's a song that reminds Laura Barton of spring and the first rush of love which she experienced as a student in Oxford.

"Brighten my northern sky."

Producer: Toby Field for BBC Audio Bristol Technical Producer: Michael Harrison Editor: Emma Harding

'Fast Car' is one of Tracy Chapman's biggest hits, with listeners from around the world finding striking connections with their own lives in the song's story.

It was released in April 1988, and that summer, the American singer-songwriter performed it to a global audience of 600 million at Nelson Mandela's 70th Birthday Tribute. This broadcast catapulted Tracy and the song to super-stardom, as it became a top ten hit on both sides of the Atlantic and received three Grammy nominations.

Ever since, 'Fast Car' has resonated with people around the world. The lyrics describe a working woman trying to escape a cycle of poverty, dreaming of a plan to leave in a "fast car". She speaks of wanting to get out of the life she finds herself in, living in a shelter, and driving towards the city to find something better.

This episode features the personal stories of Fitzroy Samuels in Kingston, Jamaica; Priscilla Munson in Indiana, U.S; Gemma Brown in Gateshead, UK and Dev Cuny in California, U.S. We also hear from Alister Wright in Sydney, Australia whose band, Vlossom, covered Fast Car; and Nigel Williamson, music journalist who has met and interviewed Tracy Chapman many times.

Produced by Eliza Lomas, BBC Audio Bristol

The hauntingly beautiful Welsh song Myfanwy 'is in the air in Wales' according to singer Cerys Matthews.

She along with others discuss what the melodic tale of unrequited love means to them.

They include a Welsh woman living in Sicily for whom the song represents 'hiraeth', a longing or homesickness for Wales and another who believes it expresses the 'wounded soul of the Welsh'.

A man remembers how his late brother and he used to sing it in pubs in North Wales and how the song symbolises the unrequited love he felt for him.

Members of the Ynysowen choir, started after the mining disaster in Aberfan as a way of dealing with the emotion, talk about the song's power, and an ex soldier recalls digging for survivors with lines from it playing in his head "Give me your hand, my sweet Myfanwy".

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2014.

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 also informed by the oppression he had experienced as as a gay man.

The song has been taken up by individuals and groups around the world who have suffered from discrimination. The Choir With No Name in Birmingham, made up of homeless singers, always close their concerts with the song. Choir members explain why it's so important to them, giving them a sense of pride and dignity.

American singer Suede, talks about the power she finds in the song while South African singer, Lira talks about making a special recording of it for the birthday of Nelson Mandela, as it was one of his favourite pieces.

Also hear how Celtic football fans sing it as an act of solidarity with their beleaguered manager, Neil Lennon.

In his first interview for over a decade, Siffre explains how he still sings the songs as he tries to put his life back together after the death of his partner, Peter.

Contributors:

Labi Siffre Bill West Peter Churchill Neil Lennon

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact

Producer: Lucy Lunt

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2014.

"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 a young woman mourning the loss of a father's love after divorce - and broadcaster Fiona Phillips reflects on losing her father to Alzheimer's disease.

87 year old Wayne Rethford met Patsy Cline in 1961 and two years later happened upon the crash site where she died after her plane came down in a heavy storm in Tennessee.

"That music becomes embedded in your soul" he says.

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2014.

"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 opening of Woody Allen's 'Manhattan' it’s become synonymous with the city that inspired its creation.

But for people around the world, George Gershwin's "experiment in modern music" has become imbued with the most personal of memories.

LA based screenwriter Charles Peacock reflects on how this piece has become entwined with his life and how, on an evening at the Hollywood Bowl this music "healed him". When Adela Galasiu was growing up in communist Romania, Rhapsody in Blue represented "life itself, as seen through the eyes of an optimist".

For world speed champion Gina Campbell, the opening of that piece will forever remind her of the roar of the Bluebird's ignition as it flew through the "glass like stillness of the water" and brings back the memories of her father, the legendary Donald Campbell - it was played at his funeral when he was finally laid to rest decades after his fatal record attempt on Coniston Lake.

Featuring interviews with:

Professor of Music, Howard Pollock Musician, Moby

Producer: Nicola Humphries

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2014.

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 old sister, played by Margaret O'Brien are downcast about the prospect of moving away from their beloved home.

Garland asked the composer, Hugh Martin to modify his original lyric, explaining it to be too depressing for her to sing, or the audience to hear.

Martin's collaborator and friend, John Fricke, explains the importance this song had for the composer and the joy he experienced in hearing it covered by every major artist since, from Frank Sinatra to Chrissie Hynde, Punk band Fear to Cold Play, Rod Stewart to James Taylor.

