BBC Music

During the 1940s, 50s and 60s, Sister Rosetta Tharpe played a highly significant role in the creation of rock & roll, inspiring musicians like Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Little Richard and Chuck Berry. She may not be a household name, but this flamboyant African-American gospel singing superstar, with her spectacular virtuosity on the newly-electrified guitar, was one of the most influential popular musicians of the 20th century. Tharpe was born in 1915, close to the Mississippi in Cotton Plant, Arkansas. At the age of six she was taken by her evangelist mother Katie Bell to Chicago to join Roberts Temple, Church of God in Christ, where she developed her distinctive style of singing and guitar playing. At the age of 23 she left the church and went to New York to join the world of show business, signing with Decca Records. For the following 30 years she performed extensively to packed houses in the USA and subsequently Europe, before her death in 1973. In 2008 the state governor of Pennsylvania declared that henceforth January 11th will be Sister Rosetta Tharpe Day in recognition of her remarkable musical legacy

Affectionate but honest portrait of Thin Lizzy, arguably the best hard rock band to come out of Ireland. Starting with the remix of the classic album Jailbreak by Scott Gorham and Brian Downey, the film takes us through the rollercoaster ride that is the story of Thin Lizzy. From early footage of singer Phil Lynott in Ireland in his pre-Lizzy bands the Black Eagles and Orphanage, it follows his progress as he, guitarist Eric Bell and drummer Brian Downey form the basic three-piece that was to become Thin Lizzy - a name taken from the Beano. Using original interviews with Bell, Downey, the man who signed them and their first manager, it traces the early years leading to the recruitment of guitarists Brian 'Robbo' Robertson and Scott Gorham - the classic line-up. The film uses a number of stills, some seen on TV for the first time, archive from contemporary TV shows and a range of tracks both well known and not so famous. There are hilarious self-deprecating anecdotes, from the stories behind the making of the Boys are Back in Town to the hiring of Midge Ure. We hear about the 'revolving door' as guitarist after guitarist was fired and hired, and the recording of Bad Reputation and Live and Dangerous - where producer Tony Visconti pulls no punches in talking about how he recorded the latter - putting the controversy to bed for the final time. Except that Downey and Robertson still disagree with him. Finally, we hear how drugs and alcohol impacted on the band and how the music suffered, how one member later substituted golf for heroin and how addiction and the related lifestyle led to the death of Phil Lynott. Contributors include Brian Downey, Scott Gorham, Eric Bell, Brian Robertson, Midge Ure, Bob Geldof, Tony Visconti, Joe Elliot and many others.

Oidhche de cheòl bho Sharon Shannon agus a comhlan ciùil, a talla Fruitmarket aig Fèis Celtic Connections. Le Eleanor McEvoy, Heidi Talbot agus Mundy. Air a lìbhrigeadh le Julie Fowlis. Julie Fowlis presents the Sharon Shannon Big Band in concert from Glasgow's Fruitmarket during Celtic Connections. With guest appearances from Eleanor McEvoy, Heidi Talbot and Mundy.

On Monday 7th February Mike Harding and Barbara Dickson co-hosted the 2011 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. Now in their 12th year, the awards celebrate the UK's vibrant folk scene, and achievements from the past 12 months, and honour outstanding lifetime contributions. Live from The Brewery in London on 7th February Simon Mayo previewed the awards, including live performances from duo nominees Chris While and Julie Matthews and a capella trio Coope, Boyes and Simpson. At 7.45 nominees Bellowhead opened the awards ceremony with a live performance of New York Girls. Other nominees this year included singer-songwriter Chris Wood who was shortlisted for Folk Singer of the Year, Best Album and Best Original Song for the affecting ballad Hollow Point. A debut duo album for mother and daughter Eliza Carthy and Norma Waterson helped them to win three nominations this year - Best Duo, Best Album for Gift and Best Traditional Track for Wayfaring Stranger. And there were several artists this year receiving their first Folk Award nominations: Irish singer Heidi Talbot, twice Mercury-nominated talent Laura Marling, and Cornish shanty choir Fisherman's Friends - who made history in 2010 with the first ever album of traditional folk music to enter the top 10 of the network album charts. Donovan, an artist who has influenced generations of musicians and music fans alike, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award and there were also live performances from folk superstar Kate Rusby and festival favourites The Levellers. Guest presenters included actress Tamsin Greig, BBC Radio 2 presenter Mark Radcliffe and best-selling novelist Joanna Trollope.

