大象传媒

Michael Berkeley鈥檚 guest is the writer Helen Macdonald, whose book "H is for Hawk" shot to the top of the bestseller lists, not just here but around the world. It鈥檚 perhaps no surprise that there鈥檚 a certain amount of birdlife in her playlist, from Stravinsky鈥檚 The Firebird to a piece inspired by a song thrush by the Finnish-English singer Hanna Tuulikki. She chooses music from A Carol Symphony by Victor Hely-Hutchinson, full of glittering ice, which consoled her when she was working in the UAE. We hear Britten鈥檚 Second String Quartet, Lully鈥檚 鈥淭he Triumph of Love鈥�, Sibelius鈥檚 Seventh Symphony and a song by Henry VIII.

Helen Macdonald talks about why writing about nature can be a way of holding the world to account, and about how she finds joy in the fields and lanes around her in Suffolk, during this difficult time. She reveals too what it鈥檚 like living with her grumpy parrot Birdoole, who steals the keys from her computer keyboard.

A Loftus Media production for 大象传媒 Radio 3
Produced by Elizabeth Burke.