It's clear that the song's enduring power lies in a beautiful melody with a melancholic feel that sums up our emotional ambivalence to the Christmas season.

We hear from those who have a special connection to the song.

Soul Music is a series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer Lucy Lunt

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.

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 the death of his aunt.

Axel Körner, Professor of Modern History at University College London, explains the genesis of the work and how the deaths of Brahms' friends and family contributed to the emotional power of the piece.

Daniel Malis and Danica Buckley recall how the piece enabled them to cope with the trauma of the Boston marathon bombings.

Simon Halsey, Chief Conductor of the Berlin Radio Choir, explores how Brahms' experience as a church musician enabled him to distil hundreds of years of musical history into this dramatic choral work.

For Imani Mosley, the piece helped her through a traumatic time in hospital. Rosemary Sales sought solace in the physical power of Brahms' music after the death of her son. And June Noble recounts how the piece helped her find her voice and make her peace with her parents.

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact

Producer: Melvin Rickarby

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.

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 shuttle Endeavour.

Mother of two, Michelle Noakes sang this classic piece to the baby she was told she may never be able to carry.

A honeymoon couple recall how their marriage proposal began with a hundred strong 'flash mob' performance of this track.

Singer Frankie Valli reflects on one of the most moving performances he ever gave when he sang 'Can't Take My Eyes off You' to a crowd of recently returned Vietnam Veterans.

DJ Mark Radcliffe recalls the many artists since Valli who have covered this song (not least his mum who sang along to the Andy Williams version).

Composer Bob Gaudio reveals how this piece of music began life in a room overlooking Central Park, with a melody originally penned for a children's nursery rhyme.

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact

Producer: Nicola Humphries

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.

Pascal Rogé is one of the world's greatest interpreters of French piano music.

From the seat of a concert hall piano, he leads us through a personal and musical journey of Erik Satie's Gymnopédies.

You may not immediately know the title but in hearing just the first few notes, you are most likely to know the music.

It's a collection of short, atmospheric pieces of which Gymnopédie No.1 is perhaps the most popular.

Music historian and author Mark Prendergast has studied Satie's work and reveals the complex character of the man who revolutionised the 19th century classical music of Europe.

Melbourne based artist Colin Duncan reflects on the music's 'physical form which takes you into space and time' and for him inspired a body of work created in braille.

Murder Mystery writer Cathy Ace remembers how this meditative music could shut out the noise of the city as she sped around London in her old brown mini.

Mathematician and author Ian Stewart explores the mathematics of this special piece and how music can touch our soul.

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact.

Producer: Nicola Humphries

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.

"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 the stories of people whose relatives were lynched by white racists and of the various forms of grief, anger and reconciliation that have followed. These include the cousin of teenager Emmett Till, whose killing in 1955 for whistling at a white woman, added powerful impetus to the civil rights movement.

Despite its association with the deep south, the song was actually composed in 1930's New York by a Jewish schoolteacher, Abel Meeropol.

Meeropol adopted the children of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg after they were executed in 1953 as Soviet spies. One of those children, Robert, talks of his adopted father's humanity and his belief that the Rosenberg's were killed in a 'state sanctioned lynching by the American government'. For him, Strange Fruit is a comforting reminder of his adopted father's passionate belief in justice and compassion.

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2013.

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 confinement.

Writer and broadcaster Stephen Johnson describes how Elgar's own fragile emotional state is written into the music, which describes the journey taken by a dying man.

Singer Catherine Wyn-Rogers explains how Elgar's music helped her come to terms with the loss of her parents.

Martin Firth recalls a life-enhancing performance of the piece in Bristol cathedral.

Jude Kelly, artistic director of the South Bank Centre, explains how she experienced the choir in this piece as a 'spiritual army' when she performed it at university.

Martyn Marsh describes how the music brought him to a realisation about how he would like to end his days.

And Robin Self recalls a life-changing performance of this piece, which enabled him to grieve for his son.

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact.

Producer: Melvin Rickarby

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2013.

