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All Fingers and Thumbs

With readings from Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes and Sarah Waters by Clare Perkins and Sean Barrett and music by performers including Martha Argerich and Anoushka Shankar.

Fingers and thumbs define us – they can signify our identity and family heritage. One of the first things a baby does is suck its thumb, until Struwwelpeter’s great tall tailor comes to cut it clean off.

Sylvia Plath contemplates her bleeding thumb stump, while Ted Hughes remembers her fingers leaping and somersaulting across the keyboard. There are magic fingers, hitchhiking thumbs, spin bowling experts and light-fingered thieves, with readings from Roald Dahl, Sarah Waters, Ian McEwan and Lorna Goodson – brought to life by Clare Perkins and Sean Barrett.

Musically, dextrous fingers predominate as players – from Martha Argerich to Anoushka Shankar – ply them with great skill. The piano, harp, drums and the thumb piano, the mbira are all on show with works from Rachmaninov, Sally Beamish and Thomas Ades.

Producer: Katy Hickman

READINGS:
Omar Khayyám – ‘The Moving Finger Writes’
Sinead Morrissey – Genetics
H. Frith and E.H. Allen – Chiromancy, Or the Science of Palmistry
Sylvia Plath – Cut
Ted Hughes – Fingers
Lorna Goodson – I Am Becoming My Mother
Darian Leader – Hands, What We Do With Them
Dr Heinrich Hoffmann – The Story of Little Suck-A-Thumb
Roald Dahl – The Magic Finger
Ian McEwan – Lessons
Emily Dickinson – I Held A Jewel In My Fingers
Sir Thomas Wyatt – Of his love that pricked her Finger with a Needle
Thomas Hood – Song of the Shirt
Stephanie Norgate – Variations On A Plain Theme
E.T.A Hoffman, translated by Martyn Clarke – Musical Writings
F.N.S. Creek – Teach Yourself Cricket
Sarah Waters – Fingersmith
Hadara Bar-Nadav – Thumb
Tom Robbins – Even Cowgirls Get the Blues

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 31 Aug 2025 18:00
ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 3

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Music Played

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

  • 00:01

    Niccolò Paganini

    Caprice No 24 in A Minor

    Performer: Julia Fischer.

  • Omar Khayyam, translated by John Heath-Stubbs and Peter Avery

    The Moving Finger Writes, read by Sean Barrett

  • 00:01

    Anoushka Shankar

    Flight

  • Sinead Morrissey

    Genetics, read by Clare Perkins

  • 00:04

    Anoushka Shankar

    Flight

    Performer: Anoushka Shankar.
    • Deutsche Grammophon 00028947910510.
    • Tr2.

  • H. Frith and E.H. Allen

    Chiromancy, Or the Science of Palmistry, read by Sean Barrett

  • 00:06

    Jools Holland

    All Fingers and Thumbs

  • Sylvia Plath

    Cut, read by Clare Perkins

  • Ted Hughes, read by Sean Barrett

    Fingers

  • 00:10

    Domenico Scarlatti

    Keyboard Sonato in D Minor, Kk. 141

    Performer: Martha Argerich.
    • The Warner Classics Recordings 190295905323.
    • Tr28.

  • Lorna Goodson

    I Am Becoming My Mother, read by Clare Perkins

  • 00:13

    Babatunde Olatunji

    Tr Oya (Primitive Fire)

    Performer: Babatunde Olatunji.
    • Black Sheep 888002319968.
    • Tr2.

  • Darian Leader

    Hands: What We Do With Them, read by Sean Barrett

  • 00:16

    Sally Beamish

    Awuya Lullaby

    Performer: Keziah Thomas.

  • Dr Heinrich Hoffmann

    The Story of Little Suck-A-Thumb, read by Sean Barrett

  • 00:21

    Thomas Adès

    Concerto for Piano and Orchestra

    Performer: Kirill Gerstein. Orchestra: Boston Symphony Orchestra.
    • Deutsche Grammophon 00028948379996.
    • Tr1.

  • Roald Dahl

    The Magic Finger, read by Clare Perkins

  • 00:28

    Unsuk Chin

    Etude No.1 (Corona)

    Performer: Jenny Lin.
  • 00:30

    Johann Sebastian Bach

    Prelude in C major (The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1)

    Performer: Sir András Schiff.

  • Ian McEwan

    Lessons, read by Sean Barrett

  • 00:31

    Johann Sebastian Bach

    Prelude and Fugue in C major

    Performer: Sir András Schiff.
    • Decca 4143882.
    • Tr1.
  • 00:32

    ABBA

    Slipping Through My Fingers

  • 00:33

    ABBA

    Slipping Through My Fingers

    Performer: ABBA.
    • Polar Music International AB.
    • Tr8.
  • 00:34

    Don Walker

    I held a jewel in my fingers (Four Poems of Emily Dickinson)

    Performer: Chorus Ars Brunensis.

  • Emily Dickinson

    I Held A Jewel In My Fingers, read by Clare Perkins

  • 00:35

    Don Walker

    Four Poems of Emily Dickinson: II. I held a jewel in my fingers

    Performer: Chorus Ars Brunensis.
    • Albany.
    • Tr12.
  • 00:36

    Anna Meredith

    HandsFree

    Orchestra: The National Youth Orchestra.

  • Sir Thomas Wyatt

    Of his love that pricked her Finger with a Needle, read by Sean Barrett

  • 00:36

    Anna Meredith

    HandsFree (live)

    Performer: National Youth Orchestra.
    • NMC Recordings GBCML1221202.
    • Tr.

  • Thomas Hood

    Song of the Shirt, read by Sean Barrett

  • 00:41

    Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita

    Clarach

  • Stephanie Norgate

    Variations of a Plain Hem, read by Clare Perkins

  • 00:48

    Michael Cole

    Fingerbobs

    Performer: Rick Jones. Composer: Michael Jessett.
    • ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ archive.
  • 00:48

    Sergey Rachmaninov

    Piano Concerto no.2 in C minor, Op.18 (1st mvt: Moderato)

    Performer: Khatia Buniatishvili. Orchestra: Czech Philharmonic.

  • E.T.A Hoffman, translated by Martyn Clarke

    Musical Writings, read by Sean Barrett

  • 00:49

    Sergey Rachmaninov

    Concerto no 2 in c minor op18 for piano and orchestra, 1st mvt moderato

    Performer: Khatia Buniatishvili. Orchestra: Czech Philharmonic. Conductor: Paavo Järvi.
    • Sony Classical G010003644847B.
    • Tr1.

  • F.N.S. Creek

    Teach Yourself Cricket, read by Sean Barrett

  • 00:57

    Duke Ellington

    It Don’t Mean A Thing

    Performer: Ella Fitzgerald.
    • Complete Jazz Series 886788432840.
    • Tr13.

  • Sarah Waters

    Fingersmith, read by Clare Perkins

  • 01:02

    Lionel Bart

    You've got to pick a pocket or two

    Performer: Rowan Atkinson.
    • First Night Records 825646906598.
    • Tr10.
  • 01:06

    Stella Chiweshe

    Tapera

    Performer: Stella Chiweshe.
    • Piranha.
    • Tr1.

  • Hadara Bar-Nadav

    Thumb, read by Clare Perkins

  • Tom Robbins

    Even the Cowgirls Get the Blues, read by Clare Perkins

  • 01:09

    Junior Mance Trio

    Deep

Broadcasts

  • Sun 4 Sep 2022 17:30
    ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 3
  • Sun 31 Aug 2025 18:00
    ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Radio 3

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