Sunday Feature: Marian Anderson – Of Thee We Sing

Radio 3, 6.45pm

“This is a woman we need to know about,” says Linton Stevens, a member of Europe’s first majorityBlack, Asian and ethnically diverse orchestra, Chineke!, at the outset of this superb and beguiling hour tracing the life of early 20th-century African-American contralto Marian Anderson. It is easy to agree. There’s a scratchy, vintage charm to Anderson’s recordings that will hook you from the start, and the stories of her pride and defiance in the face of racism are inspiring. As are those of the legacy she left to make the path she forged easier for others to follow.