Living with the Gods

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Factual: History

Neil MacGregor explores the role and expression of shared beliefs around the world.

Neil MacGregor explores the role and expression of shared beliefs in communities around the world. Produced in partnership with the British Museum.

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Living with the Gods: The Power of Song

The Power of Song

BBC Radio 4 - Living with the Gods, The Power of Song

Neil MacGregor on the role of distinctive dress and communal song in weekly gatherings.

Neil MacGregor focuses on the role of distinctive dress and communal singing when groups gather together.

Neil MacGregor continues his series on the expression of shared beliefs in communities around the world and across time. He focuses on a Kirchenpelz or 'church fur' - a sheepskin coat made in the late 19th century in Transylvania, now part of Romania, for the German-speaking Saxon community there. This was not just 'Sunday Best': to wear this coat was to proclaim in public your allegiance to the Lutheran Church, and your identity as a Transylvanian Saxon. He also reflects on the importance and power of communal singing within the Lutheran Church and elsewhere: the German theologian and priest Martin Luther did not invent hymns or congregational singing, but he did transform them, making them central to worship as never before. 

Producer Paul Kobrak 
Produced in partnership with the British Museum 

Photograph (c) The Trustees of the British Museum.

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