Soul Music

Gracias A La Vida - thank you to life - is a song that means a lot to many people around the world. Recorded by artists as diverse as Joan Baez and the magnificent Mercedes Sosa, it reflects the bittersweet nature of life's joys and sadnesses. To the people of Chile where it was written in 1966 by Violetta Parra, it has become an anthem that brings people together in times of trouble. One man tortured and imprisoned under the Pinochet regime in 1973 recalls how playing the song on guitar in prison for other inmates helped keep their spirits and hopes alive under the most brutal circumstances. Australian writer and actor Ailsa Piper recalls being gifted the words to Gracias A La Vida by a fellow walker along one of the holy routes in Spain, and how the song has become a poignant reminder of the fragility of life.Producer: Maggie AyreFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2014.

Marianne Faithfull recalls the classical French Love song which went on to inspire a 1960s hit record by Elvis Presley. 'Plaisir d'Amour' somehow found its way through 18th century orchestration (Hector Berlioz) and 1960's folk revival, to an unexpected re-invention as Elvis’s 'I Can't' Help Falling in Love with You'.Written in 1784 by Jean-Paul-Égide Martini, the song muses on the pleasures and pains of love and was inspired by a poem in Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian's novel 'Célestine'.For 17 year old Marianne Faithfull, it was a song of innocence, recorded in a tiny booth in London’s old Decca studios whilst happily pregnant with her first child. Meanwhile, author Julia Donaldson and husband Malcolm busked it on the streets of Paris. This was in the summer of 1969 and police hid in alleyways, still fearful of students following the 1968 riots.Inspired by Elvis, West Point Military Academy Freshman Andrew Scott learnt to pick the tune on guitar – helping him win the heart of his wife. For Henry and Christine Wallace, it summed everything up "It was what I was looking for, someone to share my life and the words 'take my whole life too was in tune with what I wanted'. Producer: Nicola HumphriesFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2014.

"Into my heart an air that kills From yon far country blows: What are those blue remembered hills, What spires, what farms are those? That is the land of lost content, I see it shining plain, The happy highways where I went And cannot come again."So wrote the poet AE Housman lamenting the loss of his brother in the Boer war in his epic poem A Shropshire Lad. It harks back to a simple idyllic rural way of life that is forever changed at the end of the 19th century as hundreds of country boys go off to fight and never return. George Butterworth adapted his words to music in 1913 just before the outbreak of the Great War. We hear from those whose lives continue to be touched by the loss of so many young men between 1914 and 1918. Broadcaster Sybil Ruscoe recalls visiting her Great Uncle's grave in a military cemetery in France with Butterworth's Rhapsody as the soundtrack to her journey. A concert at Bromsgrove School in Worcestershire where Housman was a pupil remembers the former schoolboys killed in action, and singer Steve Knightley discusses and performs his adaptation of The Lads In Their Hundreds. The Bishop of Woolwich connects his love of the countryside and Butterworth's music with his father's battered copy of Housman's poems which comforted him while held captive in Singapore during the Second World War.Contributors:James McKelvey Phillip Bowen Tish Farrell Michael Ipgrave Steve Knightley Stephen Johnson Sybil Ruscoe Sam AdamsonSeries about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impact Producer: Maggie AyreFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in November 2014.

Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor, is one of the most popular and moving pieces of music.But, as academic and composer Andrew Gant explains, it wasn't written by Albinoni and is now attributed to 20th century Italian composer, Giazotto.Award-winning veteran BBC foreign correspondent, Malcolm Brabant recalls the ' cellist of Sarajevo', Vedran Smailovic, playing it everyday for weeks amidst the wreckage of the beautiful city, as Serbian gunfire raged around.Actress Virginia McKenna explains its importance to her and her late husband, actor Bill Travers, who died in 1994. The piece was played at the beginning and end of his memorial service.And TV producer, Gareth Gwenlan reveals why it was chosen as the theme for the character played by Wendy Craig, in the BBC’s 1970s TV sitcom, Butterflies.Producer: Lucy LuntFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2014.

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. The Ynysowen choir was started after the Aberfan mining disaster as a way of dealing with the emotion. Choir members 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 AyreFirst 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 LennonSeries about pieces of music with a powerful emotional impactProducer: Lucy LuntFirst 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 impactProducer: Maggie AyreFirst 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 HumphriesFirst 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 impactProducer: Melvin RickarbyFirst broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2013.