When Burt Bacharach and lyricist Hal David wrote I Say A Little Prayer For You in 1967 the war in Vietnam was raging. The song was intended as message of support for the soldiers there. It was originally recorded by Dionne Warwick and the following year by Aretha Franklin. Doug Bradley was drafted and served in Vietnam as a war correspondent. He says the music the troops all listened to on AFVN (Armed Forces Vietnam Network) sustained him and others while they were in country. His book We Gotta Get Out of This Place (The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War) documents the vital role music played for the soldiers. Aretha Franklin was a symbol of hope and civil rights for many African American troops and I Say A Little Prayer a soothing and calming message of love. The singer-songwriter Rumer adored the song and all of Aretha's music as an unhapy teenager in England. She went on to write the hit song Aretha about a young girl whose mother has a mental illness confiding all her worries to the Queen of Soul. Her husband Rob Shirakbari was recruited by both Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach as keyboard player and musical arranger. To him the song with its mixture of time signatures and different interpretations symbolises many happy years playing with two of the musical greats. Jazz singer Nnenna Freelon has recorded two versions of because it is one she has loved throughout the years but only after the death of her husband Phil in 2019 did it become a song about the expression of grief. Her latest version interprets the song as a plea and a prayer for her late husband as well as for herself. Her podcast Great Grief is a meditation on grief and loss combined with music. In 1968 Aretha Franklin played in Stockholm. 15 year old Hasse Huss and his friend hung around her hotel hoping to meet her. Not only did they meet her but at her invitation they spent the next day with her as she rehearsed for her show. I Say A Little Prayer fills him with happiness and nostalgia for this happy day in the late sixties and he plans to incorporate the song lyrics into a speech for his son's wedding. And Professor Daphne Brooks grew up with older siblings and musical parents who introduced her to the song. It has been with her throughout her life representing for her the 'fullness of black womanhood'. The song very recently helped her deal with her beloved mother's passing at the age of 96.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

Don't Leave Me This Way was written in the early 1970s by songwriters Huff, Gamble and Gilbert.

They were the composers behind the famous black American Philadelphia Sound.

It was first performed by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, featuring Teddy Pendergrass on lead vocals.

It later became a hit for Thelma Houston and The Communards.

As the title suggests, the song is all about longing, yearning and loss.

Remarkable stories reflect the pain expressed in this soul classic, including one told by Dr Dan Gottlieb, a quadriplegic therapist who befriended Teddy Pendergrass after he became paralysed in a car accident.

Sharon Wachsler recalls dancing to the version made famous by The Communards in 1986 before a devastating illness left her housebound and reliant on her beloved service dog Gadget, who gave her a reason to keep going. When he died, the song was the only way she could express her grief over his loss.

The Reverend Richard Coles, formerly of The Communards, talks about the significance of Don't Leave Me This Way as a dancefloor anthem for young gay men in the 1980s that was later to become associated with the AIDS epidemic that took so many of their lives.

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2013.

'Make Me a Channel of Your Peace' found its way into weddings, funerals and school assemblies.

Discover how this hymn has also embedded itself into the hearts of peace campaigners, charity workers and reformed alcoholics.

Its simplicity often belies the challenges at its heart. Its lyrics call for unconditional love and forgiveness in the toughest situations.

The words are based on a poem which has often been attributed to St Francis of Assisi. However, Franciscan Historian, Dr Christian Renoux, suggests it was most likely to have been written by an anonymous French noble women.

The poem travelled across the globe with translations published during both world wars, subsequently bringing inspiration to public figures ranging from Mother Theresa to President Roosevelt.

In 1967, it caught the eye of South African born musician and 'yogi' Sebastian Temple who put these words to its most famous musical arrangement. His version was played at Princess Diana's funeral and touched the hearts of millions worldwide.

Mathew Neville of children's charity 'World Vision' recalls his encounter with this hymn in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Closer to home, Wendy and Colin Parry share their memories of this music and the role it played in remembering their son Tim, who was killed in the 1993 Warrington Bombings.

In Minnesota, former lawyer Mike Donohue reflects on how this hymn has guided him on a journey through alcohol abuse and dementia.

Sarah Hershberg remembers her good friend Sebastian Temple, who first played this simple hymn in her front room before it went on to travel the world.

Producer: Nicola Humphries

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2013.

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 changed people's lives?

The composer's daughter Cecilia Rodrigo explains how the blind composer was inspired by the fountains and gardens of the palace of Aranjuez. Nelício Faria de Sales recounts an unforgettable performance deep inside one of Brazil's largest caves.

David B Katague remembers how the piece got him through a difficult period of separation from his family in the Philippines.

Guitarist Craig Ogden explains the magic of the piece for a performer.

Actor Simon Callow recalls how hearing the piece was a formative experience for him during his schooldays, when it turned rural Berkshire into a piece of Spain.

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact

Producer: Melvin Rickarby

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2013.

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 of the conflict.

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact

Producer: Maggie Ayre.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2013.

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 this a political song like no other. It transcends the particular circumstances of its writing: the Falklands War and the decline of British heavy industry, especially ship-building.

Clive and Elvis describe how the song was written in 1982 and how legendary jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player, Chet Baker, came to perform on Costello's version.

