Main content

Michael Holroyd

Sue Lawley's castaway is biographer Michael Holroyd.

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Michael Holroyd. A respected biographer, as a boy, he sought refuge from an unhappy home in Maidenhead Public Library. It was there he discovered the work of Hugh Kingsmill who was to become his first biographical subject. And it was then that he "discovered the attraction," as he says, "of stepping from my own life into other people's". Since then he has devoted seven years to writing the life of Augustus John, and 17 to the biography of George Bernard Shaw.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Last movement of String Quartet - No16 in F Opus 135 by Ludwig van Beethoven
Book: The High Hill of the Muses - Anthology by Hugh Kingsmill
Luxury: Waterbed

Available now

45 minutes

Last on

Fri 25 Feb 2000 09:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

More episodes

Previous

Professor Stuart Hall

Next

Sheila Hancock

See all episodes from Desert Island Discs

Music Played

  • Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    Symphony No. 6 in B minor 'PathΓ©tique' - 1st movement

    • Tchaikovsky Symphonies.
    • EMI.

  • Jean Sibelius

    Symphony No. 2 in D major - 1st movement

    • Sibelius - Symphony No.2.
    • Menuet.

  • Ethel Waters

    Miss Otis Regrets (She's Unable To Lunch Today)

    • Ethel Waters 1931 - 1934.
    • Classics.

  • Bonnie Tyler

    Polly Garters Song

    • Under Milk Wood.
    • Columbia.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Juliet's funeral (from Romeo and Juliet)

    • Romeo and Juliet- Complete Ballet.
    • EMI.

  • Henry Purcell

    When I am laid in earth (Dido's Lament) (from Dido and Aeneas)

    • Dido and Aeneas.
    • EMI.

  • Erik Satie

    Trois GymnopΓ©dies - No. 1

    Performer: Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse.
    • Erik Satie - Les Oeuvres Celebres et les Inedits.
    • Mandala.

  • Castaway's Favourite

    • Ludwig van Beethoven

      String Quartet No. 16 in F major, Op. 135 - 4th movement

      • Beethoven: Op: 135 / Schostakowitsch Op.144.
      • Teldec.

  • Book Choice

    • The High Hill of the Muses - Anthology - Hugh Kingsmill

  • Luxury Choice

    • Waterbed

Credits

Presenter Sue Lawley
Interviewed Guest Michael Holroyd

Broadcasts

  • Sun 20 Feb 2000 11:15
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
  • Fri 25 Feb 2000 09:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

Featured in...

The Desert Island Discs podcast

The Desert Island Discs podcast

Subscribe or download individual episodes.

Listen to over 2,000 programmes

Click above to browse castaways, from 1942 to today.

Articles

Read the surprising things we've learned about some stand-out castaways.

Podcast