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Music and words with David Freeman

Music in Spain is as surprising as its varied landscape, from gypsy song in the wilds of Extremadura to a Baroque guitar classic of dusty Zaragoza that inspired Rodrigo’s Fantasía.

The bestselling author Christopher Howse has just completed a 3,000-mile railway journey round the Spanish interior. In The Train in Spain, he describes the highlights of the experience, from the top of the Pyrenees – through the Spaghetti Western deserts of the south, to the ancient hilltop city of Cuenca and beyond. On the way he meets troglodytes, visits a city ruined by an earthquake, runs into a dancing lion, stumbles across a body-snatching plot and, everywhere,  listens to the music.

Broadcaster David Freeman joins him to take the slow train and choose seven of the best musical numbers on the way.