''Soul Music'' is a music documentary series on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

first broadcast in November 2000 which aims to focus on the emotional impact of famous pieces of music. The works chosen can be anything from classical, popular, jazz or religious. The first episode examined Sir

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

's '' Cello Concerto in E minor''. The programme doesn't have a presenter, but features a montage of interviews interspersed with clips of the work in question. Each programme usually has three to five contributors who have a personal story connected to the piece of music. One is usually a

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

, conductor or performer who discusses the background to the work or composer, the other contributors are people who have a personal story connected to the piece. For example, a 2010 episode on

Gabriel Fauré Gabriel Urbain Fauré (; 12 May 1845 – 4 November 1924) was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th-century composers ...

's ''

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

'' featured Fauré biographer Jessica Duchen discussing the history of the work; veteran choral conductor Sir

David Willcocks Sir David Valentine Willcocks, (30 December 1919 – 17 September 2015) was a British choral conductor, organist, composer and music administrator. He was particularly well known for his association with the Choir of King's College, Cambr ...

, who reflected on his experience in the artillery during World War II; Christina Schmid, widow of Staff Sergeant

Olaf Schmid Staff Sergeant Olaf Sean George Schmid, GC (11 June 1979 – 31 October 2009) was a British Army bomb disposal expert (Ammunition Technician) who was killed in action in the Afghanistan conflict. Schmid was posthumously awarded the George C ...

GC; and Paul Hawkins, vicar of

St Pancras New Church St Pancras Church is a Greek Revival church in St Pancras, London, built in 1819–22 to the designs of William and Henry William Inwood. Location The church is on the northern boundary of Bloomsbury, on the south side of Euston Road, at the c ...

who organised a performance the weekend after the

7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the mo ...

. The series has been broadcast for 26 series, as of 2020, and has featured works as diverse as "

Feed the Birds "Feed the Birds" is a song written by the Sherman Brothers (Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman) and featured in the 1964 motion picture ''Mary Poppins''. The song speaks of an old beggar woman (the "Bird Woman") who sits on the steps of St Paul' ...

" from ''

Mary Poppins It may refer to: * ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fantasy novels that introduced the character. * Mary Poppins (character), the nanny with magical powers. * ''Mary Poppins'' (film), a 1964 Disney film sta ...

'',

George Butterworth George Sainton Kaye Butterworth, MC (12 July 18855 August 1916) was an English composer who was best known for the orchestral idyll '' The Banks of Green Willow'' and his song settings of A. E. Housman's poems from ''A Shropshire Lad''. Early ...

's ''

A Shropshire Lad Rhapsody ''A Shropshire Lad'' is a collection of sixty-three poems by the English poet Alfred Edward Housman, published in 1896. Selling slowly at first, it then rapidly grew in popularity, particularly among young readers. Composers began setting the ...

'',

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodt ...

's ''

Wichita Lineman "Wichita Lineman" is a song written by the American songwriter Jimmy Webb in 1968. It was first recorded by the American country music artist Glen Campbell with backing from members of The Wrecking Crew and was widely covered by other artists. ...

'' and the hymn ''

Dear Lord and Father of Mankind "Dear Lord and Father of Mankind" is a hymn with words taken from a longer poem, "The Brewing of Soma" by American Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier. The adaptation was made by Garrett Horder in his 1884 ''Congregational Hymns''. In the m ...

''.

Antonia Quirke Antonia Quirke is a British film critic. As well as writing on film for the ''Financial Times'' and a weekly column for the ''New Statesman'', she has presented regularly on ''The Film Programme'', '' Pick of the Week'', BBC Radio 4, as well as '' ...

, writing in the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'' notes that each episode is produced by one person and can take up to five years before a suitable range of speakers can be compiled, citing the episode on

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

's ''

Siegfried Idyll The ', WWV 103, by Richard Wagner is a symphonic poem for chamber orchestra. Background Wagner composed the ''Siegfried Idyll'' as a birthday present to his second wife, Cosima, after the birth of their son Siegfried in 1869. It was first perf ...

''.

References

External links

* {{BBC Radio 4 2000 radio programme debuts BBC Radio 4 programmes British music radio programmes