A Great Exhibition
Texts and music celebrating the 1851 Great Exhibition, with readings by Scott Handy and Catherine Harvey. With William Carlos Williams and Wordsworth, plus Morley, Mosolov, Bartok.
This Words and Music is a celebration of The Great Exhibition 1851. The backbone of the programme is made up from descriptions of the rooms by Robert Hunt in his Companion to the Official Catalogue.
Scott Handy and Catherine Harvey read extracts from Robert Hunt together with poetry inspired by the exhibits on show. The display of locomotives in the Central Avenue, for example, leads here to William Carlos Williams' 'Overture to a Dance of Locomotives'. Similarly, China was represented by a model of a joss-house, which is depicted in the programme by Wang Wei's 'Toward the Temple of Heaped Fragrance' and Wordsworth's 'In My Mind's Eye a Temple, like a Cloud'.
The music includes Thomas Morley's 'Hard by a Crystal Fountain', Mosolov's 'Iron Foundry' and Bartok's 'Mikrokosmos'.
Last on
Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
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H. Wood
The Big Show Coming, Scott Handy (reader)
00:00Arthur Benjamin
Fanfare for a Festive Occasion
Performer: Locke Brass Consort, James Stobart (director)
- CHAN 6573 Tr2.
William Makepeace Thackeray
A May Day Ode (extract), Catherine Harvey (reader)
00:02Dmitry Shostakovich
Festive Overture
Performer: London Philharmonic Orchestra, Andrew Litton (conductor)
- VIRGIN VC 790784-2 Tr1.
Robert Hunt
‘The Glass Fountain’ from Companion to the Official Catalogue – Synopsis of the Contents of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Scott Handy & Catherine Harvey (readers)
00:09Thomas Morley
Hard by a Crystal Fountain
Performer: I Fagiolini, Robert Hollingworth (director)
- CHAN 0682 Tr27.
Robert Herrick
To the Water Nymphs, Drinking at the Fountain, Scott Handy (reader)
00:12Frédéric Chopin
Impromptu in A flat major, Op.29 No.1
Performer: Leif Ove Andsnes (piano)
- EMI 341682-2 Tr7.
Sara Teasdale
The Crystal Gazer, Catherine Harvey (reader)
Robert Hunt
‘Locomotive Engines’ from Companion to the Official Catalogue – Synopsis of the Contents of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Scott Handy (reader)
00:16George Antheil
Ballet pour instruments mecanique et percussion (Roll Three)
Performer: New Palais Royale Orchestra & Percussion Ensemble, Maurice Peress (conductor)
- MUSIC MASTERS 67094-2 Tr6.
William Carlos Williams
Overture to a Dance of Locomotives, Catherine Harvey (reader)
00:24Arthur Bliss
Fanfare for a Dignified Occasion
Performer: Locke Brass Consort, James Stobart (director)
- CHAN 6573 Tr1.
Charles Mackay
The Festival of Labour. Opening of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Scott Handy (reader)
00:24Alexander Mosolov
Iron Foundry
Performer: Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly (conductor)
- DECCA 436 640-2 Tr1.
Robert Hunt
‘Ceylon’ from Companion to the Official Catalogue – Synopsis of the Contents of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Catherine Harvey (reader)
00:27AntonÃn Dvořák
Andante con moto (Cypresses, B.152 No.3)
Performer: Emerson String Quartet
- DG 477 8765 CD2 Tr7.
Thomas Moore
Rich and Rare Were the Gems She Wore, Scott Handy (reader)
Robert Hunt
‘Gallery West End – The Grand Organ’ from Companion to the Official Catalogue – Synopsis of the Contents of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Scott Handy (reader)
00:30Marcel Dupré
Cortege et Litanie, Op.19 No.2
Performer: Michael Murray (organ – St Sulpice, Paris)
- TELARC CD 80516 Tr5.
Marie Tello Phillips
When the Organ Plays, Catherine Harvey (reader)
00:35Michael Tippett
Fanfare for Brass
Performer: Locke Brass Consort, James Stobart (director)
- CHAN 6573 Tr9.
John Davidson
The Crystal Palace, Scott Handy & Catherine Harvey (readers)
00:37György Ligeti
Clocks and Clouds
Performer: ASKO, Schoenberg Ensemble, Reinbert de Leeuw (director)
- TELDEC 8573 87631-2 Tr3.
Robert Hunt
‘Central South Gallery – Important Scientific Arrangement’ from Companion to the Official Catalogue – Synopsis of the Contents of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Scott Handy (reader)
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Barometer, Catherine Harvey (reader)
00:51Harrison Birtwistle
Refrains and Choruses (1957)
Performer: Netherlands Wind Ensemble
- ETCETERA KTC 1130 Tr2.
Robert Hunt
‘Near the Entrance – Animals of the Indian Jungles’ from Companion to the Official Catalogue – Synopsis of the Contents of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Catherine Harvey (reader)
Douglas Stewart
Leopard Skin, Scott Handy (reader)
Robert Hunt
‘Turkey’ from Companion to the Official Catalogue – Synopsis of the Contents of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Scott Handy (reader)
Samuel Johnson
To Miss —: On Her Giving the Author a Gold and Silk Net-work Purse, Catherine Harvey (reader)
00:59Béla Bartók
In Oriental Style (Mikrokosmos, Book 2)
Performer: Zoltan Kocsis (piano)
- PHILIPS 462 381-2 CD1 Tr58.
Paul Durcan
The Turkish Carpet, Scott Handy (reader)
01:02John Dowland
Forlorn Hope Fancy
Performer: Nigel North (lute)
- NAXOS 8.557586 Tr17.
Robert Hunt
‘China’ from Companion to the Official Catalogue – Synopsis of the Contents of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Catherine Harvey (reader)
01:06Benjamin Britten
The Pagodas (The Prince of the Pagodas, Act 2 Scene 2)
Performer: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Benjamin Britten (conductor)
- LONDON 421 855-2 CD1 Tr20.
01:09Béla Bartók
From the Island of Bali (Mikrokosmos, Book 4)
Performer: Zoltan Kocsis (piano)
- PHILIPS 462 381-2 CD2 Tr13.
Wang Wei (transl: Witter Bynner)
Toward the Temple of Heaped Fragrance, Scott Handy (reader)
William Wordsworth
In My Mind’s Eye a Temple, like a Cloud, Catherine Harvey (reader)
01:11Edward Elgar
Civic Fanfare
Performer: Locke Brass Consort, James Stobart (director)
- CHAN 6573 Tr3.
Iain Bamforth
The Great Exhibition, Scott Handy (reader)
Broadcasts
- Sun 27 Nov 2011 18:30´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3
- Sat 13 Jul 2013 18:00´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3