Faramerz Dabhoiwala
Michael Berkeley's guest is historian and author of The Origins of Sex Faramerz Dabhoiwala. With music from Purcell, Bach, Schubert, Philip Glass, Nina Simone and Jan Garbarek.
Faramerz Dabhoiwala, who is Professor of History at Exeter College, Oxford, has proved that what people got up to in the past is a serious and neglected subject of historical enquiry. His book The Origins of Sex explores what he describes as 'the First Sexual Revolution' - a transformation of attitudes to sex which happened in Britain in the 18th century and which gives us the template for how we think about sex today. He argues that during the 18th century older, punitive attitudes to sex began to give way to new ideas of pleasure.
In Private Passions he talks to Michael Berkeley about his upbringing in permissive Amsterdam, and about why discovering his Indian grandparents' love-letters inspired him as a historian. His music choices reflect his love for the 18th century, with Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, and two pieces by Bach: his Double Violin Concerto and the Cantata Wachet Auf. The programme also includes Schubert's Piano Sonata in A Major played by Alfred Brendel, Philip Glass's music for Cocteau's film Beauty and the Beast, and an angry political protest song by Nina Simone which played a key part in the American civil rights movement. He includes, too, an interpretation of 16th-century plainsong by the Norwegian jazz saxophonist Jan Garbarek, a creative interpretation of the past which echoes the excitement he finds in his work as a historian.
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Music Played
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Johann Sebastian Bach
Concerto in D minor for 2 violins, BWV1043 (1st mvt: Vivace)
Performer: Elizabeth Wallfisch. Performer: Alison Bury. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. -
Johann Sebastian Bach
Concerto in D minor for 2 violins, BWV1043 (1st mvt: Vivace)
Performer: Elizabeth Wallfisch. Performer: Alison Bury. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. -
Franz Schubert
Piano Sonata in A, D959 (2nd mvt: Andantino)
Performer: Alfred Brendel. -
Franz Schubert
Piano Sonata in A, D959 (2nd mvt: Andantino)
Performer: Alfred Brendel. -
Henry Purcell
When I am Laid in Earth (Dido and Aeneas)
Orchestra: Les Arts Florissants. Conductor: William Christie. Singer: VΓ©ronique Gens. -
Henry Purcell
When I am laid in earth (Dido and Aeneas)
Orchestra: Les Arts Florissants. Conductor: William Christie. Singer: VΓ©ronique Gens. -
Johann Sebastian Bach
Cantata No.140: Wachet Auf (opening chorus)
Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Choir: Monteverdi Choir. -
Johann Sebastian Bach
Cantata No.140: Wachet auf (Opening chorus)
Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Choir: Monteverdi Choir. -
Philip Glass
La Belle et la Bete: Overture
Ensemble: Philip Glass Ensemble. -
Philip Glass
La Belle et La Bete: Ouverture
Ensemble: Philip Glass Ensemble. Conductor: Michael Riesman. -
Nina Simone
Mississippi Goddam
Singer: Nina Simone. -
Nina Simone
Mississippi Goddam
Singer: Nina Simone. -
CristΓ³bal de Morales
Parce mihi domine
Ensemble: The Hilliard Ensemble. Performer: Jan Garbarek. -
CristΓ³bal de Morales
Parce mihi domine
Ensemble: The Hilliard Ensemble. Performer: Jan Garbarek.
Broadcasts
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Podcast
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Private Passions
Guests from all walks of life discuss their musical loves and hates