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Hares and Rabbits

Charlotte Ritchie and James Quinn with readings from books and poems by Richard Adams, Beatrix Potter, Judith Kerr and Aesop alongside music ranging from Janacek to Joanna Newsom.

Welcome in the season of spring with music and readings from books and poems inspired by rabbits, hares, kits and cottontails.

Our readers Charlotte Ritchie and James Quinn go on the hunt for literary lagomorphs, starting with an Olde English poem about brainless marsh hares, followed by Lewis Carroll's Mad Hatters Tea-Party and Joby Talbot's Ballet Suite from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. We'll hear how Peter Rabbit escapes Mr McGregor with John Lanchbery's music for The Tales of Beatrix Potter, an orchestral version of Sufjan Stevens' Run Rabbit Run, and Samuel Barber's Souvenirs accompanies Aesop's fable The Hare and The Tortoise.

Mozart's String Quartet No. 17, also known as Hunt, hops alongside a translation by Seamus Heaney of a Middle English poem which lists the 77 names you should say to a hare to avoid bad luck if you come across one, from the skidaddler, the nibbler, hedge squatter and dew hopper, to some which are more earthy.

We'll hear music from infamous film rabbits such as Donnie Darko's mysterious friend in a terrifying rabbit costume and Jimmy Stewart's invisible white puca called Harvey. Leos Janacek's bittersweet tale of birth and death, The Cunning Little Vixen, is paired with The Death of the Hare from WB Yeats's long-form poem A Man Young and Old. And there'll also be a passage from Chloe Dalton鈥檚 recent memoir, Raising Hare, about leaving the rat-race, retreating to the countryside and rescuing an injured hare, interwoven with Amy Beach's tender Berceuse arranged for clarinet and orchestra.

We finish with cues from Angela's Morley score from the 1978 film Watership Down, as Richard Adams's book reaches its powerful conclusion where Hazel dies peacefully when the everlasting safety of his group of rabbits is secured.

Producer in Salford: Nancy Bennie

Readings:
Colyn Blowbol鈥檚 Testament 鈥� Anonymous
Rabbit in Morning - Polly Atkin
Alice鈥檚 Adventures in Wonderland 鈥� Lewis Caroll
Sexing the Rabbits - Angela Readman
The Tale of Peter Rabbit - Beatrix Potter
The Hare and the Tortoise - from The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs
The Names of the Hare - Anonymous, translated by Seamus Heaney
Women in Love - D.H. Lawrence
Primitive Beliefs in the North-East of Scotland - J.M. McPherson
When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit - Judith Kerr
The Constant Rabbit - Jasper Fforde
Abracadabra - Kara Van De Graaf
A Man Young And Old: IV. The Death Of The Hare 鈥� W.B. Yeats
Raising Hare - Chloe Dalton
Watership Down 鈥� Richard Adams

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 23 Mar 2025 18:00
蜜芽传媒 Radio 3

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Music Played

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

  • 00:01

    Alexander Glazunov

    The Seasons Op.67 - 2. Le Printemps

    Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vladimir Ashkenazy.
    • Decca 4330002.
    • Tr6.

  • Anonymous

    Colyn Blowbol鈥檚 Testament

  • 00:07

    Alexander Glazunov

    The Seasons Op.67 - 3. L'Ete

    Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Vladimir Ashkenazy.
    • Decca 4330002.
    • Tr7.
  • 00:07

    Signe Lund

    Barcararolle, Op. 33, No. 1

    Performer: Susan Gray. Performer: Laura Kobayashi.
    • Albany TROY1801.
    • Tr7.

  • Polly Atkin

    Rabbit in Morning

  • Lewis Carroll

    Alice鈥檚 Adventures in Wonderland, A Mad Tea-Party

  • 00:10

    Joby Talbot

    Suite From Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, 2. The Mad Hatter's Tea-Party

    Orchestra: Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Christopher Austin.
    • Signum Classics SIGCD327.
    • Tr10.
  • 00:13

    Grace Slick

    White Rabbit

    Performer: Jefferson Airplane.
    • RCA 07863 61110.
    • Tr13.
  • 00:15

    Maurice Ravel

    Le Tombeau de Couperin for orchestra, no. 1 Prelude

    Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields. Conductor: Neville Marriner.
    • ASV CD DCA 517.
    • Tr1.

  • Angela Readman

    Sexing the Rabbits

  • 00:19

    Julian Nott

    Wallace and Gromit The Curse of the Were-Rabbit "Anti-Pesto to the Rescue"

    Orchestra: Studio Orchestra. Conductor: Gavin Greenaway.
    • Wallace and Gromit The Curse Of The Were-Rabbit (Original Soundtrack).
    • Varese Sarabande 3020666862.
    • 2.
  • 00:22

    Cyril Ornadel

    The Tale of Peter Rabbit "We're A Happy Family"

    Composer: David Croft. Ensemble: The Bunnies. Narrator: Vivien Leigh.
    • The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
    • HMV Junior Records 7EG 102.
    • 1.

