The Music Show

The late, great Clive James discusses writing for songs and the stage while sharing his favorite pieces of musical poetry, from Stephen Sondheim to Aretha Franklin. The conversation explores the interplay between words and music, highlighting the complexity and depth in classical music through Mahler's Ninth Symphony.

Three authors on music from The Music Show archives.Margaret Atwood spoke to Andrew Ford back in 2003, after the transformation of her novel The Handmaid’s Tale into an opera by Danish composer Poul Ruders.Andrea Goldsmith joined Andy on stage for the 2013 Melbourne Writers’ Festival after her novel The Memory Trap invoked Beethoven amongst other composers. Live performance from Zoe Knighton and Amir Farid.And Anna Goldsworthy is a concert pianist as well as a writer. Her two lauded volumes of memoirs were followed up by her debut novel Melting Moments in 2020, when she spoke to Andy about how music inspired the structure of the book.Music in the show:Track: Prologue and “The Wall, from The Handmaid's TaleComposer: Poul RudersArtist: Royal Danish Opera Company & Royal Danish OrchestraAlbum: The Handmaid's TaleLabel: Dacapo 8.224165-66Track: Cello sonata No. 4 in C major (Op. 102, No. 1)Composer: Ludwig van BeethovenArtists: Zoe Knighton and Amir FaridPerformed live on The Music Show at Melbourne Writers’ FestivalTrack Title: Moment Musicaux Nos 1 and 3, Op 94Artist: Paul LewisComposer: Franz SchubertAlbum: Schubert Piano Sonata D.845, "Wandererfantasie" D.760, 4 Impromptus D.935, Moments Musicaux D.780Label: Harmonia Mundi ‎– HMC902136.37The Music Show is made on Gadigal and Gundungurra Country.Technical production by Nathan Turnbull. 

The Music Show goes Deep Inside the Blues with photographer and writer Margo Cooper, who’s assembled a beautiful book of photographs and interviews with blues musicians from Chicago to the Mississippi Delta. She joins Andy on The Music Show to outline a sprawling, searching and ultimately living tradition, plus interviews with Blues legends from the Music Show archive.Deep Inside the Blues is published by University Press of Mississippi. Archive interviews heard in the show:Cedric Burnside, 2016 and 2019Billy Boy Arnold, 2006Buddy Guy, 1996Music heard in the show:Title: Mannish BoyArtist: Muddy WatersAlbum: Hard AgainLabel: Blue Sky RecordsTitle: Messin’ with the KidArtist: Buddy Guy & Junior WellsAlbum: Buddy Guy & Junior Wells Play The BluesLabel: Rhino RecordsTitle: Hard TimesArtist: Cedric Burnside & Trenton AyersLive in The Music Show studioTitle: Damn Right I’ve Got the BluesArtist: Buddy GuyAlbum: Damn Right I’ve Got the BluesLabel: SilvertoneTitle: Shake the BoogieArtist: Sonny Boy Williamson (I)Album: Million Years of Blues Vol. 4Label: QuadromaniaTitle: Born With ItArtist: Cedric Burnside ProjectAlbum: I Be TryingLabel: Single Lock RecordsTitle: The Blues Is Alive and WellArtist: Buddy GuyAlbum: The Blues Is Alive and WellLabel: Silvertone RecordsTitle: Bo DiddleyArtist: Bo DiddleyAlbum: single releaseLabel: Checker RecordsTitle: Whiskey, Beer and ReefaArtist: Billy Boy ArnoldLive on The Music Show from Wangaratta Jazz FestivalTitle: We Made ItArtist: Cedric BurnsideAlbum: Benton County RelicLabel: Single LockThe Music Show is made on Gadigal and Gundungurra Country.Technical production by Isabella Tropiano. 