Philosopher Richard Ashcroft wants the song, which he sees as a kind of secular hymn, played at his funeral because it gives a perfect expression of how he believes we should think about life. Not being able to feel the emotion of the song would, he feels, be like being morally tone-deaf. If you don't like this song, he'd find it hard to be your friend.

The song's achingly beautiful final couplet about "diving for pearls" makes former MP Alan Johnson cry. It's also inspired an oral history and migrant integration project in Glasgow. Chris Gourley describes how the participants found a way to overcome their lack of English and communicate through a shared understanding of ship-building practice.

Other contributors include Hopi Sen, a political blogger who was an unusually political child, and the Mercury Prize winning folk group The Unthanks. They toured their version to towns with ship-building connections as part of a live performance of a film tracing the history of British ship-building using archive footage.

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact

Producer: Natalie Steed

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2013.

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 Vaughan, both during life and after.

Soprano Catherine Bott reflects on the piece's themes.

The Stabat Mater has been reinterpreted many times over the years: Sasha Lazard recalls singing it in the school choir, before later taking the melody and transforming it into a dance version for her album 'The Myth of Red' rechristening it 'Stabat Mater IXXI' in the wake of the September 11th attacks.

Victor Alcantara also sang it as a boy, before returning to the piece as an adult and transforming it into a jazz opus.

Composer and Conductor Paul Spicer examines the musical tensions in the piece, likening its opening to "a heartbeat."

Professor Anthony DelDonna recalls a performance of the Stabat Mater in his hometown of Naples, and reflects on the moment which reaffirmed his his faith.

Producer: Toby Field

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2013.

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' Connor and other fans talk about the haunting beauty of this ancient song and of why its imagery is carved into their souls.

Featuring:

Sinead O'Connor Catriona Crowe Bernie Warren David Johnston.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2013.

More than just 'da da da dum!

Beethoven's 5th Symphony accompanied Sir Robin Knox-Johnston on the regular Bombay to Basra route he sailed during his early days in the Merchant Navy.

Archaeologist and crime novelist, Dana Cameron, spent many a long day in a dark, lonely basement analysing artefacts from a merchant's house in Salem, Massachusetts. A CD player was often her only companion and Beethoven's 5th buoyed her through these arduous days working towards her PhD

And for conductor, Christopher Gayford, it was the piece which provided a breakthrough in his musical life.

Recalling the time he spent rehearsing it with the Sheffield Youth Orchestra - for a tour in East Germany - he describes the build up to one of the most memorable performances of his career.

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact.

Producer: Karen Gregor

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2013.

‘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, world weary musical take on existentialism and the futility of life.

‘Soul Music’ uncovers the compelling individual stories behind our collective love of music.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2013.

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.

Guitarist Andrew Schulman describes what happened when he was played this music whilst he was in a coma. James Jacobs talks about the St Matthew Passion providing solace in difficult times during childhood.

And singer Emma Kirkby, conductor Paul Spicer and musical historian Simon Heighes explore how the music works and what it's like to perform.

Producer: Rosie Boulton.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2012.

'Ghost Town' was recorded by British two-tone band The Specials as a comment on urban decay and social unrest. It was released in June 1981 as riots were springing up around the UK and with the help of an iconic video it topped the UK singles charts. It was also be the band's final single.

Writer Alex Wheatle first heard 'Ghost Town' in 1981 whilst in a social services hostel in Brixton awaiting his court appearance. He'd been arrested following a day of action in Brixton to protest against racist treatment of Black people, after rumours of police brutality. He was sentenced to one year in prison and sang 'Ghost Town' in his cell, as he began to find hope and purpose in his life.

Claire Horton grew up in Dudley and says 'Ghost Town' echoed her experiences of watching the shops and nightclubs of this once vibrant town closing down. Her Dad was made redundant and it had a huge impact on her family, and as a young police officer she would walk the streets and understand why people were getting so frustrated with their situation.

Soul and Reggae DJ Dave Marshall Barrett traces the history of The Specials who formed in Dave's hometown of Coventry in 1977. It's the first thing people mention when he says where he comes from.

John Collins was surprised when Jerry Dammers asked him to produce the record. John created the initial opening 'ghostly' sounds on a synth at home but he says they now sound more like sirens. The song's success opened doors for John and he loves how it keeps finding new audiences.

Broadcaster Samira Ahmed grew up in London and said her the recession of the early 80s hit her family's catering business hard. Too young for nightclubs, she remembers the video of 'Ghost Town' playing on Top of the Pops and says the track made a huge impact on her understanding of music and politics.

