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John Le Carré interviewed by Margaret Throsby

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John Le Carré interviewed by Margaret Throsby((Wikimedia Commons. By the German Embassy London.))

John Le Carré is the pen name of David John Moore Cornwell, a British author.

John Le Carré worked for the British Security Service (MI5) and Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in the 1950s and 60s. In 1963 he wrote the novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold and it became an international best seller. This led to him leaving MI6 to become an author and writing books such as Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, A Perfect Spy and The Constant Gardener. Many of his novels have been adapted for film or television.

On countertenor Alfred Deller:

"There is always a sense of loss in Deller, there’s a beauty of sadness about him that I find irresistible."

On pianist Alfred Brendel:

"He’s a polymath, a wonderfully cultured, intellectual man who speaks beautifully."

On spying and espionage ending with the demise of the cold war:

"Everything we’ve seen about the constant growth of intelligence services indicates that it didn’t."

John Le Carré's music choices

Geoffrey Burgon: Nunc Dimittis
Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge / Richard Marlow

Schubert: Heidenroslein, Op. 3, No. 3
Gerald Moore (piano)

Flanagan: Underneath the Arches
Bud Flanagan and Chesney Allen with The Crazy Gang

Purcell: "Sound the Trumpet" from Come, Ye Sons of Art
L'Ensemble Orchestral de L'Oiseau-lyre / Sir Anthony Lewis. Alfred Deller and John Whitworth (countertenors)

Beethoven: Theme from Eroica Variations, Op. 35
Alfred Brendel (piano)

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