
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)
William Makepeace Thackeray
A May Day Ode (extract), Catherine Harvey (reader)
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)
Robert Herrick
To the Water Nymphs, Drinking at the Fountain, Scott Handy (reader)
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)
William Carlos Williams
Overture to a Dance of Locomotives, Catherine Harvey (reader)
Charles Mackay
The Festival of Labour. Opening of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Scott Handy (reader)
Robert Hunt
‘Ceylon’ from Companion to the Official Catalogue – Synopsis of the Contents of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Catherine Harvey (reader)
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)
Marie Tello Phillips
When the Organ Plays, Catherine Harvey (reader)
John Davidson
The Crystal Palace, Scott Handy & Catherine Harvey (readers)
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)
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)
Paul Durcan
The Turkish Carpet, Scott Handy (reader)
Robert Hunt
‘China’ from Companion to the Official Catalogue – Synopsis of the Contents of the Great Exhibition of 1851, Catherine Harvey (reader)
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)
Iain Bamforth
The Great Exhibition, Scott Handy (reader)
Broadcasts
- Sun 27 Nov 2011 18:30
- Sat 13 Jul 2013 18:00