Jazz singer Beverley Beirne covered 'Ghost Town' for her 2018 album 'Jazz Just Wants to Have Fun' and was reminded of it during the first lockdown when she wasn't able to perform.

Founder of The Specials Jerry Dammers reflects on the inspiration behind 'Ghost Town' and how trombonist Rico Rodriguez was the heart and soul of the band.

Produced for BBC Audio Bristol by Toby Field Additional research: Melanie Pearson Technical Producer: Michael Harrison Editor: Emma Harding

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 with many other conflicts; military, personal and social.

Bass player, John Illsley explains why it remains such a special piece for Dire Straits.

Marines chaplain, Nigel Beardsley, recalls the important part it's played in the lives of so many soldiers in Iran and Afghanistan and why it's now often heard at military funerals.

Irish playwright, Sam Millar describes why he based a very personal play around the song.

Snuffy Walden, music director of the hit American TV show, The West Wing, talks about how the series writer, Aaron Sorkin insisted on it being used in its entirety during a crucial episode.

Professor Alan Moore of Surrey University explains how it's Knopfler's brilliant use of harmony that gives the song the sense of yearning that has made it into one of the most enduring pop songs of the last century.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Lucy Lunt

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2012.

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 a maid - after defeat at the battle of Culloden.

Originally written by Sir Harold Boulton and Anne MacLeod back in the 1870's, we explore the song’s beauty and how it continues to touch people's lives across the world in very different ways.

The Queen's Piper, who has played it in happy and sad times, recalls his rendition outside the Queen's window and leading Princess Margaret's cortege.

A New Zealand artist shares his memories of time spent with his father, and the sound of him whistling the song on their way home as dusk fell. A sailor from the Isle of Skye, describes his connection with the spirituality of piece and the Loch on which he sails.

Acclaimed violinist Tasmin Little shares her own arrangement of the piece and explains why it works so well musically.

An Australian mum, tells how important this song has been in connecting with the two girls she has adopted from China.

Gaelic singer Maggie MacInnes tells the history of the piece.

Featuring music by Julian Lloyd Webber, The Corries and Pete Lashley.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Rachel Matthews

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2012.

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.

Beethoven Violin Concerto has touched and shaped people's lives in many ways.

Writer Kelly Cherry describes her father loving this piece and still remembering it even when he had Alzheimers. Violinist Robert Gupta talks about this piece being the music which cemented his friendship with Nathaniel Ayers - a moment which changed Robert's life.

Joe Quigley remembers hearing the Concerto at a crucial point in his life whilst living in a monastery.

Devorina Gamalova recalls being entranced by this music as a child.

And violinist Christian Tetzlaff talks about what it's like to play the Beethoven Violin Concerto.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Rosie Boulton.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2012.

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 theme while in solitary confinement, he was able to make contact with the wider world and kept his spirit and hope alive.

Margaret Caldicott recalls the important role the piece played in her mother's life while in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer Lucy Lunt

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2012.

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. As music is tied so closely to emotional memories, often lyrics and music remain firmly fixed in the brain, while other memories have died away.

Julia Burton recalls the power of the Hallelujah Chorus, as performed at a special event by Singing for the Brain groups in Wiltshire and Dorset.

Mrs Vera Fiton, whose late husband - Ted - had dementia talks about how important the weekly singing group was for both of them.

Carol Pemberton, of the Birmingham-based a capella quintet 'Black Voices', took part in the reopening concert of Birmingham Town Hall in 2007. The programme director suggested they sing The Messiah, but not as Handel intended, rather a daring interpretation arranged by Quincy Jones, called the 'Soulful Messiah'. It's a soul/gospel version which has to be heard to be believed! Carol describes performing it as one of the biggest highs of her career to date.

Jennifer Blakeley runs Alphabet Photography, a photo company based in Niagara Falls in Canada. She came up with the idea of staging a Flash Mob to promote her company. The Hallelujah Chorus had long been a favourite piece, and she - along with her local choir - set up a flash-mob in a local shopping mall. The result was emotional, extraordinary... and achieved so much more than the intended aim to boost her business. Even passers-by joined in., while others cried as emotions ran high. And the resulting You Tube video has now attracted over 37 million hits.

Paul Spicer, composer, conductor and organist, describes the historical backdrop to Handel's exhilarating composition.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Karen Gregor

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2012.

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 wrote.

Dumont thought the song should be about war or revolution. Vaucaire explained he wanted to give the song to Edith Piaf. She was living in Paris at the time, having recently finished her 'suicide tour' during which she had collapsed.

At that time, Piaf didn't think much of Charles Dumont and tried to cancel their appointment. But on hearing the song, Piaf told Dumont that with this song, she would sing again.