DURATION: 1 HOUR The cliché of classic rock guitar is one of riffs, solos and noise. But write a list of great guitarists and their finest moments and a quieter, more intense playing comes to the fore. The acoustic guitar is the secret weapon in the armoury of the guitar hero, when paradoxically they get more attention by playing quietly than being loud. This documentary takes an insightful and occasionally irreverent look at the love affair between rock and the humble acoustic guitar. Exploring a much less celebrated, yet crucial part of the rock musician's arsenal, contributors including Johnny Marr, Keith Richards, Ray Davies, James Dean Bradfield, Biffy Clyro, Joan Armatrading, Donovan and Roger McGuinn discuss why an instrument favoured by medieval minstrels and singing nuns is as important to rock 'n' roll as the drums, bass and its noisy sister, the electric guitar.

The acclaimed BBC Four Britannia series moves into the world of British reggae. Showing how it came from Jamaica in the 1960s to influence, over the next 20 years, both British music and society, the programme includes major artists and performances from that era, including Big Youth, Max Romeo, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Jerry Dammers and The Specials, The Police, UB40, Dennis Bovell, lovers rock performers Carroll Thompson and Janet Kay, bands like Aswad and Steel Pulse and reggae admirers such as Boy George and Paul Weller. The programme celebrates the impact of reggae, the changes it brought about and its lasting musical legacy

The untold story of one of the most influential artists ever to come out of Jamaica, Toots Hibbert, featuring intimate new performances and interviews with Toots, rare archive from throughout his career and interviews with contemporaries and admirers including Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Jimmy Cliff, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Marcia Griffiths and Paolo Nutini. From his beginnings as a singer in a Jamaican church to the universally-praised, Grammy award-winning artist of today, the film tells the story of one of the true greats of music. Toots was the first to use the word reggae on tape in his 1968 song Do the Reggay and his music has defined, popularised and refined it across six decades, with hit after hit including Pressure Drop, Sweet and Dandy, Monkey Man, Funky Kingston, Bam Bam, True Love Is Hard To Find and Reggae Got Soul. As Island records founder Chris Blackwell says, 'The Maytals were unlike anything else... sensational, raw and dynamic'. Always instantly recognizable is Toots's powerful, soulful voice which seems to speak viscerally to the listener - 'one of the great musical gifts of our time'. His songs are at the same time stories of everyday life in Jamaica and postcards from another world.

It's a time for guilty pleasures, for courtship, for declarations of love, for looking someone in the eye and whispering sweet nothings, accompanied by a compilation of some of the greatest and squishiest love songs from the likes of Celine Dion, Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes, Jason and Kylie, 10cc and Lionel Richie, all from the Top of the Pops era. If Hot Chocolate and Chaka Khan don't get the temperatures rising, then nothing will.

An archive celebration of great reggae performances filmed in the BBC Studios, drawn from programmes such as The Old Grey Whistle Test, Top of the Pops and Later... with Jools Holland, and featuring the likes of Bob Marley and the Wailers, Gregory Isaacs, Desmond Dekker, Burning Spear, Althea and Donna, Dennis Brown, Buju Banton and many more.

One of Ireland's favourite sons and greatest live performers, folk singer and balladeer Christy Moore filmed live at Barrowland in Glasgow in 2008 with his veteran accompanist Declan Sinnott. Moore is in intimate communion with an attentive audience, playing a classic setlist that includes Missing You, Black Is The Colour, Pair of Brown Eyes, Ride On.

