Episode 1

Goldie follows the ways in which Black British artists first reach for the classical: evoking its mood with a sampler, paying for live orchestral players and then building records that wove in themes in classical styles. Each stage comes as a pairing, with the classical piece first, including Elgar and Goldie’s Inner City Life, Ravel and Soul II Soul, Samuel Barber and Massive Attack. The Rapsody take an operatic duet by Delibes somewhere its composer never imagined. The episode ends with Górecki and its direct influence on an iconic Goldie track.
Music featured: Elgar, Nimrod from the Enigma Variations; Goldie, Inner City Life; Ravel, Daphnis et Chloé; Soul II Soul, African Dance; Barber, Adagio for Strings; Massive Attack, Unfinished Sympathy; the Flower Duet from Delibes's Lakmé; The Rapsody featuring LL Cool J, Dear Mallika; Górecki, Symphony No. 3; and Goldie, Mother.