Contributors include:

* Charles Dumont who lives in Paris at the same apartment, with the same piano on which he wrote the song in 1960. He plays the song on the very same piano.

* Lord Lamont, who became associated with the song when asked by a reporter which he regretted most - talking about the 'green shoots of recovery' or allegedly singing in the bath after the withdrawal of Britain from the Exchange Rate Mechanism. Lamont famously replied 'Je ne regrette rien.'

* Christine Bovill, who tours a one-woman show about Piaf's life.

* Carolyn Birke, biographer of Piaf.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2012.

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 their lives.

Featuring a pianist from Taiwan whose memories of a repressive childhood were dispelled by the emotions contained within this music.

Plus a story from an acclaimed pianist from Argentina who was told she would never play the piano again after a serious car accident, but who has recently performed this piece in New York.

And finally an account of the place that this piece of passionate and heartfelt music played in the life of John Peel and his family, told by his wife Sheila Ravenscroft.

The concerto is also given historical and musical context by pianists Peter Donohoe and Howard Shelley.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Rosie Boulton.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2012.

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 Lister wrote the words in 1970.

With the thoughts of Albert Rowlands who was working in the lamp-room of Gresford colliery when there was a devastating underground explosion. His father was among the men lost.

Plus the composer's grandson, David Saint, organist at St. Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham.

And Cecil Peacock, a former miner who recalls playing Gresford at the funerals of 83 miners who died following the Easington Colliery disaster in 1951.

With thanks to Trevor Sutherland and the Llay Welfare band.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal

Producer: Karen Gregor

First broadcast on Radio 4 in February 2012.

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 develop the melody in the attic of their Glasgow home. His inspiration for the lyrics came from a book by Colin Wilson about the sense of disconnection from the world that artists often feel.

Featuring:

* Musician and founder member of Stealer's Wheel, Rab Noakes. * Singer-songwriter, Betsy Cook * Poet, Ian McMillan * Busker, Gavin Randle * Guitarist, Hugh Burns

Music featured:

An acoustic version of Baker Street is played especially for Soul Music by the Hugh Burns.

The original demo of Baker Street, on which Gerry Rafferty plays the famous sax solo on guitar.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Karen Gregor (whose first decision when starting work on this programme was to NOT mention the urban myth about Bob Holness and the saxophone riff!)

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2012

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 and Ginger Rogers.

Since then it has taken on a life of its own, being recorded by hundreds of artists including Diane Krall, Shirley Bassey, Frank Sinatra, Vera Lynn, Ella Fitzgerald and Matt Munroe.

For Sir John Mortimer's widow, Penny, it conjures up the very essence of her husband, who loved life, romance and dancing - even though he was no Fred Astaire, a fact he always deeply regretted.

Lawrence Bergreen, Berlin's biographer and academic Morris Dickstein explain why this song has such a unique place in popular culture.

Cabaret singer and composer, Kit Hesketh Harvey explains why the melody continues to haunt us.

We hear from the bride and groom who decided to dance down the aisle to it after their wedding and the redundant welder for whom the song will be forever associated with the demise of our ship building industry.

An insurance executive recalls how the song became central to their advertising campaign, bringing success to the firm and also placing Nat King Cole's version back in the charts nearly 60 years after it was written.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Lucy Lunt

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2011.

When I Only Have Eyes For You first emerged in 1934 it was a jaunty ditty written by Harry Dubin and Al Warren for the movie "Dames". But it gained huge popularity when the 1950s doo wop group The Flamingos under the musical arrangement of Terry Johnson transformed it into a dreamy otherworldly love song. Terry explains how he went about turning the song into an evergreen hit that has been covered by many including Art Garfunkel and Carly Simon.

Musicologist Luis Cruz attributes the genius of the song to its pedal chord - the repeated use of the C note. It adds to the feeling of fixation he says where the singer cannot see anyone else but the object of his affection.

The song is obviously one that speaks of deep love and Vivian Fransen was one of many who chose the song to play at her wedding. She'd been introduced to the Art Garfunkel version in 1975 when she met the man who was to become her husband. 12 years later he revealed a secret he'd been keeping from her which ended their marriage and caused her to reassess the song's meaning.

Jess Farr Cox would sing the song to her aged rescue dog Pico as his health deteriorated. Only that song and the theme to Antiques Roadshow would send him to sleep when he was in pain and distress and she still gets emotional when she hears it over a year after he was eventually put to sleep. People underestimate the love you get from a rescue dog, she says.

