The Romantics and Us with Simon Schama

Taal: nld
Categorie: Documentaire

Simon Schama explores the genesis of modern nationalism - its romantic roots in a new idea of nature and homeland, the 'discovery' of native folklore and above all the part played by music - especially Frederic Chopin's mazurkas - in generating the emotion of national belonging. But where did this feverish passion for homeland begin? For many romantics, it began in 17th-century Switzerland with the diagnosis of a familiar, all-too-human emotion by the Swiss doctor Johannes Hofer - nostalgia. Hofer believed that it was a lethal malady that was triggered by anything that reminded Swiss soldiers serving abroad of home. In Scotland, Simon looks at the work of Robert Burns, who grew up in Ayrshire in the 1770s. Speaking to singer-songwriter Eddi Reader, who performs A Red, Red Rose, Simon explores how Burns created authentically Scottish poetry and music that could hold its own against the oncoming tide of English culture.