The television premiere of the hit opera based on the life of the young American Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith, who was thrust into the global media spotlight when she married an octogenarian billionaire, became a reality TV star and, after a drug overdose, died tragically early. Composer Mark-Anthony Turnage and librettist Richard Thomas have created a darkly comic work for the Royal Opera which satirises celebrity and consumer culture. Eva-Maria Westbroek sings the challenging and complex title role, and the two central men in her life, her billionaire husband and her lawyer, are sung by Alan Oke and Gerald Finley. Musical director Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House.

To honour what would have been Roy Orbison's 75th birthday on April 23rd, a celebration of the legend of the quiet Texan with the soaring voice who toured with the Beatles, sang some of the defining hits of the early 60s and brilliantly revived his career as a solo artist and member of the supergroup the Travelling Wilburys in the mid-80s. Filmed in black and white in Holland in 1965, this short concert features the Big O performing hits from the classic catalogue of songs he recorded for the American independent label Monument in the early 60s. Filmed in what appears to be a gym or school hall in front of an appreciative but respectful audience, Orbison performs Only the Lonely, Running Scared, It's Over, Oh Pretty Woman and more.

BBC archive compilation exploring 1991's fellow travellers from the British indie guitar and dance scenes that accompanied Primal Scream's breakthough Screamadelica album, which went on to win the inaugaural 1992 Mercury Prize. In the interim between Madchester and Britpop, a new British indie pop flourished that included dance-influenced guitar bands, indie-influenced dance outfits and the gearchanging hits of both the grunge spearhead that was Nirvana and those American alternative rockers REM. Alongside Primal Scream's Movin' On Up are performances from The Late Show, Top of the Pops and other shows by the likes of Ride, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Pop Will Eat Itself, KLF, Massive Attack, Nirvana and REM, alongside many other intriguing moments from what was once called the 'shoegazing' era.

The Carpenters' debut BBC concert, recorded on their first British tour in September 1971. They perform hits including Close to You, Superstar and We've Only Just Begun, together with the odd Beatles' tune and a Bacharach/David medley. Karen's drumming and Richard's keyboards get instrumental support from their five-piece touring band and a 26-piece orchestra conducted by Johnny Pearson.

Compilation of easy listening tracks that offers the perfect soundtrack for your cocktail party. There's music to please every lounge lizard, with unique performances from the greatest easy listening artists of the 60s and 70s, including Burt Bacharach, Andy Williams, Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66, the Carpenters and many more.

In-depth documentary investigation into the story of a popular music genre that is often said to be made to be heard but not listened to. The film looks at easy listening's architects and practitioners, its dangers and delights, and the mark it has left on modern life. From its emergence in the 50s to its heyday in the 60s, through its survival in the 70s and 80s and its revival in the 90s and beyond, the film traces the hidden history of a music that has reflected society every bit as much as pop and rock - just in a more relaxed way. Invented at the dawn of rock 'n' roll, easy listening has shadowed pop music and the emerging teenage market since the mid-50s. It is a genre that equally soundtracks our modern age, but perhaps for a rather more 'mature' generation and therefore with its own distinct purpose and aesthetic.

Sir Hubert Parry is simultaneously one of Britain's best-known and least-known composers. Jerusalem is almost a national song, regularly performed at rugby grounds, schools, Women's Institute meetings and the Last Night of the Proms, while Dear Lord and Father of Mankind is one of Britain's best-loved hymns. Everyone knows the tunes, yet hardly anyone knows much about the man who wrote them. In this film, HRH The Prince of Wales, a long-standing enthusiast of Parry's work, sets out to discover more about the complex character behind it, with the help of members of Parry's family, scholars and performers. This feature-length documentary by the award-winning director John Bridcut offers fresh insight into the life and work of Hubert Parry through the unique perspective of HRH The Prince of Wales.

