Mary’s second piece of music was ‘Spring’ from Vivaldi’s ‘The Four Seasons’, a set of four violin concertos by the Italian composer. Composed in 1723, ‘The Four Seasons’ is Vivaldi’s best-known work, and is among the most popular pieces of Baroque music. The texture of each concerto is varied, each resembling its respective season. So ‘Winter’ is peppered with silvery pizzicato notes from the high strings, calling to mind icy rain, whereas ‘Summer’ evokes a thunderstorm in its final movement, which is why the movement is often dubbed ‘Storm’. ‘Spring’, meanwhile, is more upbeat and staccato at times, representing, some say, the beginnings of new life. In short, the piece reminded Mary of her favourite time of year – when her garden at Watercroft, which she and Paul spend many a happy hour tending to, would be coming in to bloom. Explaining the choice, Mary said: ‘I love it, it is mellow, and being Spring, it is my favourite season. I think when you look in the garden, after about March, it is full of promise. Things are coming up, and with that in the background would be lovely.’
For her next piece, Mary went for a change of tack, opting for Sir Cliff Richard’s ‘Summer Holiday’. This upbeat song has become a legendary UK track as the theme song of the 1963 film of the same name, which became the second most popular film at the British box office in the year that it was released. It was, at the time, considered a ‘breakthrough musical’, in part because of the way dance was – for the first time – used as well as singing. The song ‘Summer Holiday’ reached number one in the UK charts, as did other tracks from the film’s soundtrack, including ‘The Next Time’, ‘Bachelor Boy’ and ‘Foot Tapper’. But for Mary, the theme song simply reminded her of some of the happiest times in her life – when she went on holiday with her family. ‘We always used to have holidays with our three children. We would go every year to Devon,’ Mary said. ‘And Dad had a VW camper van which he lent to my two brothers and to me and we all loved it. And on the way down we would be playing “Summer Holiday” and Cliff Richard as we went along, and everybody was thinking well, we are going to get there.’
Her fourth piece was a track recorded by Susan Boyle. Scottish-born Susan became an unlikely star in 2009; her performance on the ITV1 reality show Britain’s Got Talent of Les Misérables track ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ became a worldwide phenomenon. Videos of the audition garnered more than 100 million hits on the video-sharing website YouTube alone. But beyond that, after coming second on that year’s series of BGT, she went on to record an album, which shot to number one around the globe, including in the tough-to-crack US market. Aside from her breathtaking vocals, it was Susan’s back story that appeared to win the hearts of people around the globe. She had been left heartbroken after her mother, who had been her closest friend, had died in the years prior to her audition. ‘I was very lost, and very lonely,’ said Susan. She lived in a council house in the small Scottish village of Blackburn, where she had been bullied by local youths who cruelly branded her ‘Simple Susan’. But her life had completely turned around and changed forever after her appearance on reality TV. Mary couldn’t help but be swept away by her story and picked her recording of ‘How Great Thou Art’ from Susan’s debut album. ‘I am a huge admirer,’ Mary said on the show. ‘I think she has done so magnificently, and what a voice … and I know she worked very hard to get there.’
Her next piece of music was ‘Onward, Christian Soldiers’, a nineteenth-century English hymn. The words of the hymn were written more recently by Sabine Baring-Gould in 1985, while the music itself had been composed by Arthur Sullivan in 1871. He called the tune ‘St Gertrude’ after the wife of his friend Ernest Clay Ker Seymer, who owned the country house where Sullivan composed it. And it was part of this history of the hymn that first attracted Mary to the piece of music and made her aware of it. Arthur Sullivan regularly visited Watercroft, where Sir George Grove lived. He composed the piece of music in the summerhouse at Watercroft, years before Mary and Paul came to own it. After becoming aware of the hymn’s links to their home, Mary and Paul would often play the track, and it became a favourite of theirs over the years. On top of that, it came to have a rich personal history, because it was played at their son Tom’s wedding. ‘We had it at Tom and Sarah’s wedding, and we loved it,’ Mary revealed in her interview. Her daughter Annabel’s future husband Dan, however, wasn’t so keen. ‘Then when Annabel and Dan got married, Dan quite firmly said, “I am not going to march down the aisle with Annabel to war.”’ Her next song, however, was a reminder of Annabel’s wedding. Mary picked ‘Lord of the Dance’, another hymn with words written by English songwriter Sydney Carter in 1967. It was a big feature of Annabel’s big day. ‘This reminds me so much of Annabel’s wedding,’ said Mary. ‘We were lucky enough to have sun and lots of jollity and lots of singing and dancing. A great day.’
