The Essay Episodes Available now
Music in Its Time - Beethoven: Piano Concerto No 4—Music in Its Time
9/10 Stephen Johnson on Beethoven's decision to unveil three new works at one public concert.
Music in Its Time - Shostakovich: Symphony No 5—Music in Its Time
8/10 Stephen Johnson considers how Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony surprised its audience.
Music in Its Time - Byrd: Mass for Four Voices—Music in Its Time
7/10 The secret performances of Byrd's masses in Elizabethan England.
Music in Its Time - Mahler's Symphony No 8—Music in Its Time
6/10 The 1910 premiere of Mahler's Eighth Symphony, for which he hired impresario Emil Gutman.
Rachel Joyce on Bronte as a Literary Star—I Am, Yours Sincerely, C Bronte
5/5 Novelist Rachel Joyce on how Charlotte Bronte reacted to becoming a literary sensation.
Jane Shilling on I Shall Soon Be Thirty—I Am, Yours Sincerely, C Bronte
4/5 Jane Shilling explores a letter Charlotte Bronte wrote shortly before beginning Jane Eyre.
I Am, Yours Sincerely, C Bronte: Lyndall Gordon on Charlotte Bronte and Robert Southey—I Am, Yours Sincerely, C Bronte
3/5 Lyndall Gordon examines Charlotte Bronte's response to advice from poet Robert Southey.
Claire Harman on Charlotte Bronte in Belgium—I Am, Yours Sincerely, C Bronte
2/5 Claire Harman on the two years Charlotte Bronte spent as a mature student in Belgium.
Claire Harman on Charlotte Bronte, Governess—I Am, Yours Sincerely, C Bronte
1/5 Biographer Claire Harman discusses Charlotte Bronte's experience as a governess.
Secret Artist—The Secret Mathematician
5/5 Mathematician Marcus du Sautoy argues that maths is more of an art than a science.
