Showing results by author "David Allen" in Biographies & Memoirs

Albert Einstein's first wife, Mileva Einstein-Maric, was forgotten for decades. When a trove of correspondence between them beginning in their student days was discovered in 1986, her story began to be told. Was Mileva her husband's uncredited coauthor, unpaid assistant, or his essential helpmeet? It's tempting to believe that she was her husband's secret collaborator, but the authors of Einstein's Wife look at the actual evidence.

A portrait in words and music of one of the world's truly great composers. A man who gained fame in a land far from his birthplace. Handel was rewarded with glory and honour in his lifetime, and his music lives on in opera house, church and concert hall. His famous Largo is generally accepted as being one of the best loved melodies in the world. This programme follows his extraordinary success in a foreign land with respect and affection.

This audio biography vividly traces the life of a man who is regarded as the greatest scientist the world has ever known. It tells of his schooldays and earliest experiments, through the terrible plague years when he began the work that was to make him famous forever, to the publication of his book, The Principia, a masterpiece that did no less than describe the workings of the universe. Yet he was a modest man, who cared little for his appearance and detested argument.

When it came to religion, "faith" as I saw it was something short of absolute and something only "hoped" for. There is nothing wrong with having hope. Religion aside, we can all see that this is an imperfect world in which people have to endure difficult circumstances, loss, mistreatment, and the fear of death. So if the thought of a second life after death where everything is perfect gets people through their weeks, there is nothing wrong with that hope.

Edison was a prolific inventor. Among his hundreds of patents is the gramophone, the electric light bulb, the telephone, the kinematograph, and the electricity generator. Of all the people who have shaped our modern world it is Edison who had more impact than anyone else.

"Imagine a blind painter!" So said Richard Wagner when describing the effect of deafness on a composer. Yet Ludwig van Beethoven was a man with the character to overcome this seemingly incapacitating disability and produce some of the most powerful and beautiful music ever written. This fascinating programme selects the words of Beethoven and his contemporaries, and includes excerpts from his best known and loved works.

Its opening bars can bring a tear to the eye and a lump to the throat. It is at once the most romantic and sentimental melody ever written. It is of course the The Blue Danube Waltz, composed by the Waltz King, Johann Strauss the Younger. For more than 60 years Strauss captivated audiences with his evocations of Viennese joi de vivre; yet his own life was often sad. This programme makes use of fascinating contemporary writings as well as the wonderful music itself.

Johann Sebastian Bach has been called the father of Western music; precise and incredibly prolific, his works fill 52 volumes. He was an obstinate but nevertheless modest man and the outstanding tributes paid to his work more than a 100 years after his burial in an unmarked grave, would have probably amused him. This programme traces the development of his life and work and is copiously illustrated with examples of his music.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is without doubt the most famous of all musical child prodigies. At the age of 6 he enthralled the Austrian Court with his unbelievable virtuosity. Yet he died friendless and in poverty at the age of 36, a victim of jealousy, and vicious intrigue. Mozart's story is a tragedy, but one filled with superb music; for he brought new colour, passion and power to opera, symphony and concerto.