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BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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Noise: A Human History: Heavenly Sounds

Heavenly Sounds

Noise: A Human History

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Noise: A Human History, Heavenly Sounds

David explores how medieval singers and preachers adapted to the acoustics of holy places.

Professor David Hendy explores how medieval singers and preachers adapted to the acoustics of holy places.

Worshipers in the Middle Ages would have been struck not just by the visual spectacle of great churches and cathedrals, but also by their sound. Medieval churches in the west had very different acoustics to the low-roofed, wattle and daub homes where most of their congregation lived. 

Professor David Hendy of the University of Sussex explores how preachers and singers created sounds that fitted these holy spaces beautifully, from Romanesque churches to the musical pillars of Hampi, and an extraordinary 16th century experiment in stereo in St Mark's in Venice.

30-part series made in collaboration with the British Library Sound Archive.

Producer: Matt Thompson.
A Rockethouse production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2013.

BBC Radio 4 Extra

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

Documentaries

Factual: History

Prof David Hendy on the role of sound and listening in 100,000 years of human history.

Prof David Hendy presents a 30-part series exploring the role of sound, and listening, in the past 100,000 years of human history.

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Programme Index

Noise: A Human History

Heavenly Sounds

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