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Start the Week: Simon Jenkins' History of England, and the National Poet of Wales, Gillian Clarke

26/09/2011

Simon Jenkins' History of England, and the National Poet of Wales, Gillian Clarke

BBC Radio 4 - Start the Week, Simon Jenkins' History of England, and the National Poet of Wales, Gillian Clarke

Andrew Marr with Peter Conrad, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Simon Jenkins and Gillian Clarke.

Andrew Marr with writers Peter Conrad and Simon Jenkins, pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard and poet Gillian Clarke.

Andrew Marr discusses the work of the 'Godfather' of new music Pierre Boulez. The French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard explains the joy of his compositions, which are in a state of permanent revolution. The writer Peter Conrad pits Verdi against Wagner to ask whether it's possible to love both composers, or does taste, nationality and ideology still get in the way. With a very English temperament Simon Jenkins romps through the history of England in a bid to answer why the nation lost America, avoided a French revolution and gradually lost its world supremacy. And the Welsh National Poet, Gillian Clarke, talks about her country's literary heritage.

Producer: Katy Hickman.

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