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Simon Barnes, journalist

Michael Berkeley's guest is the nature writer and former sports journalist Simon Barnes.

The writer Simon Barnes has two very public passions - sport and the natural world. He wrote about both for The Times for 30 years, covering seven Olympic Games and six World Cup finals, while also delivering columns on short-eared owls, mountain hares and “the organ-pipe contact call of lions."

His books include reflections on the meaning and the soul of sport, and numerous titles about birds, including the best-selling How to Be a Bad Birdwatcher, in which he says: ‘Birdwatching is a state of being, not an activity. It is not a matter of organic trainspotting. It is about life and it is about living.’ This way of seeing also informs his most recent book How to Fly – which examines not only birds, but butterflies, bees, bats and the deep human fascination with flight.

Simon's musical choices include Beethoven, Scarlatti, Monteverdi and Messiaen.

24 days left to listen

1 hour, 26 minutes

Last on

Sunday 12:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Goldberg variations BWV.988: Aria [also in Anna Magdalena notebook, vol.2]

    Performer: Murray Perahia.
    • Goldberg Variations.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 1.

  • Claudio Monteverdi

    Vespers 1610 (Pulchra es)

    Singer: Emma Kirkby. Ensemble: Taverner Consort, Choir & Players. Conductor: Andrew Parrott.
    • The Silver Sound of Emma Kirkby.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 15.

  • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    Mass in C major K.317 (Coronation): Agnus Dei

    Singer: Sandrine Piau. Singer: Benjamin Bruns. Choir: Accentus. Orchestra: Insula Orchestra. Conductor: Laurence Equilbey.
    • Coronation Mass & Vesperae solennes de confessore.
    • Erato.
    • 6.

  • Domenico Scarlatti

    Sonata in D major, K492

    Performer: Scott Ross.
    • Scarlatti Keyboard Sonatas.
    • Elatus.
    • 18.

  • Ravi Shankar

    Prabhati (Based on Raga Gunkali)

    Performer: Yehudi Menuhin.
    • West Meets East.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 1.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Cello Suite no.1 in G major BWV.1007 (Prelude)

    Performer: Yo‐Yo Ma.
    • Master And Commander - The Far Side Of The World (Music From The Motion Picture).
    • DECCA.
    • 9.

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Symphony No. 6 in F Major "Pastoral" (2nd mvt)

    Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-9.
    • Hyperion.
    • 2.

  • Olivier Messiaen

    L'alouette lulu (Catalogue d'oiseaux)

    Performer: Pierre‐Laurent Aimard.
    • Hommage à Messiaen.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 10.

  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Mass in B minor (Laudamus te)

    Singer: Ida Falk Winland. Ensemble: Arcangelo. Conductor: Jonathan Cohen.
    • Bach: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232.
    • Hyperion.
    • 6.

  • George Frideric Handel

    Messiah (Amen)

    Choir: Irish Baroque Choir. Orchestra: Irish Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Peter Whelan.
    • Handel: Messiah.
    • Linn Records.
    • 32.

Broadcast

  • Sunday 12:00
    BBC Radio 3

Podcast

  • Private Passions

    Guests from all walks of life discuss their musical passions.