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A Day at the Races

A non-stop rally of readings by Alistair Petrie and Cecilia Appiah featuring Eleanor M. Ingram, A.E. Housman and music by Carl Davis evoking the exhilaration of racing.

As Formula One marks its 75th anniversary season, Words and Music brings you every kind of competition imagined on the racetrack. From Ian Fleming and Jules Verne’s magical motorcars, to record-breaking racehorses and a clash with Ben-Hur in a Roman hippodrome.
We’ll hear Franz Berwald’s musical take on a footrace, John Adams’s Short Ride in a Fast Machine and one of Beethoven's 12 Minuets using a Ready, Set, Go motif. And there's Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, which was chosen as the main title for Gran Turismo 6, and a composition by Formula One’s very own race car driver Charles Leclerc.

Readers: Alistair Petrie and Cecilia Appiah
Producer: Sam Nixon
Production Co-ordinator: Julie Downing

READINGS:
Victor Appleton – Tom Swift and his Electric Runabout
Ian Fleming – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Eleanor M. Ingram – From The Car Behind
Georg Ebers – Serapis
Donald Walker - Walker’s Manly Exercises
Suzanne Collins – The Hunger Games
Fred D’Aguiar – Saloon One and Two
Banjo Paterson – Lay of the Motorcar
Percy MacKaye – The Automobile
Kozma Prutkov – The Heron and the Racing Rig
Richard Williams – A Race With Love and Death
Kevin Crossley-Holland – Odin and Hrungnir, from The Penguin Book of Norse Myths
Lew Wallace – Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ
Kassia St. Claire – A Race to the Future
Howard R. Garis – Dick Hamilton’s Touring Car
Jules Verne – Master of the World
John Masefield – The Racer
Laura Hillenbrand – Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Racehorse
A.E. Housman – A Shropshire Lad 19: The time you won your town the race

16 days left to listen

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 9 Feb 2025 18:00

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:00

    Howard Goodall

    The Seasons, Summer II. Racing Green

    Conductor: Howard Goodall. Performer: Marianna Szymanowska. Performer: Patrick Savage. Performer: Tippett Quartet.
    • Naxos.
    • 8559812.
  • Victor Appleton

    Tom Swift and His Electric Runabout read by Alistair Petrie

  • Ian Fleming

    Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang The Magical Car Number One read by Cecilia Appiah

  • 00:03

    Robert B. Sherman

    Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

    Composer: Richard M. Sherman. Performer: Irwin Kostal.
    • Pickwick.
    • 755012.
  • 00:04

    George Gershwin

    An American in Paris

    Performer: Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Bertrand de Billy.
    • Oehms Classics.
    • Oehms Classics.
  • Eleanor M. Ingram

    From the Car Behind read by Alistair Petrie

  • 00:08

    Roger Roger

    Race Day

    Performer: Roger Roger and His Champs Elysees Orchestra. Conductor: Roger Roger.
    • Guild.
    • GLCD-5125.
  • Georg Ebers

    Serapis read by Cecilia Appiah

  • 00:11

    Frank Loesser

    Fugue For Tinhorns

    Performer: Bing Crosby. Performer: Dean Martin. Performer: Frank Sinatra.
    • Frank Sinatra Digital Reprise.
    • USRE16300038.
  • Donald Walker

    Racing from Walker's Manly Exercises and Rural Sports read by Alistair Petrie

  • 00:13

    Vangelis

    Chariots of Fire

    Composer: Vangelis.
    • Rhino.
    • 2564658108.
  • Suzanne Collins

    The Hunger Games read by Cecilia Appiah

  • 00:18

    James Newton Howard

    Horn of Plenty

    Conductor: Gavin Greenaway. Performer: Studio Orchestra. Performer: London Voices.
    • Universal Records.
    • 00602527954387.
  • 00:20

    Ludwig van Beethoven

    12 Minuets WoO.7 for orchestra, No. 11 in C Major

    Orchestra: Tapiola Sinfonietta. Conductor: John Storgårds.
    • ONDINE.
    • ODE-1001-2.
  • 00:22

    Carl Davis

    Main Title Theme from Champions

    Performer: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • NAXOS.
    • 8.-570505.
  • Fred D'Aguiar

