Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Classical Music, Sunday 6 December 2015, 9pm

How has nationalism been expressed through music?

The great Finnish composer Jean Sibelius was born 150 years ago this week, and tonight Catherine Bott asks: "How has nationalism been expressed through music?"

Sibelius's patriotism is evident in such works as his Karelia Suite and Finlandia, but tonight there are other nationalist composers under scrutiny.

There's Chopin and his lesser-known Polish compatriot Stanislaw Moniuszko, and the Swede Hugo Alfven. Elgar represents the pomp and circumstance of Edwardian Britain, and Verdi's Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves became an anthem for Italian unification.