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
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Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
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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
00:03Robert B. Sherman
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Composer: Richard M. Sherman. Performer: Irwin Kostal.- Pickwick.
- 755012.
00:04George 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
00:08Roger Roger
Race Day
Performer: Roger Roger and His Champs Elysees Orchestra. Conductor: Roger Roger.- Guild.
- GLCD-5125.
Georg Ebers
Serapis read by Cecilia Appiah
00:11Frank 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
00:13Vangelis
Chariots of Fire
Composer: Vangelis.- Rhino.
- 2564658108.
Suzanne Collins
The Hunger Games read by Cecilia Appiah
00:18James Newton Howard
Horn of Plenty
Conductor: Gavin Greenaway. Performer: Studio Orchestra. Performer: London Voices.- Universal Records.
- 00602527954387.
00:20Ludwig van Beethoven
12 Minuets WoO.7 for orchestra, No. 11 in C Major
Orchestra: Tapiola Sinfonietta. Conductor: John Storgårds.- ONDINE.
- ODE-1001-2.
00:22Carl 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
00:27Franz Liszt
Grand galop chromatique S.219 for piano
Performer: Goran Filipec.- Naxos.
- 8573705.
00:30Christopher 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
00:38Charles 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
00:43John 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
00:48Shahrdad 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
00:51Hans 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.
00:54Carl 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
01:02Francis 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
01:05Lindsey 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
01:07Brian Tyler
Formula 1 Theme (Andre Rieu Version)
Conductor: Andre Rieu. Performer: Johann Strauss Orchestra.- Andre Rieu Productions BV.
- N/A.
01:09Franz Berwald
Wettlauf - symphonic poem
Conductor: Ulf Björlin. Performer: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.- EMI.
- 5009-202.
John Masefield
The Racer read by Cecilia Appiah
01:18Leroy 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
01:22Georges Bizet
Carmen Overture
Conductor: Ondrej Lenárd. Performer: Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.- Blaricum CD Company.
- N/A.
01:24Sergey 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´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio 3