SUNDAY 04 JULY 2021

SUN 19:00 BBC Young Musician (m000xnz2)
2004: Nicola Benedetti's Prizewinning Performance

Nicola Benedetti's plays Szymanowski's thrilling First Violin Concerto, the performance that, at the age of 16, won her the title of BBC Young Musician in 2004.


SUN 19:15 Discovering... (m00041td)
Series 1

The Bridge on the River Kwai - Malcolm Arnold

Sir Malcolm Arnold was a prolific composer of music in many genres. Over five decades his output included concertos, ballet music, dance suites, overtures and nine symphonies. He was also at home composing for the film studio, his sweeping score for David Lean’s 1957 feature film, The Bridge on the River Kwai, being perhaps his best known film soundtrack. It won him an Oscar.

Here Katie Derham presents the BBC Concert Orchestra performing The Bridge on the River Kwai in full from the Watford Colosseum with conductor Christopher Seaman. Before the performance, Katie speaks to Christopher and to several members of the orchestra to learn more about the composer and the symphonic qualities he brought to the score. Understanding the instruments of the orchestra as well as Arnold did makes his music extremely satisfying to play.

Katie discovers how Arnold managed to create such an iconic soundtrack in only ten days, and composer Debbie Wiseman, who herself composes prolifically for cinema, uses scenes from The Bridge on the River Kwai to demonstrate how the music is interwoven with the rest of the film’s soundtrack. We see how Arnold’s understanding of the orchestra allowed him to use the right instruments in the right registers to complement to action on screen.

Katie also learns the fascinating story of Arnold’s own life - a pacifist who shot himself in the foot to get medically discharged during World War II, and a diagnosed schizophrenic who suffered with mental illness and alcoholism throughout his life. We see how he nonetheless remained an outgoing, engaging and well-loved figure, before hearing his Bridge on the River Kwai suite performed in full.


SUN 20:15 Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession (b00s96gn)
Mapping the World

In the last of a three-part series about the extraordinary stories behind maps, Professor Jerry Brotton uncovers how maps are snapshots of a moment in history and offer visions of distant lands, tempting explorers to plunder and conquer.

However, adventurers first had to tackle the great challenge of mapping the globe onto a flat surface. There is no perfect solution, but the father of geography, Claudius Ptolemy, had some clever ideas.

Explorers like Christopher Columbus sailed into the unknown in search of riches and discovered a whole new continent that would become the most powerful on earth, while Amerigo Vespucci gave it his name.

Sir Walter Raleigh's treasure map of El Dorado in South America ultimately lost him his head. But the myth of El Dorado lived on, sending hundreds of men to their death in fruitless attempts to find the golden city.

As navigation became easier, maps enabled nations and enterprises like the Dutch East India Company to plunder far-off territories for spices, natural resources and gold. Even today, a project to map the North Pole is the flashpoint for the so-called 'Cold Rush' - the dash to exploit oil, gas and mineral reserves as the Arctic ice melts.


SUN 21:15 World War II: Behind Closed Doors (b00ftb5d)
Episode 3

Joseph Stalin was a tyrant responsible for the death of millions - yet he was also a vital ally of Britain and America during the Second World War.

How was it possible for Churchill and Roosevelt to deal with one tyrant - Stalin - in order to help beat another - Adolf Hitler? That's one of the key questions at the heart of this series.

Using dramatic reconstructions, based on extensive fresh research in Russian and Western archives, and testimony from witnesses of the time, including former Soviet secret policemen who have not spoken before on camera, in order to tell a 'behind closed doors' history. It's a new way of looking at this most vital period, and may change the way people think about the war.

This episode focuses on the secret history of Churchill's first meeting with Stalin in Moscow and the behind-the-scenes actions of Roosevelt's emissary to the Soviet Union.


SUN 22:15 Britain's Most Fragile Treasure (b0161dgq)
Historian Dr Janina Ramirez unlocks the secrets of a centuries-old masterpiece in glass. At 78 feet in height, the famous Great East Window at York Minster is the largest medieval stained-glass window in the country and the creative vision of a single artist, a mysterious master craftsman called John Thornton, one of the earliest named English artists.

The Great East Window has been called England's Sistine Chapel. Within its 311 stained-glass panels is the entire history of the world, from the first day to the Last Judgment, and yet it was made 100 years before Michelangelo's own masterpiece. The scale of Thornton's achievement is revealed as Dr Ramirez follows the work of a highly skilled conservation team at York Glaziers Trust. They dismantled the entire window as part of a five-year project to repair centuries of damage and restore it to its original glory.

It is a unique opportunity for Dr Ramirez to examine Thornton's greatest work at close quarters, to discover details that would normally be impossible to see and to reveal exactly how medieval artists made images of such delicacy and complexity using the simplest of tools.

The Great East Window of York Minster is far more than a work of artistic genius, it is a window into the medieval world and mind, telling us who we once were and who we still are, all preserved in the most fragile medium of all.


SUN 23:15 Storyville (m000xh73)
Petite Fille

Petite Fille (Little Girl) is a moving and sensitive portrait of a young French girl called Sasha, who was assigned male at birth. This poignant and emotional documentary follows the shy seven-year-old and her parents over the course of a year, documenting her progress with delicate intimacy. As her family come to terms with her gender dysmorphia, we witness how Sasha is affected by the societal norms that make it far from easy for her to experience childhood in the same way as most of her peers.

All Sasha wants is to be herself. To be able to wear what she wants to school, to bring friends home and to play with her dolls. But to her family’s distress, there are battles they must face for Sasha to find acceptance.

Award-winning film-maker Sébastien Lifshitz captures Sasha’s story with a non-judgmental, insightful and subtle eye, including truly moving moments of joy as well as the many challenges she and family must face together.


SUN 00:40 Discovering... (m00041td)
[Repeat of broadcast at 19:15 today]


SUN 01:40 World War II: Behind Closed Doors (b00ftb5d)
[Repeat of broadcast at 21:15 today]


SUN 02:35 Hemingway (m000xh55)
Series 1

Episode 1

Ernest Hemingway is considered to be one of the great American writers, with his work remaining influential around the world. This documentary series paints an intimate picture of Hemingway the writer, whilst also penetrating the myths surrounding him to reveal a deeply troubled, controversial and ultimately tragic figure.

The series combines a close study of the biographical events of the author’s life, with excerpts from his writings and the controversies in both his personal life and work. It features readings by actors including Jeff Daniels, Meryl Streep, Keri Russell and Patricia Clarkson alongside interviews with acclaimed writers and biographers including Edna O’Brien, Tobias Wolff, Abraham Verghese and Mary Dearborn.

In the first episode, Ernest Hemingway enjoys an idyllic childhood in Oak Park, Illinois. Yearning for adventure, he volunteers for the Red Cross during World War I. After the war, Hemingway marries Hadley Richardson, moves to Paris and begins his life as a writer.