Chris Deerin is a political journalist and part of Scottish band Fat Cops. He recorded a version of I Only Have Eyes For You for the Tiny Changes Young People's Mental Health Charity founded following the death of the singer Scott Hutchison in 2018. Chris says he and fellow musician Bobby Bluebell had always loved the song and felt it was a fitting tribute to fellow musician Scott.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in June 2023.

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.

But it wasn't until over 50 years later, that a school teacher at Repton in Derbyshire had the inspiration to pair it with a tune by Sir Hubert Parry, thus confirming it as a favourite for assemblies, funerals and weddings.

Repton’s former music director, John Bowley, explains how this happened, while composer and conductor Bob Chilcott explains why this was a musical marriage made in heaven.

We hear from those for whom the hymn has special significance, including Gloucester MP, Richard Graham; when briefly imprisoned in a Libyan gaol in 1978 he found enormous comfort in the words and tune.

Pipe Major Ross Munro remembers recording the piece in the sweltering heat of Basra with members of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and film director Joe Wright recalls how the inclusion of this hymn was central to the power of his famous scene depicting the evacuation of Dunkirk in his film, Atonement.

Contributors:

John Bowley Richard Graham Ian Bradley Bob Chilcott Joan Lambley Ross Munro Richard Hoyes Joe Wright

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Lucy Lunt

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2011.

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.

It's in F major in 6/4 time, with the piano playing rising crotchet triads and the violin playing slow scales, alternately rising and falling, of increasing length, which all end on the note A.

The score of the piece looks deceptively simple, but as violinist, Tasmin Little explains, it's one of the most difficult pieces to perform because the playing has to simply be perfect, or the mood is lost.

"Spiegel im Spiegel" in German literally can mean both "mirror in the mirror" as well as "mirrors in the mirror", referring to the infinity of images produced by parallel plane mirrors.

The music inspired visual artist Mary Husted to produce a set of collages called "Spiegel im Spiegel" which in a roundabout way, led to her being traced by her long lost son.

Contributors:

Doreen Macfarlane Rhona Smith Mary Husted Tasmin Little Vicky Smith

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Rosie Boulton

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2011.

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 power and telephone lines.

The song has been covered many times, but Glen’s version remains the best-loved and most played.

Johnny Cash also recorded an extraordinary and very raw version. Peter Lewry, a lifelong Cash fan, describes how it came about.

David Crary is a lineman from Oklahoma, who recalls his reaction to the first time he heard the song.

Meggean Ward's father was a lineman in Rhode Island. As a child she always felt it was written for him.

Glen Campbell is also interviewed.

Shortly after it was recorded, he went public about his diagnosis of Alzheimer's. His contribution is brief, but it includes an acoustic performance of the song. It was a privilege to record ‘down the line’.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2011.

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 just 16. Despite his youth, this is a mature and brilliant piece of music described by our interviewees as "carnivalesque", "a romp", "a party".

Choreographer Bill T Jones describes the way in which the Octet showed his company how to keep living during the onslaught of AIDS in the 1980's.

Cellist Raphael and violinist Elizabeth Wallfisch talk about falling in love whilst learning this music in the 1970's.

South Korean Lisa Kim tells a story about going on tour with the New York Philharmonic to North Korea and her intense fear and mistrust being replaced by wonder when they played the Octet with a North Korean Quartet.

And Matthew Trusler describes the importance of playing this work after the death of his son.

The featured recording of the Mendelssohn Octet by the Emerson String Quartet on Deutsche Gramophon.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Rosie Boulton

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2011.

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 single movement is the composer’s most well-known piece of music. It was famously used in the 1971 Luchino Visconti film Death in Venice. It was also conducted by Leonard Bernstein at the mass at St Patrick's Cathedral, New York on the day of the burial of Robert Kennedy.

Composer David Matthews explains the significance of this piece in Mahler's output.

Psychoanalyst Anthony Cantle describes listening to it with his mother during her last days of dementia.

Malcolm Reid tells how this piece signified a change in himself as a young man in the British police force with narrow, racist views, to hearing it in Australia and shifting to becoming a liberal.

And Helen Epstein explains why it was played at her mother's funeral.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Rosie Boulton

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2011.

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, Mark Padmore, Alice Coote and David Pisaro describe the experience of immersing themselves in this music.

And Bernard Keefe tells of the time he sang these songs in Hiroshima to survivors of the bomb.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Rosie Boulton

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2011.

‘The Impossible Dream' is a song that talks of the resilience of the human spirit.

It tells the story of a quest and it's had a surprising journey of its own.

It was originally composed for the 1965 musical The Man of La Mancha which was inspired by Miguel de Cervantes story of Don Quixote. The music was written by Mitch Leigh and the lyrics by Joe Darion.

