In this ambitious new three-part series, Suzy Klein explores how the power of music to rouse our emotions gave it a crucial role in the Russian revolution, throughout the dictatorships of Hitler and Stalin and during World War II. Suzy’s rich repertoire of musical stories, brought wonderfully to life through performances by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and its Chorus, sheds fascinating light on the history of some of the most turbulent years of the 20th Century.

The hour-long programmes will explore the transformation of music during this period – an age of political and industrial change - where music cemented its reputation as a leading art form and an integral part of people’s lives. The series shows how composers of this age, no longer restricted by aristocratic patronage following the fall of Europe's elite after the French Revolution, began to experiment musically in a way that hadn't been seen before. The pioneering methods and ground-breaking works of the likes of Beethoven, Wagner, Chopin, Verdi, Schubert, Berlioz and Liszt sparked a musical transformation which changed the face of music forever.