It's over 40 years since Annie Nightingale's very first show on Radio 1 - she was the station's first female DJ and is its longest-serving broadcaster. A lifelong champion of new music, first with punk, then new wave, acid house and dubstep, Annie is still at the cutting edge in her current incarnation as the 'Queen of the Breaks'. In this film Annie takes us on a counter-cultural journey through the events, people and sounds that have inspired her career. Full of insightful anecdotes about her sonic adventures and the numerous pop-cultural shifts that have helped shape her idiosyncratic outlook and tastes, the film features exclusive contributions from some of the many artists Annie has worked with and admired, including Sir Paul McCartney and Mick Jones of the Clash. We also hear from the new generation of artists who confirm that she's an icon of the British music scene.

Carlos Santana, the legendary Mexican-American guitarist and songwriter, reveals his turbulent life story with astonishing intimacy, accompanied by previously unseen archive performances of many of his best-known tunes. These range from Evil Ways and Black Magic Woman to the massive hits from his later Supernatural album. Santana recounts to director Jeremy Marre the abuse and struggle of his early years, the invention of Latin rock in San Francisco, his triumph at Woodstock, his involvement with jealous guru Sri Chinmoy and guitarist John McLaughlin, and the rollercoaster years that followed.

Morgan Neville's full-length documentary is James Taylor and Carole King's first-hand account of the genesis and blossoming of the 1970s singer-songwriter culture in LA, focusing on the backgrounds and emerging collaboration between Taylor, King and the Troubadour, the famed West Hollywood club that nurtured a community of gifted young artists and singer-songwriters. Taylor and King first performed together at the Troubadour in November 1970, and the film explores their coming together and the growth of a new, personal voice in songwriting pioneered by a small group of fledgling artists around the club. Contributors include Taylor, King, David Crosby, Roger McGuinn, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Kris Kristofferson, JD Souther, Peter Asher, Cheech & Chong, Steve Martin and Elton John.

The story of The Kinks, one of the UK's most important and influential bands, as told from the vaults of the BBC archive. From their humble beginnings in north London, brothers Ray and Dave Davies, school friend Pete Quaife and local drummer Mick Avory exploded onto the music scene of early 1960s London. From this series of unique archive performances we learn that blues was their first love and Dave's signature guitar sound would go on to influence a generation of guitar players. As Ray's uniquely English songwriting style developed, the spectre of Ray and Dave's rocky fraternal relationship continually loomed in the background through concerts for the Old Grey Whistle Test in the 1970s to appearances on Top of the Pops in the 1980s. The inevitable band split came in 1996 and the BBC archive continues with Ray's reinvention as a solo artist with performances on the Electric Proms and up to the present day on Later with Jools Holland. All the while the brothers continue to tease and goad the press - and one another - with talk of a Kinks reunion.

Jools Holland presents a collection of Amy Winehouse's performances on Later, the Hootenanny and at the Mercury Prize between 2003 and 2007. Winehouse made her TV debut on Later in 2003 with songs from her debut album Frank. Like Jools, she loved classic jazz and blues singers like Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan, and the two Londoners hit it off. Amy returned to play with Jools's Orchestra at that year's Hootenanny, to Later in 2006 for the launch of Back to Black and to that year's Hootenanny to perform Toots's Monkey Man and duet with Paul Weller. Back to Black was nominated for the 2007 Mercury Prize and Winehouse performed a heartrending version of Love's Just a Losing Game accompanied only by her guitarist - a fitting end to this celebration of the mercurial, brilliant and troubled singer in her prime.

Compilation of international hits from the BBC archives that paint exotic musical portraits of far away countries or instantly conjure up memories of holidays abroad. This smorgasbord of foreign pop delights includes performances by Demis Roussos, Vanessa Paradis, Gheorghe Zamfir and Sylvia, amongst many others.

The British have a love-hate relationship with the foreign pop song. For years they were frequent visitors to the charts and were bought in their millions. Once heard never forgotten, these international hits conjure instant memories of a holiday abroad, musical portraits of countries far away. This documentary tells the story of these musical imports from the Second World War to the present day. It reveals surprising stories behind some of the songs and asks what made them so popular.