Mary appeared to be picking songs that reminded her of her family – and reminded her of her close bond with her family. It was no coincidence, then, that one of the songs she picked was dedicated to William. The British rocker Rod Stewart’s track ‘Sailing’ was her next choice. The song had originally been released in 1972 by the Sutherland Brothers, and then Rod re-recorded it. When he released it three years later, it became a UK number one hit, staying at the top of the charts for a total of four weeks. And it was around then that Mary’s sons William and Tom became fans of it. Like typical youngsters, they would have the track blaring out of their bedrooms – and inevitably, when Mary hears the track even today, it reminds her of their childhood. ‘It was something that the boys, when they were back from school, they would have it on full blast upstairs,’ said Mary. ‘When Will’s funeral came, not only did we have “Onward Christian Soldiers” but we finished with “Sailing”, to remember him.’ Put in this context, it is understandable why Mary would pick the song as her choice if she had to take just one with her to the hypothetical desert island. She added: ‘The one that I would take, I think to remind me of William, would be Rod Stewart singing “Sailing”.’
Mary’s final choice was slightly more upbeat. It was the hugely popular Swedish group Abba’s huge track ‘Mamma Mia’, which became a chart-topper when it was released in 1975. It would also go on to be the title of a musical inspired by the music of Abba. Mamma Mia! tells the story of a woman living on a Greek island, whose daughter is planning to get married. The mother has no clue who the father is … but three of her ex-boyfriends, each of whom could be her daughter’s dad, have been invited to the big day. Abba’s oeuvre is interspersed throughout the story as it all unravels. Over 42 million people have seen the stage show, which has grossed $2 billion worldwide since its 1999 debut. A film adaptation starring Meryl Streep, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan and Amanda Seyfried was released in July 2008 and was a huge box-office hit worldwide. The film, Mary says, was one of her favourites – and the reason she decided to pick the song as her eighth and final choice on Desert Island Discs. ‘My husband and a group of chaps, I think it’s about once in six weeks, they play cards,’ explained Mary. ‘And of course all the wives, off we go to a cinema, or we might even come to London, some treat, local pub … but we all went to Mamma Mia! and it was hilarious. And you sit in the seats and you look round and you see all groups of girls, perhaps I shouldn’t call myself a girl, all in groups and I think everybody who went to see that in the cinema thoroughly enjoyed it. You come out singing.’
When it came to picking the book that she would take with her, Mary’s combined love of gardening and cooking was made clear. ‘I would like to take with me a book that I have in the kitchen, because I have gardening books in the kitchen, the [RHS] A–Z Encyclopedia of Garden Plants. It is a huge book and it has a photograph of every single plant. I may find some plants there. And also I am not staying on that island too long, I am going to be rescued, so I want to go on planning the garden.’ Meanwhile, her luxury item was a cashmere rug. ‘Everybody would say I am the coldest mortal in the world, [so] I think I would have a huge, cashmere, beautiful rug,’ she said. ‘I kn
ow it is going to be cold at nights there, and the thought of being on that sand with nothing round me, no loving children or husband, I’ll have that rug to keep me warm. Pure cashmere, please.’
Of course, the truth is there’s very little chance of Mary disappearing – metaphorically or otherwise – any time soon. She is now, more than ever, a huge part of mainstream British culture, both in the kitchen and on TV. Mary appears to have achieved it all. She has a glittering career that appears to be going from strength to strength, and no chance of slowing down any time soon. On top of that, she has the most idyllic family life, with her loyal husband Paul, her children and her grandchildren. Of course, it has been tinged with the tragedy of William’s death. But Mary sees life as a learning curve. She has learnt from William’s death about the importance of family and has helped others through similarly difficult, gut-wrenching situations with her charity work. Most of all, she has helped others on their own learning curve in the kitchen, through her books, TV shows and workshops. And she intends to carry on doing all of this for a long time yet.
