Soul Music - BBC Radio 4

A great BBC Radio 4 programme that's been running for a while is called "Soul Music". It takes a piece of music and spends half an hour gently exploring it - maybe the feelings people get from it, the technical aspects of it, the social impact etc.

Sounds like it could be dull or sappy but it's usually a revelation. For example, in the "Brothers in Arms" episode they spoke to an Irish Republican, members of Dire Straits, an Army Chaplain, TV's "West Wing" musical director...and more.

Here's the link for that episode: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01mqp1r

And the link to all episodes available:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008mj7p/episodes/guide#b01bf67t

If you can access BBC 4's radio player, they are really worth a listen.

This wasn't anything like I was figuring by the title...when I think of "soul music," I tend to think of groups like the Stylistics, the O'Jays, and others from the series Soul Train.

The series sounds intriguing though...will have to look at it at home this evening.

A pun, I think -- music that stirs the soul.

I hope you find something you like there.

I thought the Brothers in Arms one was particularly good. It really works best when you know and love the piece of music, or listen to it first anyway, I guess, but I didn't realise I like Brothers in Arms so much until this programme jolted the senses.

I particularly enjoyed:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01cjwtn - Hallelujah Chorus

and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00mr2wr - You've Got a Friend