DURATION: 1 HOUR A journey through some of the finest moments of acoustic guitar performances from the BBC archives, from Jimmy Page's television debut in 1958 to Oasis and Biffy Clyro. Other highlights include Neil Young's Heart of Gold, David Bowie's Starman, Donovan's Mellow Yellow, Joan Armatrading's Woncha Come on Home, Bert Jansch, Johnny Marr and Bernard Butler, and Joni Mitchell's Chelsea Morning.

A compilation of rarely screened Pink Floyd videos and performances, beginning with the Arnold Layne promo from 1967 and culminating with the reunited band's performance at Live 8 in 2005.

The Old Grey Whistle Test was launched on 21st September 1971 from a tiny studio tucked behind a lift shaft on the fourth floor of BBC Television Centre. From humble beginnings it has gone on to provide some of the best and most treasured music archive that the BBC has to offer. In its 40th anniversary year, this programme takes us on a journey and celebrates the musically mixed-up decade that was the 1970s and which is reflected in the OGWT archive. There are classic performances from the glam era by Elton John and David Bowie, an early UK TV appearance from Curtis Mayfield, the beginnings of heavy metal with Steppenwolf's iconic Born to be Wild anthem and the early punk machinations of the 'mock rock' New York Dolls. 1973 being the pinnacle year sees archive from Roxy Music, the Wailers and Vinegar Joe. The programme's finale celebrates the advent of punk and new wave with unforgettable performances from Patti Smith, Blondie, Iggy Pop and The Jam. Artists featured: Elton John, Lindisfarne, David Bowie, Curtis Mayfield, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Steppenwolf, Vinegar Joe, Brinsley Schwarz, New York Dolls, Argent, Bob Marley & the Wailers, Captain Beefheart, Johnny Winter, Dr Feelgood, Gil Scott Heron, Patti Smith, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Cher & Greg Allman, Talking Heads, the Jam, Blondie, Iggy Pop and the Specials.

No-one has done more for the cello than Mstislav Rostropovich, or Slava as he was widely known. As well as being arguably the greatest cellist of the twentieth century, he expanded and enriched the cello repertoire by the sheer force of his artistry and his personality and composers lined up to write works for him. In this film by John Bridcut, friends, family and former pupils explore the unique talents of this great Russian artist, and listen to and watch him making music. Contributors include his widow Galina Vishnevskaya and their daughters Olga and Elena; the eminent conductors Seiji Ozawa and Gennadi Rozhdestvensky; and cellists who attended his famous classes in Moscow, including Natalya Gutman, Mischa Maisky, Moray Welsh, Elizabeth Wilson and Karine Georgian. The film traces the development of Rostropovich's international career amid the political tensions of the final years of the Soviet Union.

Filmmaker and former Python Terry Gilliam's smash-hit production of Berlioz's Damnation of Faust for English National Opera has been one of the operatic highlights of 2011. Peter Hoare stars as Faust, with Christopher Purves as Mephistopheles, who propels him on a rollercoaster ride through German history, ending with the rise of Hitler and Faust's inevitable damnation. Edward Gardner conducts the ENO Chorus and Orchestra.

Lulu arrived on Top Of The Pops in 1964 with her raucous, belting rendition of Shout when she was just 15 years old. She is the only female artist who has had a UK Top 20 hit in every one of the last five decades. It's been almost 50 years since her first public performance as a schoolgirl in Scotland, named Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie. Since then, she's notched up 66 singles and 21 albums. She's enjoyed No.1 hits on both sides of the Atlantic, and also won a Eurovision Song Contest. Now 62 years old, Lulu opens the doors to her life - looking back across five decades at her remarkable career. This is also very much the story of Lulu now - following her into the studio with Jools Holland; rehearsing for shows; choreographing new dance routines; and exclusive access as Lulu prepares and performs for a huge concert on the banks of the River Clyde in her old home town of Glasgow. Featuring contributions from Elton John, Kylie Minogue, Cliff Richard, Robin Gibb, Barry Manilow, Bobby Womack and Jools Holland, along with family members, such as Lulu's brother and sister.

