Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

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'.

1 hour, 15 minutes

Last on

Sat 13 Jul 2013 18:00
BBC Radio 3

More episodes

Previous

Empire

Next

The Four Temperaments

See all episodes from Words and Music

Music Played

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

  • H. Wood

    The Big Show Coming, Scott Handy (reader)

  • 00:00

    Arthur 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)

  • 00:02

    Dmitry 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)

  • 00:09

    Thomas 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)

  • 00:12

    Frédéric 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)

  • 00:16

    George 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)

  • 00:24

    Arthur 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)

  • 00:24

    Alexander 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)

  • 00:27

    Antonín 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)

  • 00:30

    Marcel 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)

  • 00:35

    Michael Tippett

    Fanfare for Brass

    Performer: Locke Brass Consort, James Stobart (director)

    • CHAN 6573 Tr9.

  • John Davidson

    The Crystal Palace, Scott Handy & Catherine Harvey (readers)

  • 00:37

    György 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)

  • 00:51

    Sir Harrison 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)

  • 00:59

    Béla 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)

  • 01:02

    John 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)

  • 01:06

    Benjamin 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.
  • 01:09

    Béla 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)

  • 01:11

    Edward Elgar

    Civic Fanfare

    Performer: Locke Brass Consort, James Stobart (director)

    • CHAN 6573 Tr3.

  • Iain Bamforth

    The Great Exhibition, Scott Handy (reader)

Broadcasts

Books website

Books website

Get closer to books with in-depth articles, quizzes and our picks from radio & TV.