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Music Matters

Music and Language

Duration: 44 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC Radio 3Latest broadcast: on BBC Radio 3

Available for over a year

Presented by Kate Molleson

For the last Music Matters of the season, Kate explores the connections between music and language by revisiting her recent trips through parts of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Starting in Faversham, on the north Kent coast, the singer and guitarist Chris Wood explains how he weaves the local and ordinary into his music. And at her home in Yorkshire, Norma Waterson tells Kate about her passion for traditional English folk song, and about making music in her own accent with the other members of her famous folk family.

In the Rhondda Valley, Kate experiences the spine-tingling harmonies of the Pendyrus Male Choir and hears from Gareth Williams how the choir's sound is a result of its industrial history and the Welsh language. And we hear from Pat Morgan of 80s punk band Datblygu, who showed a love of the language by ranting against the romanticised clichés of tradition.

Against the backdrop of the current political debate around language in Northern Ireland, the composers Brian Irvine, Deirdre McKay and Una Monaghan describe how words and language influence the music they write.

And in Scotland, with the writer and poet James Robertson in Angus, and a walk through the lowlands outside Edinburgh with the singer Karine Polwart, Kate explores the use of Scots in song. Show less

Contributors

Presenter:
Kate Molleson
Interviewed Guest:
Chris Wood
Interviewed Guest:
Norma Waterson
Interviewed Guest:
Gareth Williams
Interviewed Guest:
Pat Morgan
Interviewed Guest:
Brian Irvine
Interviewed Guest:
Deirdre McKay
Interviewed Guest:
Una Monaghan
Interviewed Guest:
James Robertson
Interviewed Guest:
Karine Polwart

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