Playing the ukulele and performing songs that keep the George Formby legend alive, Frank Skinner follows the music hall star's rise to fame and explores his continuing popularity

Millions of sales on both sides of the Atlantic, near bankruptcy, pills, thrills, spats, prats, successes, excesses, pick-me-ups and breakdowns - all spiralled together to create some of the most defining music of the 20th century. This is the definitive and fully-authorised documentary of the highs and lows of the UK's most inspired and dissolute independent record label - Creation Records. Over 25 years after Creation's first records, it follows the story from the days of the Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Ride, Primal Scream and Teenage Fanclub to the Boo Radleys, the Super Furry Animals and of course Oasis, among many, many more. The label's enigmatic founder Alan McGee talks candidly of the trail which led from humble beginnings in Glasgow, via drink and drug dependency to being wined and dined at No 10 Downing Street by Tony Blair.

Live from London and the BBC's Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House Noel performs some classic hits from his old Oasis days and songs from the much-lauded High Flying Birds album. Tracklist: 01. Intro - Jo Whiley 02. (It's Good) To Be Free 03. Mucky Fingers 04. Everybody's On The Run 05. Dream On 06. If I Had A Gun... 07. The Good Rebel 08. The Death Of You And Me 09. Freaky Teeth 10. Wonderwall 11. Supersonic 12. (I Wanna Live In A Dream In My) Record Machine 13. AKA...What A Life! 14. Talk Tonight 15. Don't Look Back In Anger 16. Encore Break/Radio Switch - Jo Whiley 17. AKA...Broken Arrow 18. Half The World Away 19. (Stranded On) The Wrong Beach 20. Outro - Jo Whiley

On Halloween 1991, Nirvana played live at the Paramount Theater in Seattle. Songs from both albums, "Bleach" and "Nevermind", were performed.

A selection of some of the best performances by African-American artists of the 1980s from the BBC archives.

An intriguing investigation into the extraordinary life of Gershwin's classic composition, Summertime. One of the most covered songs in the world, it has been recorded in almost every style of music - from jazz to opera, rock to reggae, soul to samba. Its musical adaptability is breathtaking, but Summertime also resonates on a deep emotional level too. This visually and sonically engaging film explores the composition's magical properties, examining how this song has, with stealth, captured the imagination of the world. From its complex birth in 1935 as a lullaby in Gershwin's all-black opera Porgy and Bess, this film traces the hidden history of Summertime, focusing on key recordings, including those by Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin, Mahalia Jackson, Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald. It reveals how musicians have projected their own dreams and desires onto the song, re-imagining Summertime throughout the 20th century as a civil rights prayer, a hippie lullaby, an ode to seduction and a modern freedom song. Back in the 1930s, Gershwin never dreamt of the global impact Summertime would have. But as this film shows, it has magically tapped into something deep inside us all - nostalgia and innocence, sadness and joy, and our intrinsic desire for freedom. Full of evocative archive footage as well as a myriad versions of Summertime - from the celebrated to the obscure - Searching For Summertime tells the surprising and illuminating tale behind this world-famous song.

Film which explores how Prince - showman, artist, enigma - revolutionised the perception of black music in the 1980s with worldwide hits such as 1999, Kiss, Raspberry Beret and Alphabet Street. He became a global sensation with the release of the Oscar-winning, semi-autobiographical movie Purple Rain in 1984, embarking on an incredible journey of musical self-discovery that continued right up to his passing in April 2016, aged 57. From the psychedelic Around the World in a Day to his masterpiece album Sign O' the Times and experiments with hip-hop and jazz, Prince was one of most ambitious and prolific songwriters of his generation. He tested the boundaries of taste and decency with explicit sexual lyrics and stage shows during his early career and in the 1990s fought for ownership of his name and control of his music, played out in a public battle with his former label, Warner. Highly regarded as one of the most flamboyant live performers ever, Prince was a controversial and famously elusive creative force. Contributors include Revolution guitarist Dez Dickerson, Paisley Park label president Alan Leeds, hip-hop legend Chuck D and Prince 'Mastermind' and UK soul star Beverley Knight.

