Afterwords: Rosemary Brown
Afterwords explores the work of Rosemary Brown, an English composer and spirit medium who said her pieces were dictated by dead composers like Liszt, Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy.
"The first time I saw Franz Liszt, I was about seven years old, and already accustomed to seeing the spirits of the so-called dead..." - Rosemary Brown.
Afterwords explores the work of Rosemary Brown, an English composer and spirit medium who said her pieces were dictated to her by dead composers like Liszt, Beethoven, Chopin and Debussy. Entering the spotlight in the late 1960s, Brown's work was analysed by musicologists and composers, discussed by priests and talk show hosts. It opened up discussions on the afterlife, on the nature of composition itself and on musical performance as a type of conceptual art.
In this archive-led documentary, we dive into some of the recordings from the time and hear new interviews with the composer Neil Luck, pianist Siwan Rhys and Spectator Arts Editor and Director of the London Contemporary Music Festival, Igor Toronyi-Lalic.
Produced by Eleanor McDowall
A Falling Tree production for 麻豆社 Radio 3
On radio
Broadcast
- Sun 19 Apr 2026 19:00麻豆社 Radio 3
What was really wrong with Beethoven?
Georgia Mann and neurosurgeon Henry Marsh explore the puzzle of Beethoven鈥檚 poor health.
Classical music in a strongman's Russia 鈥� has anything changed since Stalin's day?
What composer Gabriel Prokofiev and I found in Putin's Moscow...
Six Secret Smuggled Books
Six classic works of literature we wouldn't have read if they hadn't been smuggled...
Grid
Seven images inspired by the grid
World Music collector, Sir David Attenborough
The field recordings Attenborough of music performances around the world.