Abdulrazak Gurnah
Michael Berkeley's guest is winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Abdulrazak Gurnah.
Abdulrazak Gurnah won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2021, honouring a career in which he鈥檚 written ten novels, and many short stories and essays. He鈥檚 an Emeritus Professor at the University of Kent.
He was born in 1948 on the island of Zanzibar off the coast of East Africa, and first came to Britain as a refugee at the age of 18, in the aftermath of the Zanzibar Revolution.
In his Nobel Prize acceptance speech, he recalled how, even as a young schoolboy, he loved writing stories. He also reflected on how his move to England changed everything: "there", he said, "in my homesickness and amidst the anguish of a stranger鈥檚 life鈥 I began to do a different kind of writing. There was a task to be done."
Abdulrazak's musical choices include Shostakovich, Mendelssohn, Miles Davis and the Malian kora player, Toumani Diabat茅.
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Music Played
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Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sympnony No.40 in G Minor K.550_1.Molto Allegro
Orchestra: Scottish Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Symphonies 38 - 41.
- Linn Records.
- 1.
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Sidney Bechet & Claude Luter and his Orchestra
Petite Fleur
- Petite Fleur.
- Vogue.
- 1.
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Dmitiri Shostakovich
Symphony No.7 in C Major Op. 60 The Leningrad
Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Andris Nelsons.- Shostakovich Symphonies Nos. 6 & 7.
- Deutsche Grammophon.
- 1.
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Toumani Diabat茅
Kaira
- Kaira.
- Hannibal Records.
- 3.
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Felix Mendelssohn
Song Without Words
Performer: Sheku Kanneh鈥怣ason. Performer: Isata Kanneh鈥怣ason.- Song.
- Decca.
- 7.
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Fr茅d茅ric Chopin
Nocturne No.4 in F Major Op.15 No.1
Performer: Martha Argerich.- Argerich Plays Chopin.
- Deutsche Grammophon.
- 8.
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Miles Davis
Summertime
- Porgy and Bess.
- Columbia.
- 5.
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Joaqu铆n Rodrigo
Concierto de Aranjuez 1: Allegro Con Spirito
Performer: Milo拧 Karadagli膰. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Yannick N茅zet鈥怱茅guin.- Aranjuez.
- Deutsche Grammophon.
- 1.
Broadcast
- Sun 5 Nov 2023 12:00麻豆约拍 Radio 3
What makes Boogie-woogie piano legend Jools Holland tick?
11 things we learned from Harry Enfield鈥檚 Private Passions
Archive Unlocked: Two Decades of Private Passions
Michael Berkeley introduces memorable interviews from Private Passions' archives.
Podcast
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Private Passions
Guests from all walks of life discuss their musical loves and hates