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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

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The Essay Podcast

The Essay

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Essays from leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond.

Leading writers on arts, history, philosophy, science, religion and beyond, themed across a week - insight, opinion and intellectual surprise.

The Essay: Classical Music's Unsung Heroines

The Essay: Classical Music's Unsung Heroines: Episode 4: Mary Gladstone

Episode 4

Episode 4: Mary Gladstone

Classical Music's Unsung Heroines

Mary Gladstone

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Discussing Mary Gladstone, daughter of William, who brought music to Downing Street.

Dr Phyllis Weliver discusses the life of Mary Gladstone, daughter of William Gladstone, who was a master of 'soft diplomacy' and brought music-making to the heart of Downing Street.

In the week leading up to our celebration of International Women's Day, a series of The Essay celebrating five women who have been unacknowledged movers and shakers in the world of classical music down the ages. Each of these women overcame societal expectations or personal adversity to have real influence on the music of their day, and subsequently ours.

We tend to remember William Ewart Gladstone as a reformer who wanted to pacify Ireland. We know that Queen Victoria preferred Disraeli's flattery to Gladstone's earnest lectures. And we've heard that this long-serving Prime Minister relaxed by cutting down trees on the Hawarden estate. What we don't imagine about this Grand Old Man is his sensuality. In fact, W.E. Gladstone was passionately musical and he owed much of the pleasure he gained from exploring his musical tastes, as well as the moral purpose he derived from it, to the influence of his daughter Mary. 

As Dr Phyllis Weliver explains, Mary was a pioneering Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, one who advised on ecclesiastical appointments with a strong bias towards those who shared her sense of the moral purpose of music. She was also a subtle master of 'soft diplomacy' in the way she brought music making to Downing Street and the heart of her father's government. 

Produced by Simon Richardson

To find out more about Radio 3's International Women's Day programming follow @BBCRadio3 and the hashtag #womensday.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Celebrating women who have been unacknowledged heroines of classical music down the ages

Series celebrating five women who have been unacknowledged movers and shakers in the world of classical music down the ages

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Episode 4: Mary Gladstone

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