    Saloon One and Two read by Alistair Petrie

  • 00:27

    Franz Liszt

    Grand galop chromatique S.219 for piano

    Performer: Goran Filipec.
    • Naxos.
    • 8573705.
  • 00:30

    Christopher Gunning

    Cello Concerto II. Racing

    Performer: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • Discovery Music & Vision.
    • N/A.
  • Banjo Paterson

    Lay Of The Motor Car read by Alistair Petrie and Cecilia Appiah

  • 00:38

    Charles Leclerc

    Mon23 (1:3)

    Performer: Charles Leclerc.
    • Verdigris.
    • none.
  • Percy Mackaye

    The Automobile read by Alistair Petrie and Cecilia Appiah

  • Kozma Prutkov

    The Heron and the Racing Rig read by Cecilia Appiah

  • 00:43

    John Adams

    Short Ride in a Fast Machine

    Conductor: Michael Tilson Thomas. Performer: San Francisco Symphony.
    • SFS.
    • 82193600532.
  • Richard Williams

    A Race With Love and Death read by Alistair Petrie

  • 00:48

    Shahrdad Rohani

    Horse Racing

    Conductor: Shahrdad Rohani. Performer: Scheherazade Quartet.
    • Bardad Music Inc.
    • N/A.
  • Kevin Crossley-Holland

    The Story of Odin and Hrungnir from The Penguin Book of Norse Myths: Gods of the Vikings read by Cecilia Appiah

  • 00:51

    Hans Zimmer

    My Best Enemy

    Performer: Bryce Jacobs. Performer: Hans Zimmer. Performer: Martin Tillman. Performer: Michael Brook. Performer: Satnam Ramgotra. Performer: Stephen Lipson.
    • Water Tower Music.
    • 88883772602.
  • 00:54

    Carl Davis

    The Chariot Race from Ben-Hur

    Orchestra: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Carl Davis.
    • SILVA SCREEN.
    • FILMCD-043.
  • Lew Wallace

    Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ read by Alistair Petrie

  • 01:02

    Francis Poulenc

    Promenades for piano II. En Auto

    Performer: Eric Parkin.
    • Chandos.
    • CHAN0114W.
  • Kassia St Claire

    A Race To The Future read by Cecilia Appiah

  • Howard R. Garis

    Dick Hamilton's Touring Car read by Alistair Petrie

  • 01:05

    Lindsey Buckingham

    THE CHAIN

    Composer: Mick Fleetwood. Composer: Christine McVie. Composer: John McVie. Composer: Stevie Nicks. Performer: Fleetwood Mac.
    • WARNER BROS.
    • X-xx.
  • Jules Verne

    Master Of The World read by Alistair Petrie

  • 01:07

    Brian Tyler

    Formula 1 Theme (Andre Rieu Version)

    Conductor: Andre Rieu. Performer: Johann Strauss Orchestra.
    • Andre Rieu Productions BV.
    • N/A.
  • 01:09

    Franz Berwald

    Wettlauf - symphonic poem

    Conductor: Ulf Björlin. Performer: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
    • EMI.
    • 5009-202.
  • John Masefield

    The Racer read by Cecilia Appiah

  • 01:18

    Leroy Anderson

    Home Stretch

    Conductor: Leonard Slatkin. Performer: ´óÏó´«Ã½ Concert Orchestra.
    • Naxos.
    • 8559356.
  • Laura Hillenbrand

    Seabiscuit: The True Story of Three Men and a Race Horse read by Cecilia Appiah

  • 01:22

    Georges Bizet

    Carmen Overture

    Conductor: Ondrej Lenárd. Performer: Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.
    • Blaricum CD Company.
    • N/A.
  • 01:24

    Sergey Rachmaninov

    Rhapsody On a Theme of Paganini

    Performer: Lang Lang. Orchestra: Mariinsky Opera Company. Conductor: Valery Gergiev.
    • Decca.
    • N/A.
  • A.E. Housman

    A Shropshire Lad 19 read by Alistair Petrie

Broadcast

  • Sun 9 Feb 2025 18:00

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