Retirement, Mary insists, is simply not an option. ‘I don’t even think of it as a job, it’s just something I love to do,’ she told the Daily Mail. When asked on Desert Island Discs whether, like others her age, she and Paul would consider taking time off from her busy schedule and disappearing on a seven-week cruise, she laughed off the suggestion. ‘The seven-week cruise wouldn’t be on,’ Mary said. ‘I think he [Paul] would take me to see some golf matches or something. I love my husband dearly and he supports me in every way. When I came back from the Bake Off last night there was a glass of Sauvignon Blanc in his hand, just like my father with his gin and tonic, and together we have supper.’ And when it came to the R-word – retirement – Mary seemed dumbfounded by the suggestion. It’s a word that, quite simply, is not in her vocabulary. ‘Retiring? Why would I retire? I am so blessed with good health, I love what I do, and I am very honoured to be asked to still be in the Bake Off,’ she told Desert Island Discs. ‘I love it.’ Her devotees – whether they first discovered her with the release of the Hamlyn All Colour Cook Book or more recently on the Great British Bake Off – will collectively breathe a sigh of relief after hearing that.
Given everything she’s achieved, you wouldn’t be surprised to see Mary’s life given the movie treatment, and if any producer needs tips on whom to cast, then Mary has it clear in her mind who would play her. ‘The lovely Dame Judi Dench,’ she told the Scotsman. While Mary loves cookery, it seems her fans love her too. And will continue to do so for a long time yet. What would they do without her? After all, Mary Berry truly is the Queen of British Baking.
A photo from the mid 1970s of Mary cooking with children Annabel, Thomas and William.
© Rex Features
British home economist and broadcaster Marguerite Patten in 1960 (left). She popularised simple yet healthy eating, such as at this cookery show at the London Palladium (right) with husband-and-wife entertainers Teddy Johnson and Pearl Carr.
© Press Association Images
Mary puts the finishing touch to a dish on Afternoon Plus.
Mary’s cookery books have been trusted by millions of people for decades. Here she is pictured (above) at a signing of Real Fast Food in 2005, and (left) promoting the bestselling Mary Berry’s Complete Cookbook in 2012.
© Rex Features
Mary, pictured bottom left with Lorraine Pascale, blazed the trail for TV chefs as we know them today: (clockwise from top left) Delia Smith, Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Nigella Lawson and Rachel Khoo.
© Rex Features/Press Association Images
Mary and her trusted PA Lucy Young.
Charity work is very important to Mary, who supports causes close to her heart. She is pictured here at a charity clay pigeon shoot.
© Rex Features
Mary guides Alan Titchmarsh to culinary success – and even occasionally allows him to lend a hand – on his daytime TV show. Edd Kimber, who won the first series of Great British Bake Off, puts in an appearance in 2011 (bottom right).
© Rex Features
A huge hit with viewers, Great British Bake Off has also garnered nominations and awards from within the industry.
Mel Giedroyc, Sue Perkins, Mary and Paul Hollywood arriving at the Arquiva British Academy Television Awards.
© Press Association Images
Mary and Paul pose for the press at the Royal Television Society’s RTS Programme Awards.
© Press Association Images
Mary at the BAFTA Craft Awards in May 2012.
© Rex Features
Mary and Paul discuss the final of Great British Bake Off series three on Loose Women.
Mary is a regular guest on TV chat shows such as Daybreak and Lorraine Live (inset) to encourage the country to get baking and cooking simple, healthy dishes.
© Rex Features
Mary with (from left to right) son Tom, husband Paul and daughter Annabel, after she became a CBE at Windsor Castle.
HRH The Prince of Wales makes Mary a Commander of the British Empire at an investiture in October 2012.
But it’s not the first time she’s been recognised for her work – here she is presented with a commemorative pot by Aga Chief Executive William McGrath as they toast the 300th anniversary of Aga.
© Press Association Images
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Mary Berry Page 21