Indie-rock veterans Deerhoof are set to make their first appearance in Australia in a decade, and drummer Greg Saunier joins us on The Music Show to discuss their journey. With a repertoire spanning nineteen albums and a diverse range of styles, Greg talks to us about politics, conceptual art, and his own foray into solo work for the first time in the band's long career. Soprano Anna Fraser sings brand new contemporary opera, renaissance chant, and Schubert… under water. She’s also the curator of the sadly land-based concert IMPOSTO, where her eclectic tastes bring together not only disparate repertoire but disparate composer/performers too – she’s joined by singer Jane Sheldon, baryton player Laura Vaughan, and koto player Satsuki Odamura – and there’s music based on everything from Sylvia Plath to a jellyfish.And do you remember The Beatles’ 1964 tour of Australia? Beatles superfan and co-author of When We Was Fab: Inside The Beatles Australasian Tour 1964 will be joining us to talk about the phenomenon — but we want your memories too! Were you at one of 1964 Beatles' concerts? Did you catch a glimpse of them on the street? Send us your memories via email at: musicshow_rn@abc.net.auPerformance details:Deerhoof12 June, Brunswick Ballroom, Melbourne, VIC13 June, VIVID Sydney, Machine Hall, Sydney, NSW14 June, The Zoo, Brisbane, QLD15 June, The Jive Bar, Adelaide, SA16 June, The Milk Bar, Perth, WAAnna Fraser14 June, IMPOSTO: Sympathetic Resonance Vibrations, Woodburn Creatives RedfernTechnical production by Bella TropianoThe Music Show is produced on Gadigal Land and on Gundungurra Country

Ziggy Ramo, a musician with a unique blend of folk and rap genres, discusses his new album 'Human?' and the accompanying book. The project delves into dark histories and big questions, incorporating themes of personal growth, societal injustices, and the impact of colonization. Ziggy shares insights on his songs 'Sorry' and 'April 25th' while exploring humanity, differences, and the importance of collaboration for a better future.

Artist Jeremy Deller first made the connection between acid house music and brass bands back in 1995. The project that emerged, ACID BRASS, brings community bands together in raucous live events. Deller says he was “liberated by brass bands” – since then he’s won the Turner Prize, made conceptual, installation and video art across the world, and represented the UK at the Venice Biennale. Now he brings ACID BRASS to Melbourne’s Rising festival, and he talks to Andy about what music has given his art practice, and what his art has given his music.Bach’s St John Passion is not his most famous Passion oratorio – often eclipsed by the St Matthew Passion, this earlier work is wilder and more extravagant. John O’Donnell is getting ready to conduct Accademia Arcadia, Ensemble Gombert, and a cast of soloists in a period instrument performance of the Passion to mark its 300th anniversary.Composer, artist, and archaeologist Victoria Pham joins us on The Music Show to talk about her latest bio-installation Listening Gardens ii - soil fields showing at Bathurst Regional Art Gallery. Her work crosses the boundaries of music and sound in order to communicate otherwise-unheard symphonies of nature. She leans on her background as a biological anthropologist to create a mushroom opera, an orchestral Boeing 747, and draught conservation plans told through synthesisers. Performance dates:Jeremy Deller1 - 16 June, ACID BRASS, Rising Festival Melbourne. Full details of free performance locations here.Bach's St John Passion 8 + 9 June, Bach's St John Passion, Woodend Winter Arts Festival. St Ambrose Church Templeton St, Woodend.Victoria Pham4 May - 23 June, Listening Gardens ii -- Soil Fields, Season One: Terrestrial. Bathurst Regional Art Gallery.Technical production by Simon BranthwaiteThis episode of the music show was produced on Gadigal Land and on Gundungurra Country

Errollyn Wallen’s memoir Becoming a Composer is a look into the mind of the composer as well as the life of one. Born in Belize but now based in the far-flung north of Scotland, where she sometimes inhabits a lighthouse, she works at a brisk pace, composing prolifically for orchestra, chamber ensemble, choir, and over twenty operas.Her major public commissions have included music for The Last Night of the Proms, the Paralympic Opening Ceremony, and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and she joins us from her home in the Orkney Islands to talk about Becoming a Composer, and becoming a composer.Music heard in the show:Title: Horseplay i. Dark and mysteriousArtist: The Continuum Ensemble/Philip HeadlamComposer: Errollyn WallenAlbum: The Girl In My AlphabetLabel: Avie AV0006Title: DervishArtist: Matthew Sharp (cello), Dominic Harlan (piano)Composer: Errollyn WallenAlbum: The Girl In My AlphabetLabel: Avie AV0006Title: Sojourner TruthArtist: Madeleine Mitchell (violin), Errollyn Wallen (piano)Composer: Errollyn WallenAlbum: Violin ConversationsLabel: Naxos 8574560Title: Cello ConcertoArtist: Matthew Sharp (cello), Ensemble X, Nicholas KokComposer: Errollyn WallenAlbum: PhotographyLabel: NMC NMCD221Title: Boom BoomArtist: Palaver Strings, Nicholas PhanComposer: Errollyn WallenAlbum: A Change is Gonna ComeLabel: Azica Records 71365The Music Show is made on Gadigal and Gundungurra CountryTechnical Production by Simon Branthwaite and Tegan Nicholls

