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A journey to Michael Tippett's Five Spirituals

Sara Mohr-Pietsch considers war, protest and the blues en route to Michael Tippett's Five Spirituals from A Child of Our Time, and finds moments of peace and beauty too.

Sara Mohr-Pietsch considers war, protest and the blues en route to Michael Tippett's Five Spirituals from A Child of Our Time, and finds deep-listening moments of harmony and beauty too. Tippett's searing oratorio was born out of the horrors of World War II, and its Spirituals are central to its message of shared humanity and a plea for peace. But although Tippett was well steeped in the language of protest and activism, he was also a life-long jazz and blues devotee. Along the way, Sara explores Dvorak and Ravel's love of Black American music, and takes a pit stop in the somewhat dubious area of cultural appropriation with Tchaikovsky and Puccini, before finding the universality of JS Bach's Passion settings.

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23 days left to listen

1 hour, 29 minutes

Last on

Last Sunday 13:30
蜜芽传媒 Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Florence Price

    Symphony No.1: III Juba Dance

    Orchestra: Chineke! Orchestra. Conductor: Roderick Cox.
    • Decca.

  • Giacomo Puccini

    Madame Butterfly: Humming Chorus

    Choir: Choir of the National Academy of St Cecilia. Orchestra: Orchestra of the National Academy of St Cecilia. Conductor: Sir Antonio Pappano.
    • Warner.

  • Jean鈥怭hilippe Rameau

    Les Sauvages

    Performer: V铆kingur 脫lafsson.
    • DG.

  • Maurice Ravel

    Violin Sonata in G major: Blues

    Performer: Alina Ibragimova. Performer: C茅dric Tiberghien.
    • Hyperion.

  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Nutcracker Suite: IV Sugar Rum Cherry

    Music Arranger: Billy Strayhorn. Music Arranger: Duke Ellington. Ensemble: Harmonie Ensemble New York. Conductor: Steven Richman.
    • Harmonia Mundi.

  • Anton铆n Dvo艡谩k

    New World Symphony: Largo

    Performer: Grimethorpe Colliery Band. Music Arranger: Martin Ellerby. Conductor: Garry Cutt.
    • RCA / Sony Masterworks.

  • 罢谤盲诲

    Steal Away

    Performer: Lawrence Brown. Singer: Paul Robeson.
    • Victor.

  • Ethel Smyth

    March of the Women

    Performer: Annette Kruisbrink. Music Arranger: Annette Kruisbrink.
    • Soundset.

  • Michael Tippett

    Concerto for Double String Orchestra: III Allegro molto

    Orchestra: City of London Sinfonia. Conductor: Richard Hickox.
    • Chandos.

  • Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber

    Battaglia a 10: The Battle / The Wounded Musketeers (Adagio)

    Ensemble: Hesp猫rion XXI. Conductor: Jordi Savall.
    • Alia Vox.

  • Ivor Gurney

    Ludlow & Teme: II Far in a Western Brookland

    Performer: Anna Tilbrook. Singer: James Gilchrist. Ensemble: Fitzwilliam String Quartet.
    • Linn.

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Symphony No.7 "Leningrad": II Moderato

    Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vasily Petrenko.
    • Naxos.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    St Matthew Passion: No.54 Chorale "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden"

    Ensemble: Pygmalion. Director: Rapha毛l Pichon.
    • Harmonia Mundi.

  • 罢谤盲诲

    Deep River

    Performer: Isata Kanneh鈥怣ason. Music Arranger: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor.
    • Decca Classics.

  • Michael Tippett

    5 Spirituals from A Child of Our Time

    Choir: National Youth Choir of Scotland. Conductor: Christopher Bell.
    • Signum Classics.

Broadcast

  • Last Sunday 13:30
    蜜芽传媒 Radio 3