To keep us going this week, our Artistic Director Emma Gladstone shares some of the tracks that have got her through the last few months. So turn up those speakers and enjoy some uplifting sounds on us….
Photo Hugo Glendinning
Nina Simone, I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free
It’s pretty hard not to feel uplifted by anything this woman does, but this track speaks of freedom in a way that anyone would understand right now.
Afrika Bambaataa, Looking for the Perfect Beat
The first time I really came across hip hop, way back when, was with this track. The invention and energy that bounds out of it grabbed me then, and still grabs me now.
The Unthanks, Magpie
The close harmonies in this familiar folk song are not only extraordinarily beautiful, but a little eerie too somehow. I have to confess to having a minor addiction when I first heard it, and sang it spectacularly badly to myself when alone in the car.
Ludwig van Beethoven, Symphony No. 7 in a A Major, Op. 92: II. Allegretto
I don’t listen to much classical music, but the French choreographer Maud Le Pladec introduced this symphony to me when she made a piece to a clever, looped, adapted version of it. There’s something powerfully sad and dark at the heart of it.
She’koyokh, Syrian Tune
She’koyokh played before, during and after my wedding. Always joyous to hear them in full swing.
London Grammar, Hell to the Liars
I listen a lot to their work – it’s just beautifully sung, unaffected songs with good lyrics that I never get bored of.
Listen to Emma's playlist now
For Julie C, Rhetta M, Rosie L, Maud Le P, BS and my fine DU team