  • Beatrix Potter

    The Tale of Peter Rabbit

  • 00:24

    John Lanchbery

    Tales of Beatrix Potter, Peter Rabbit

    Orchestra: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Conductor: John Lanchbery.
    • Lanchbery Ballets.
    • EMI Classics 鈥� 50999 9 4983920.
    • 11.
  • 00:26

    Sufjan Stevens

    Suite from Run Rabbit Run, iv. Year of the Boar

    Ensemble: Australian Chamber Orchestra. Conductor: Richard Tognetti.
    • Indies and Idols.
    • ABC Classics.
    • 10.

  • Joseph Jacobs

    The Hare and the Tortoise

  • 00:28

    Samuel Barber

    Souvenirs - ballet suite for orchestra, Op.28 vi. Galop (The Next Afternoon)

    Orchestra: Royal Scottish National Orchestra. Conductor: Marin Alsop.
    • Naxos 8559044.
    • Tr9.
  • 00:31

    Cab Calloway and His Orchestra

    Run Little Rabbit

    • Classics 629.
    • Tr8.
  • 00:34

    Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

    String Quartet No.17 in B flat Major K. 458 The Hunt i. Allegro vivace assai

    Performer: Armida Quartett.
    • CAvi AVI 8553444.
    • Tr5.

  • Anonymous translated by Seamus Heaney

    The Names of the Hare

  • 00:43

    Stan Ellison

    Clea Caught A Rabbit

    Performer: Anne Briggs.
    • CBS 64612.
    • Tr7.
  • 00:45

    George Gershwin

    Promenade (Walking the Dog)

    Performer: Katia Lab猫que. Performer: Marielle Lab猫que.
    • Sony SK 48381.
    • Tr11.

  • DH Lawrence

    Women in Love

  • 00:49

    Frank Skinner

    Harvey "Main Title"

    Orchestra: Studio Orchestra.
    • Best James Stewart Movie Themes.
    • Disques Cinemusique.
    • 4.
  • 00:50

    Franz Schubert

    Erlkonig D. 328, Op. 1 for string quartet

    Performer: Goldmund Quartet.
    • Berlin Classics 鈥� 0302962BC.
    • Tr1.

  • JM McPherson

    Primitive Beliefs in the North-East of Scotland

  • 00:54

    Michael Giacchino

    JoJo Rabbit "Rosie's Nocturne"

    Orchestra: Studio Orchestra.
    • Jojo Rabbit (Original Score).
    • Hollywood Records.
    • 27.

  • Judith Kerr

    When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit

  • 00:56

    Michael Andrews

    Donnie Darko 鈥淭he Artifact and Living鈥�

    Performer: Michael Andrews.
    • Sanctuary SANDP251.
    • Tr3.

  • Jasper Fforde

    The Constant Rabbit

  • 00:59

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    6 Pieces Op.51, No.6 Valse sentimentale for cello and piano

    Performer: 脟a臒 Er莽a臒. Performer: 陌ris 艦ent眉rker.
    • Miras.
    • AK Muzik Yapim Org.
    • 5.

  • Kara Van De Graaf

    Abracadabra

  • 01:01

    Joanna Newsom

    Jackrabbits

    Performer: Joanna Newsom.
    • Drag City DC390CD.
    • Tr4.
  • 01:04

    Leos Jan谩膷ek

    The Cunning little vixen [Prihody lisky Bystrousky] Act 1; Prelude

    Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • The Cunning Little Vixen.
    • Decca.
    • 1.

  • WB Yeats

    A Man Young and Old IV. The Death of the Hare

  • 01:07

    Amy Beach

    3 Pieces Op.40, for clarinet and orchestra, no. 2; Berceuse

    Orchestra: Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. Performer: Andreas Ottensamer. Conductor: Yannick N茅zet鈥怱茅guin.
    • Deutsche Grammophon 鈥� 00289 481 0131.
    • Tr9.

  • Chloe Dalton

    Raising Hare

  • 01:10

    Angela Morley

    Watership Down 鈥淰enturing Forth鈥�

    Performer: Angela Morley.
    • CBS 70161.
    • Tr2.
  • 01:11

    Angela Morley

    Watership Down "Venturing Forth"

    Performer: Angela Morley.
    • Original Soundtrack Watership Down.
    • CBS.
    • 2.

  • Richard Adams

    Watership Down

  • 01:12

    Angela Morley

    Watership Down "Climbing the Down"

    Performer: Angela Morley.
    • Original Soundtrack Watership Down.
    • CBS.
    • 9.

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  • Sun 23 Mar 2025 18:00
    蜜芽传媒 Radio 3

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