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Zadie Smith is one of Britain’s most notable living novelists. Her first work, White Teeth, completed while the author was still a student, became an instant hit when it was published in 2000. Soon enough, she came to define what it was to live in Britain – and particularly London – at the turn of the new millennium.

Music has always coursed through Zadie Smith’s works. At university she worked as a jazz singer while her 2016 novel Swing Time, long listed for the Booker Prize, explores her love of music and dance. In the latest of our collaborations with great writers, Zadie joins the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Symphony Orchestra for this entertaining concert. And there's even the opportunity to hear Zadie sing!

This is a shortened version of the full concert, recorded on Earth Day, 22nd April at The Barbican, edited for broadcast on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4. The full concert will be broadcast on ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3 in the coming months.

READINGS:
Chapter 2 from the novel Swing Time
"Joy" from the collection "Feel Free"
"Lazy River" from the collection "Grand Union"
extract from "Canines: The Ripping Teeth" from the novel White Teeth
All by Zadie Smith

MUSIC:
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker Act 2 "Dance of the Mirlitons"
Gity Razaz: "Mother"
Leonard Bernstein: Overture to "Candide"
Frank Zappa: "Outrage at Valdez"
Rogers and Hart - arr Simon Nathan: "I Could Write a Book"

Recorded at the Barbican on Earth Day, Friday 22nd April 2022

Conductor: Ben Gernon
Producer for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4: Steve Doherty
Producer for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3: Ann McKay
Executive Producer: Paul Hughes

A Giddy Goat/´óÏó´«Ã½ Symphony Orchestra co-production for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 4