Main content

Jane Goodall

Michael Berkeley's guest is primatologist Jane Goodall. With Beethoven, Bach, Schubert, Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto and Richard Burton reading Dylan Thomas's Under Milk Wood.

Jane Goodall was only twenty-four when in she went to live among the chimpanzees of Gombe National Park in Tanzania, and she went on to spend more than 55 years there. She has done more than anyone else to transform our understanding of chimpanzees - and beyond that, her work has raised questions about how we treat these highly intelligent primates, and indeed about the rights of all animals. Now in her early eighties, she's on an extraordinary mission travelling round the world to protect chimpanzees from extinction.

During a rare stay in Britain, Jane Goodall talks to Michael Berkeley about her life and ground-breaking discoveries. She reveals that the chimpanzees she lived with also had a darker side, and were sometimes violent, stamping on her. She remembers difficult times after the kidnapping of some of her workers, and the death of her second husband - and how music sustained her, and transformed her view of the world.

Music choices include Beethoven, Bach, Schubert, Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto and Richard Burton reading the Dylan Thomas classic 'Under Milk Wood'. She also introduces some very excited chimpanzee speech, and speculates about what kind of music chimpanzees enjoy.

Available now

33 minutes

Last on

Sun 22 May 2016 12:00

Music Played

  • Ludwig van Beethoven

    Piano Sonata in C sharp minor, Op.27 no.2 (Moonlight)(1st mvt: Adagio Sostenuto)

    Performer: Radu Lupu.
  • Hukwe Zawose

    Lukunzi

    Ensemble: Master Musicians of Tanzania.
    • Mateso.
    • Triple Earth.
  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Violin Concerto in E minor (2nd mvt: Andante)

    Performer: Nicola Benedetti. Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
  • Antonín Dvořák

    Cello Concerto in B minor, Op.104 (1st mvt: Allegro)

    Performer: Steven Isserlis. Orchestra: Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Daniel Harding.
  • Franz Schubert

    Salve Regina in B flat, D.386

    Choir: Vienna Boys' Choir. Conductor: Peter Marschik.
  • Johann Sebastian Bach

    Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV.565

    Performer: Pierre Cochereau.

Broadcast

  • Sun 22 May 2016 12:00

What makes Boogie-woogie piano legend Jools Holland tick?

What makes Boogie-woogie piano legend Jools Holland tick?

For Private Passions, Jools Holland revealed his piano history to Michael Berkeley.

11 things we learned from Harry Enfield’s Private Passions

11 things we learned from Harry Enfield’s Private Passions

Harry doesn't usually give interviews – but he couldn't say no to Michael Berkeley.

Archive Unlocked: Two Decades of Private Passions

Michael Berkeley introduces memorable interviews from Private Passions' archives.

Podcast