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Simon Thurley

Historian Simon Thurley tells Michael Berkeley about his passion for ancient buildings and the music associated with them.

The historian Simon Thurley tells Michael Berkeley about his passion for ancient buildings and the music associated with them.

At the age of seven, Simon Thurley dug up what turned out to be Roman remains in his back garden in Cambridgeshire, and a lifelong passion for history - and historic buildings - was ignited.

He went on to work as Curator of Historic Royal Palaces and as the Director of the Museum of London. Then, in 2002, at the astonishingly young age of 39, he was appointed Chief Executive of English Heritage, a post he held for 13 years, during which time he was responsible for overseeing over 400 historic sites from Dover Castle to Stonehenge.

He is the author of more than a dozen books about history and architecture and since 2021 he has chaired the National Heritage Memorial Fund, the fund of last resort to protect the nation’s most vulnerable heritage when other routes have failed.

Simon tells Michael about the building mania of Henry VIII, how we can make old buildings sustainable to live in today, and what the future might hold for the Royal Palaces under King Charles III.

He chooses music by Holst which reminds him of his religious childhood, an opera by Bellini which conjures up the English Civil War, and music by Purcell which reminds him of up Hampton Court, one of the buildings he loves most and which he helped to restore after a devastating fire.

Producer: Jane Greenwood

A Loftus Media production for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3

Available now

35 minutes

Last on

Sun 12 Feb 2023 12:00

Music Played

  • Giacomo Puccini

    E lucevan le stelle (Tosca)

    Singer: Rolando Villazón. Orchestra: Munich Radio Orchestra. Conductor: Marcello Viotti.
  • Gustav Holst

    The Hymn of Jesus (Prelude)

    Choir: Hallé Youth Choir. Orchestra: Hallé. Conductor: Mark Elder.
  • Henry Purcell

    Fairest Isle (King Arthur)

    Singer: Carolyn Sampson. Ensemble: Gabrieli Consort. Conductor: Paul McCreesh.
  • George Frideric Handel

    Zadok the Priest

    Choir: Choir of Westminster Abbey. Ensemble: The English Concert. Conductor: Trevor Pinnock.
  • Pietro Mascagni

    Gli aranci olezzano (Cavalleria Rusticana)

    Choir: Chicago Symphony Chorus. Orchestra: Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Riccardo Muti.
  • Vincenzo Bellini

    Act III Finale (I Puritani)

    Singer: Joan Sutherland. Singer: Luciano Pavarotti. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Bonynge.
  • Christoph Willibald Gluck

    Cet asile... (Orfee et Eurydice)

    Singer: Barbara Hendricks. Orchestra: Lyon Opera Orchestra. Conductor: Sir John Eliot Gardiner.

Broadcast

  • Sun 12 Feb 2023 12:00

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