Classical Commonwealth

Episodes

EpisodeFirst
Broadcast
RepeatedComments
012021022120220710 (R3)ERROLLYN WALLEN unravels the story of how classical music fused with local musical traditions across the British Commonwealth, speaking to acclaimed conductor Zubin Mehta, soprano Patricia Rozario, composer and kora player Tunde Jegede and others.

Errollyn explores the remarkable musical hybrids that emerged in Nigeria, India and the Caribbean, as well as those from her own heritage in the Central American nation of Belize. We hear the fascinating stories - and music - of Nigeria's Fela Sowande, the Indian conductor Mehli Mehta (father of Zubin Mehta), and more recent composers that have sought to capture their cultural 'in-between'-ness in sound, such as Naresh Sohal, Akin Euba, and Tunde Jegede.

Errollyn also explores challenging questions around our reception (and sometimes neglect) of this music in a postcolonial era. In celebrating and championing this repertoire - how much do we also need to confront ideas of musical colonialism? What does this all tell us about how musical culture was disseminated - and sometimes imposed - across the British Empire? And what should we make of it today?

Featuring contributions from acclaimed maestro Zubin Mehta and soprano Patricia Rozario - both born in Bombay, India; contemporary musicians Tunde Jegede, Olabode Omojola and Ankna Arockiam; and music historians Gina Scott, Stephen Banfield, Uchenna Ngwe, Hannah Marsden and Jon Silpayamanant.

ERROLLYN WALLEN unravels the story of classical music across the British Commonwealth.

0220220717ERROLLYN WALLEN unravels more stories of how classical music fused with local musical traditions across the British Commonwealth, speaking to acclaimed South African double-bassist Leon Bosch, Canadian indigenous composers Cris Derksen and T. Patrick Carrabre, and the Jamaican musical polymath Peter Ashbourne, who works across the genres of classical, jazz and reggae.

Errollyn explores the remarkable hybrid musical identities at play in the nations of South Africa and Jamaica - and tells the fascinating and complex story of how the music of Canada's indigenous communities has been celebrated by a new generation of composers and performers seeking to capture their cultural 'in-between'-ness in sound.

Errollyn is also joined by the music historians Stephen Banfield and Wayne Weaver, as well as the Thai-American cellist and researcher Jon Silpayamanant, to explore challenging questions around our reception (and sometimes neglect) of this music in a postcolonial era. In celebrating and championing this repertoire - how much do we also need to confront ideas of musical colonialism? What does this all tell us about how musical culture was disseminated - and sometimes imposed - across the British Empire? And what should we make of it today?

An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 3

Producer: Steven Rajam

ERROLLYN WALLEN unravels more stories of classical music across the British Commonwealth.