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Clive Myrie in conversation with news correspondents. He and John Simpson share stories revealing music's power and significance when reporting from extreme conflict situations.

Clive Myrie is in conversation with news correspondents about the music they’ve heard whilst reporting from the front line. With his own extensive experience of covering wars, and his personal love of opera and jazz, Clive and John Simpson share stories to reveal something of the power and significance of music when working in extreme conflict situations.

The ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ's world affairs editor, John recalls hearing Beethoven’s song: The Pulse of an Irishman at the start of his career as a foreign correspondent in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, whilst learning how to cover wars and deal with danger. He remembers discovering Duke Ellington’s Runnin’ Wild on a 78 record in the main souk in Baghdad in 1990. It became a constant musical companion, summing up the First Gulf War for him. He heard Mercedes Sosa sing Como un PΓ‘jaro Libre during a momentous time in Argentina, whilst covering the war in the Falklands. And he played Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony throughout the Second Gulf War in 2003 where he came closest to being killed, and covered the civil war until 2011.

Producer: Natalie Steed
Executive Producer: Rosie Boulton
A Must Try Softer Production

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56 minutes

Last on

Sat 29 Jun 2024 13:00

Music Played

  • Thomas Vautor

    Sweet Suffolk Owl

    Ensemble: Gesualdo Consort. Conductor: Gerald Place.
  • Benjamin Britten

    Dawn (Peter Grimes)

    Orchestra: ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Philharmonic. Conductor: Edward Gardner.
  • Hector Berlioz

    Tout n'est que paix et charme (Les Troyens)

    Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Colin Davis.
  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    The Pulse of an Irishman (12 Irish Songs)

    Singer: Dietrich Fischer‐Dieskau.
  • Mercedes Sosa

    Como un pΓ‘jaro libre

  • Duke Ellington

    Running Wild

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Symphony No.7 (Leningrad)

    Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Leonard Bernstein.
  • BΓ©la BartΓ³k

    Duke Bluebeard's Castle

    Singer: Anne Sofie von Otter. Singer: John Tomlinson. Orchestra: Berliner Philharmoniker. Conductor: Bernard Haitink.
  • Anton Goosen

    Waterblommetjies

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