Saturday Classics - Amanda Foreman

Writer and historian Dr Amanda Foreman takes a personal journey through the musical history of Britain, introducing works which have inspired her over the years and which reflect different aspects of what it is to be British.

Foreman is the author of the award-winning best sellers, 'Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire' (1999) and 'A World on Fire: A Epic History of Two Nations Divided (2011), and is seen and heard frequently on TV and radio history programmes.

Having lived in the UK and the United States, Foreman has both an inside and outside view of Britain and the music which defines it. In her varied choice, she introduces works such as the Medieval "Agincourt Carol", pieces by Byrd and John Bull which entertained women in the Tudor Court, as well as evocative musical portrayals of the 20th century English and Scottish landscapes by Elgar and Hamish MacCunn.

2016 sees the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, and in amongst Foreman's choices are works inspired by his writing, including Judith Weir's "Storm" with texts from "The Tempest", incidental music from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by Mendelssohn and Henry Bishop's "Lo! Here the lark" from his music for "The Comedy of Errors".

Other music includes works by Henry Wood, Ethel Smyth, Thomas Weelkes, Henry Purcell, William Walton and Hubert Parry.

Producer Helen Garrison.

Published on Saturday, 16th April 2016.

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