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Jane Hawking

Michael Berkeley's guest is author Jane Hawking, former wife of Professor Stephen Hawking. Her musical choices include Mozart, Schubert, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Chopin.

Jane Hawking's personal life is very much in the public eye at the moment, thanks to the success of the film 'The Theory of Everything'. It tells the story of her love affair and then marriage to the physicist Stephen Hawking, and movingly reveals the way she cared for him, and their children, as his illness increased, until the sad disintegration of their marriage. Both Stephen and Jane Hawking have given the film their approval - indeed, in Jane's case, it's very much based on her autobiography, 'Travelling to Infinity'.

In Private Passions Jane Hawking talks to Michael Berkeley about the crucial role of music in her life, and about how listening to music and singing sustained her during twenty-five years caring for Stephen. She reveals that it was through music that she met her second husband, Jonathan Hellyer Jones.

Other music choices include Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, Schubert's 'The Trout', the Scherzo from Beethoven's 7th Symphony, music from Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky, Brahms' German Requiem, and Chopin's second piano concerto.

Produced by Elizabeth Burke
A Loftus Production for 鶹Լ Radio 3.

1 hour

Last on

Sun 20 Sep 2015 12:00

Music Played

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K.622 (1st mvt: Allegro)

    Performer: Emma Johnson. Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Raymond Leppard.
  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K.622 (1st mvt: Allegro)

    Performer: Emma Johnson. Orchestra: English Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Raymond Leppard.
  • Franz Schubert

    Die Forelle (The Trout)

    Performer: Gerald Moore. Singer: Dietrich Fischer‐Dieskau.
  • Franz Schubert

    Die Forelle (The Trout)

    Performer: Gerald Moore. Singer: Dietrich Fischer‐Dieskau.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony No.7 in A major (3rd mvt: Presto)

    Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony No.7 in A major (3rd mvt: Presto)

    Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
  • Frédéric Chopin

    Piano Concerto No.2 in F minor (2nd mvt: Larghetto)

    Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra.
  • Frédéric Chopin

    Piano Concerto No.2 in F minor (2nd mvt: Larghetto)

    Performer: Vladimir Ashkenazy. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Swan Lake (Act 2: Overture)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: André Previn.
  • Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Swan Lake (Act 2: Overture)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: André Previn.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op.45 (Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen)

    Orchestra: Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Choir: Monteverdi Choir.
  • Johannes Brahms

    Ein Deutsches Requiem, Op.45 (Wie lieblich sind deine Wohnungen)

    Orchestra: Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Choir: Monteverdi Choir.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Brandenburg Concerto No.5 in D major

    Orchestra: The Cambridge Baroque Camerata. Conductor: Jonathan Hellyer Jones.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Brandenburg Concerto No.5 in D major

    Orchestra: The Cambridge Baroque Camerata. Conductor: Jonathan Hellyer Jones.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 12 Apr 2015 12:00
  • Sun 20 Sep 2015 12:00

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