A selection of Lionel Richie's greatest moments from the BBC archives, from his first Top of the Pops appearance with The Commodores in 1979 to highlights from his 2009 concert at the BBC's Maida Vale studios.

Simon Russell Beale continues his Sacred Music journey in this special celebration marking the 400th anniversary of the death of the great Spanish Renaissance composer Tomas Luis de Victoria. In exploring the extraordinary world of this intensely spiritual man - musician, priest and mystic - Simon's travels take him to some of Spain's most stunning locations, from the ancient fortified city of Avila, with its medieval walls and glorious cathedral, to the magnificent El Escorial palace, where Philip II would listen to Victoria's music though a small door leading off his bedroom directly to the high altar of the Basilica. In Madrid, Simon explores the dramatic religious paintings of Victoria's contemporary El Greco in the Prado Museum and visits the convent of Las Descalzas Reales, named after the barefoot nuns who worshipped there and where Victoria spent the final three decades of his life as choirmaster and organist. The music is specially performed by Harry Christophers and The Sixteen in the church of San Antonio de los Alemanes, a hidden baroque jewel built in Victoria's lifetime in the heart of Madrid.

Robert Webb hosts a countdown of the biggest dance crazes of the last forty years.

Hip hop through the decades from the BBC archives, including the Sugarhill Gang in 1979, Run DMC, LL Cool J and Eric B & Rakim in the 80s, Ice T, Monie Love, Fugees and the Roots in the 90s and concluding with Dr Dre & Eminem, Dizzee Rascal and Jay-Z.

Recapture the mellow vibe of your favourite easy listening shows from the 60s and 70s with this festive feast of classics old and new. All-time great Carole King plays songs from her recent seasonal album, including Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and Sheffield crooner Richard Hawley mixes self-penned songs with his own take on Silent Night. An imaginative bill is completed by the perky vocal harmonies of the Puppini Sisters doing Let It Snow, the dreamy widescreen sound of Brighton outfit the Mummers performing White Christmas and the velvet tones of latter day Nat King Cole, Brooklyn-based jazz vocalist Gregory Porter, crooning the Christmas Song. Choose between your best cardigan or Rat Pack tuxedo, pour yourself an eggnog, get the chestnuts roasting, put your feet up and join the party!

Grab your partner by the hand - the BBC have raided their archive and brought to light glittering performances by country artists over the last four decades. Star appearances include Tammy Wynette, Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash and, of course, Dolly Parton. All the greats have performed for the BBC at some point - on entertainment shows, in concert and at the BBC studios. Some of the rhinestones revealed are Charley Pride's Crystal Chandeliers from the Lulu Show, Emmylou Harris singing Together Again on the Old Grey Whistle Test and Billie Jo Spears's Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad from the Val Doonican Music Show. We're brought up to date with modern country hits by kd lang, Garth Brooks, Alison Krauss and Taylor Swift, plus a special un-broadcast performance from Later...with Jools Holland by Willie Nelson.

This celebration of the history and aesthetic of country music tracks the evolution of the genre from the 1920s to the present, exploring country as both folk and pop music - a 20th century soundtrack to the lives of working-class Americans in the South, forever torn between their rural roots and a mostly urban future, between authenticity and showbiz. Exploring many of the great stars of country from Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams to Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton, director Andy Humphries's meditation on the power and pull of country blends brilliant archive and contributions from a broad cast that includes Dolly Parton, the Handsome Family, Laura Cantrell, Hank Williams III, kd lang and many more.

Puccini's ever popular Tosca from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with a star-studded cast - Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu as Floria Tosca, Welsh baritone Bryn Terfel as Chief of Police, Baron Scarpia, and tenor Jonas Kaufmann as the liberal revolutionary Cavaradossi. The production is by Jonathan Kent with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House under the baton of Music Director Antonio Pappano. The action takes place at precise locations in Rome and spans a single day - 17th June 1800, the day Napoleon invaded Italy.