Ruth Barrett on Sanditon

As we approach 250 years since Jane Austen's birth, Antonia Quirke speaks to composers who've scored original music for Austen adaptations about their musical choices and also about the music Austen encountered. This time, Ruth Barrett talks to Antonia about her soundtrack for the ITV series, Sanditon. It was Austen's final novel but it was abandoned unfinished four months before she died. It's a work that imagines an emerging seaside resort and the entrepreneurs who are looking to build its reputation. Ruth Barrett put together an eclectic playlist to inspire her when she was devising her score - featuring everyone from Henry Purcell to The Clash. She talks to Antonia about the importance of folk in her score and how she assembled a live band of folk musicians who performed on set. Ruth reveals how Austen was a fan of folk and that the score features some folk songs Austen loved. Together, Ruth and Antonia discuss the rowdiness of the balls Austen would have attended and Ruth reflects on how her impressions of Austen changed after working on the project.

With short extracts from:
Ruth Barrett, Sanditon Theme, Sanditon (Original Television Soundtrack), NW1 Records
Ruth Barrett, Naked Men, Sanditon (Original Television Soundtrack), NW1 Records
Ruth Barrett, Glory in the Meeting House, Mrs Mcleod's Reel, Sanditon (Original Television Soundtrack), NW1 Records
Ruth Barrett, Calum Crubach, Fionnlagh Ag Innearach, Sanditon (original Television Soundtrack), NW1 Records
Ruth Barrett, Boys are Back, Sanditon (Original Television Soundtrack), NW1 Records
Ruth Barrett, The London Ball, Sanditon (Original Television Soundtrack), NW1 Records

Presented by Antonia Quirke
Produced by Camellia Sinclair
Mixed by Ilse Lademann