Playwright, screenwriter, and actress Kate Mulvany has been commissioned with the task of writing the lost prologue for the first true English opera, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. She joins Andy on The Music Show to chat about getting into the head of the queen of Carthage, and what it was like writing for opera for the first time. Independent hip-hop label Elefant Traks has had a huge cultural impact on the Australian music industry, and in 2024 after 26 years they are wrapping up operations. Back in 2018 we chatted to Tim Levinson and L-Fresh the Lion for Elefant Traks 20th birthday, and we're bringing it back for this week's show as the label begins preparations for their farewell concerts.Plus, a new release of an old tune by Louis Armstrong, recorded live at the BBC. Technical production by Tegan Nichols and Simon BranthwaiteThis episode of the music show was produced on Gadigal Land and Gundungurra Country.Performance dates:Dido and Aeneas by Pinchgut Opera:30 May, City Recital Hall, Sydney, 7pm1 June, City Recital Hall, Sydney, 2pm2 June, City Recital Hall, Sydney, 5pm3 Jun, City Recital Hall, Sydney, 7pmElefant Traks:26 May, Elefant Traks 25th Anniversary – The Finale, Sydney Opera House, 7:30pm8 June, Elefant Traks: 25 The Finale, Open Season at the Tivoli Brisbane, 7pm15 June, Elefant Traks 25th Anniversary – The Finale, Melbourne Recital Centre, 3pm and 7:30pm

Omar Musa is an author, artist, poet, and woodcutter making music and art from Borneo to Brooklyn. He is back in Australia to talk about his latest album The Fullness. His third album touches on the environment, culture, religious identity, and mortality. He creates poetry from a spoken-word background, melding hip-hop, jazz, and electronic sounds with earnest lyricism. Gillian Dooley joins us on The Music Show to talk about her latest book She Played and Sang, which explores the music of Jane Austen. From Haydn piano sonatas to Scottish folk songs, Gillian gives us a sense of what not only Elizabeth Bennett and the Dashwoods were playing in their parlour, but also Jane Austen herself. Also new music from Leila and Sean ShibePerformance Dates -- Omar Musa4 May – 2 June All My Memories Are Mistranslations, Humble House Gallery Canberra, 2 August ACO Up Close: Omar Musa and Mariel Roberts, ACO Pier 2-3 - The Nielson, 7pmGillian Dooley -- She Played and Sang: Jane Austen and Music, Manchester University Press

Australian tenor Stuart Skelton returns to The Music Show as he prepares to sing Mahler’s Song of the Earth (Das Lied von der Erde) with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Looking over his increasingly heroic career from oddball roles like the titular Peter Grimes to the pantheon of Wagner’s men, Stuart reflects on growing into his voice, and what he learned from the conducting and musical leadership of the late Andrew Davis.Story of Another Soul is a “decolonial dreaming of new futures that seeks truth in the roots of improvisation”, from Meanjin/Brisbane based spoken word poet Huda Fadlelmawla and jazz trumpeter, composer and producer Reuben Lewis. They join Andy to talk about the process of improvisation in which words and music come together.Stuart Skelton performs Mahler’s Song of the Earth with the Australian Chamber Orchestra until 26 May.Story of Another Soul is out now via Life Before Man.Title: These StoriesComposer: Reuben Lewis, Huda FadlelmawlaArtist: Huda The Goddess & Reuben LewisAlbum: Story of Another SoulLabel: Life Before ManTitle: Das Lied von der Erde; i. Das Trinklied von Jammer der ErdeComposer: Gustav MahlerArtist: Stuart Skelton, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Sir Simon RattleAlbum: Das Lied von der ErdeLabel: BR Klassik 900172Title: “Now the Great Bear and Pleiades” from Peter GrimesComposer: Benjamin BrittenArtist: Stuart Skelton, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward GardnerAlbum: Peter GrimesLabel: Chandos CHSA5250Title: “Take me away, and in the lowest deep there let me be” from The Dream of GerontiusComposer: Edward ElgarArtist: Stuart Skelton, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew DavisAlbum: The Dream of GerontiusLabel: Chandos CHSA5140Title: When People Ask You, BreakComposer: Reuben Lewis, Huda FadlelmawlaArtist: Huda The Goddess & Reuben LewisAlbum: Story of Another SoulLabel: Life Before ManTitle: Love So DeepComposer: Omar MusaArtist: Omar MusaAlbum: The FullnessLabel: Monkeycat MusicThe Music Show is produced on Gadigal and Gundungurra CountryTechnical production by Ann-Marie Debettencor