Zadie Smith With The BBC Symphony Orchestra

Zadie Smith is one of Britain's most notable living novelists. Her first work, White Teeth, completed while the author was still a student, became an instant hit when it was published in 2000. Soon enough, she came to define what it was to live in Britain - and particularly London - at the turn of the new millennium.

Music has always coursed through Zadie Smith's works. At university she worked as a jazz singer while her 2016 novel Swing Time, long listed for the Booker Prize, explores her love of music and dance. In the latest of our collaborations with great writers, Zadie joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra for this entertaining concert. And there's even the opportunity to hear Zadie sing!

This is a shortened version of the full concert, recorded on Earth Day, 22nd April at The Barbican, edited for broadcast on BBC Radio 4. The full concert will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in the coming months.

READINGS:

Chapter 2 from the novel Swing Time

'Joy' from the collection 'Feel Free'

'Lazy River' from the collection 'Grand Union'

extract from 'Canines: The Ripping Teeth' from the novel White Teeth

All by Zadie Smith

MUSIC:

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Act 2 'Dance of the Mirlitons

Gity Razaz: 'Mother

Leonard Bernstein: Overture to 'Candide

Frank Zappa: 'Outrage at Valdez

Rogers and Hart - arr Simon Nathan: 'I Could Write a Book

Recorded at the Barbican on Earth Day, Friday 22nd April 2022

Conductor: Ben Gernon

Producer for BBC Radio 4: Steve Doherty

Producer for BBC Radio 3: Ann McKay

Executive Producer: Paul Hughes

A Giddy Goat/BBC Symphony Orchestra co-production for BBC Radio 4

The latest in a series of concerts featuring great writers and the BBC Symphony Orchestra.