Now in his 80s, Leigh explains how his first writing partner was WH Auden and talks about why this particular piece struck a chord with African American friends at that time.

Generations on, international Soprano Lesley Garrett recalls how this song inspired her childhood dreams in Doncaster.

Yachtsman of the Year Geoff Holt talks about how this song carried him across the Atlantic on one of the most important voyages of his life.

Plus, former advertising executive Rob Chew explains how this piece is helping him face life’s biggest challenge.

Contributors:

Geoff Holt Rob Chew Mitch Leigh Stuart Pedlar Lesley Garrett

Series about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact.

Producer: Nicola Humphries

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2011.

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 Lashley tells how he heard it unexpectedly whilst touring in New Zealand.

Michael Carter explains why his father chose this tune for his famous hymn "Lord of the Dance" and Scott Malchus describes running a marathon whilst listening to this music.

Featuring:

Thomas Swain Michael Carter Nora Guthrie Scott Malchus Pete Lashley

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Rosie Boulton

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2011.

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 wife played this piece to him whilst he lay in a coma. Clarinettist Peter Furniss tells of the solace the slow movement provided his mother as she lay dying.

And Alex Smith explains the importance of this piece in his work to help children with autism, Asperger's, dyslexia and other childhood disorders.

Featuring:

Paul Robertson Peter Furniss Alex Smith John Playfair David Campbell Robin Batteau

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Rosie Boulton

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2011.

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 illustrate the classic 1970s film Picnic at Hanging Rock.

That was where Andrew Law – who was Chaplain at Malvern College - first heard the piece. He describes the Adagio as being 'one of those pieces of art which it is worth being alive to have heard'.

Concert pianist, James Rhodes, describes how The Emperor was central to his childhood and his developing love of Beethoven's piano music.

Music teacher and singer, Prue Hawthorne, recalls how her father (an amateur clarinetist) labouriously transcribed by hand the horn and clarinet sections of the first movement so they could play along with the record in their living room.

Also contributing is the renowned Beethoven biographer, John Suchet.

Concert pianist Richard McMahon has now retired as a teacher at the Royal Welsh School of Music and Drama.

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Karen Gregor

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2010.

Some people say it's a protest song about the commercialisation of Christmas, others that it's anti religious.

I Believe In Father Christmas is neither, although lyricist Peter Sinfield concedes it does include a touch of cynicism.

But ultimately it's a song of joy and hope.

When Greg Lake co-wrote it in 1975 he had embarked on a solo career away from Emmerson, Lake & Palmer.

Those around him at the time, including songwriter Peter Sinfield and broadcaster Bob Harris, recall how repeating a simple acoustic guitar exercise led to this giant of a song. It includes a full choir, orchestra, and an extract from Prokofiev to create an enduring Christmas anthem.

For many people it's a comforting song, conjuring images of nostalgic picture postcard Christmases of childhood spent in the ambience of Christmas tree lights and candles with "eyes full of tinsel and fire".

For others, it's a cautionary reminder of the need to look beyond the materialism and commercialism to a more spiritual, quiet time.

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2022.

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 classic and as the country and western star , Connie Smith explains, it's the piece she always sings to close her show, the stirring lyrics and soaring melody having the ability to move and inspire audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

At the age of 101, George Beverly Shea shares his clear memories of singing it at hundreds of Billy Graham crusades.

Featuring:

Bud Boberg Ray Bodkin Bev Shea Jerry Schilling Malcolm Imhoff David Darg

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Lucy Lunt

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2010.

"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 whom the music has comforted and inspired.

Known for its peaceful and hopeful nature the Faure Requiem has been called 'The lullaby of death'. Whilst Gabriel Faure himself never spoke directly about what inspired his interpretation of the Requiem, author and biographer Jessica Duchen has speculated that it may have been born out of his experience as a soldier during the Franco-Prussian war.

Featuring personal stories of conflict and deliverance shared from across the decades. Reaching from the beaches of Normandy to the plains of Afghanistan and into the skies of Salisbury.

Faure composed the first version of the work, which he called "un petit Requiem" with five movements, of which the Pie Jesu and In Paradisum have become arguably the most popular.

"Everything I managed to entertain by way of religious illusion I put into my Requiem, which moreover is dominated from beginning to end by a very human feeling of faith in eternal rest."

Featuring:

David Willcocks Jessica Duchen Christina Schmid Paul Hawkins Ross Mallock

Series exploring famous pieces of music and their emotional appeal.

Producer: Nicola Humphries

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2010.

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 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.