Gretchen Gerzina
Michael Berkeley鈥檚 guest is the writer and historian Gretchen Gerzina. With music by Purcell, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and The Beatles.
Gretchen Gerzina says that she鈥檚 drawn to writing about those who cross boundaries of time, place, and race. During a distinguished academic career, she鈥檚 explored the lives of black people in 18th- and 19th-century Britain and America, and she presented a ten-part series on Britain鈥檚 Black Past for Radio 4. She also has a passion for 19th-century children鈥檚 books and has written a biography of Secret Garden author Frances Hodgson Burnett - and a biography of Bloomsbury artist Dora Carrington.
Gerzina herself has spent a life moving back and forth between two cultures, Britain and the US. Currently Professor of English at the University of Massachusetts, as well as teaching, she鈥檚 also now writing a memoir about growing up mixed-race in America; she says: 鈥淚t鈥檚 time to put the past to bed.鈥
Her music choices reflect her interest in 18th- and 19th-century black composers and include Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and Joseph Boulogne. She reveals, too, a passion for Early Music, with Corelli and Purcell, whose exuberant 鈥淲elcome, Welcome Glorious Morn鈥 heads her playlist.
Produced by Elizabeth Burke
A Loftus Media production for 成人快手 Radio 3
Last on
Music Played
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Henry Purcell
Welcome, Glorious Morn, Z.338 (excerpt)
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Choir: Choir of the Age of Enlightenment. Conductor: Nicholas Kraemer. -
Ludwig van Beethoven
Symphony no.9 in D minor (4th mvt: Presto)
Orchestra: Wiener Symphoniker. Choir: Wiener Singverein. Conductor: Philippe Jordan. -
Ignatius Sancho
Minuet in F major
Ensemble: Afro American Chamber Music Society. Conductor: Janise White. -
Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges
Violin Concerto in A major (1st mvt: Allegro)
Performer: Rachel Barton Pine. Orchestra: Encore Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Daniel Hege. -
The Beatles
Blackbird
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Arcangelo Corelli
Concerto Grosso in D major Op.6 no.7 (1st mvt: Vivace)
Orchestra: Tafelmusik. Conductor: Jeanne Lamon. -
L茅o Delibes
Lakme (Flower Duet)
Singer: Joan Sutherland. Singer: Jane Berbi茅. Orchestra: Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Bonynge. -
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Hiawatha's Departure (The Song of Hiawatha)
Orchestra: Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera. Conductor: Kenneth Alwyn.
Broadcasts
- Sun 4 Oct 2020 12:00成人快手 Radio 3
- Sun 3 Oct 2021 12:00成人快手 Radio 3
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