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Cops and Robbers

From policemen meeting Sherlock Holmes and Poirot, to a robbery in George Eliot's Silas Marner; The Pink Panther theme to Ella Fitzgerald, opera by Puccini and Gilbert and Sullivan.

Policemen are heroic in Agatha Christie's Poirot, villainous in Puccini's opera Tosca, and utterly useless in Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes masterpiece, A Study in Scarlet, while Gilbert and Sullivan's chorus of cops grumble that their lot 'is not a happy one'.

Robbers are just as morally ambiguous. Simon and Garfunkel sing of a guilt-stricken thief, and Chester Himes paints a moving portrait of a penniless New York counterfeiter, while Dickens taught Victorian England to sympathise with pickpockets in Oliver Twist. But robbery creates victims, as George Eliot's Silas Marner discovers when his beloved gold is stolen. And Joan Didion tries to get beneath the skin of the most ambiguous thief of all: kidnapped heiress turned bank robber, Patty Hearst.

Music includes Rachmaninov, riffing on Paganini; while poetry by John Milton depicts time itself as the thief of lost youth.

Our readers are David Jonsson, who starred as the police detective in Agatha Christie's Murder is Easy (Â鶹Éç One) and Lyndsey Marshal, who played Christie herself in Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar (Channel 5).

Producer: Hannah Sander

READINGS:
Cops and Robbers - Janet and Allan Ahlberg
The Nine Principles of Policing - attributed to Sir Robert Peel
Falstaff’s speech from Henry IV Part II sc. ii - William Shakespeare
The Mysterious Affair At Styles - Agatha Christie
'Thief' - Brian Bilston
Silas Marner - George Eliot
Yellowface - Rebecca F Kuang
A Rage in Harlem - Chester Himes
Girl of the Golden West - Joan Didion
Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
Verse XI from 'Carol of Words' - Walt Whitman
A Study in Scarlet - Arthur Conan Doyle
Jacob steals Esau's blessing - Genesis 27
Clouds of WItness - Dorothy L Sayers
Sonnet 7 ‘How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth’ - John Milton
Cops and Robbers - Janet and Allan Ahlberg

15 days left to listen

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 8 Dec 2024 18:00

Music Played

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

  • Janet and Allan Ahlberg

    Extract from Cops and Robbers, read by Lyndsey Marshal

  • 00:01

    Henry Mancini

    The Pink Panther Theme

    Performer: Mancini Pops Orchestra, cond: henry Mancini.
    • The Ultimate Pink Panther.
    • RCA 82876598822.
    • Tr1.
  • Charles Reith

    Sir Robert Peel’s The Nine Principles of Policing, read by David Jonsson

  • 00:04

    Edward Elgar

    Falstaff Op. 68, Symphonic Study in C minor Pt. 3: The New King

    Performer: Â鶹Éç Philharmonic, Andrew Davis (conductor).
    • Elgar:Falstaff/ Songs.
    • Chandos CHSA 5188.
    • Tr9.
  • William Shakespeare

    Falstaff’s speech from Henry IV Part I, Act 2, sc. ii, read by Lyndsey Marshal

  • 00:06

    Sergey Rachmaninov

    Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini for piano & orchestra Op.43, Variations XIX-XXII

    Performer: Nikolai Lugansky. Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sakari Oramo.
    • Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini - Variations On A Theme Of Corelli - Variations On A Theme Of Chopin.
    • Warner Classics 265460613-2.
    • Tr11.
  • Agatha Christie

    The Mysterious Affair At Styles, read by Lyndsey Marshal

  • 00:11

    Christopher Gunning

    Poirot Variants for Alto Saxophone and Orchestra

    Performer: Martin Robertson. Orchestra: Â鶹Éç Philharmonic. Conductor: Rumon Gamba.
    • the Film and Television Music of Christopher Gunning.
    • Chandos CHAN10625.
    • Tr1.
  • Brian Bilston

    ‘Thief’, read by David Jonsson

  • George Eliot

    Extract from Silas Marner, read by Lyndsey Marshal

  • 00:16

    Debbie Wiseman

    Bucket of the Detectives

    Performer: The Locrian Ensemble of London.
    • Dickensian (Original Television Soundtrack).
    • Silva Screen Records.
    • Tr6.
  • 00:18

    Arthur Sullivan

    When a felon's not engaged in his employment (A Policeman's Lot) from The Pirates of Penzance

    Librettist: William Gilbert. Singer: Richard van Allan. Choir: Chorus of the Welsh National Opera. Orchestra: Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • The Pirates of Penzance.
    • TELARC CD80353.
    • Tr 24.
  • 00:21

    Miles Davis

    Freddie Freeloader

    Performer: Miles Davis.
    • The Jazz Masters Series: Miles Davis, Vol. 24.
    • Top Tracks 888831833123.
    • Tr5.
  • Rebecca F Kuang

    Extract from Yellowface, read by Lyndsey Marshal

  • Chester Himes

    Extract from A Rage in Harlem, read by David Jonsson

  • Joan Didion

    Extract from Girl of the Golden West essay, read by Lyndsey Marshal

  • 00:33

    Giacomo Puccini

    Va, Tosca! & Te Deum (Tosca)

    Singer: Bryn Terfel. Singer: Balcarras Crafoord. Choir: Swedish Radio Choir. Orchestra: Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Paul Daniel.
    • Bryn Terfel: Bad Boys; Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.
    • Deutsche Grammophon.
    • 2.
  • 00:36

    Paul Simon

    Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.

    Performer: Simon & Garfunkel.
    • Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M..
    • Columbia CK65999.
    • Tr12.
  • Charles Dickens

    Extract from Oliver Twist, read by David Jonsson

  • 00:41

    Lionel Bart

    The Robbery, from Oliver

    Performer: 1994 London Palladium Cast Recording, James Saxon (gentleman).
    • Oliver! (1994 London Palladium Cast Recording).
    • First Night Records CAST CD 47.
    • Tr16.
  • Walt Whitman

    Verse XI from Carol of Words, read by Lyndsey Marshal

  • 00:43

    Gioachino Rossini

    The Thieving Magpie: Overture

    Performer: Orchestra of The Academy of St Martin in the Fields, Sir Neville Marriner (conductor).
    • Rossini: Complete Overtures.
    • Decca 00028947396727.
    • Tr4.
  • Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

    Extract from A Study in Scarlet, read by Lyndsey Marshal

  • 00:53

    Anoushka Shankar

    Stolen Moments

    Performer: Anoushka Shankar. Composer: Arooj Aftab.
    • Chapter 1: Forever, For Now.
    • Leiter LTR027.
    • Tr2.
  • Extract from Genesis, Chapter 27

    Jacob steals Esau’s blessing, read by David Jonsson

  • Dorothy L Sayers

    Extract from Clouds of Witness, read by Lyndsey Marshal

  • 01:00

    Bernard Herrmann

    Scene d'Amour from Vertigo

    Conductor: Muir Mathieson.
    • Vertigo (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).
    • Varese Sarabande 00030206575996.
    • Tr15.
  • John Milton

    Sonnet 7 ‘How soon hath Time, the subtle thief of youth’, read by David Jonsson

  • 01:06

    Peter Warlock

    I Asked A Thief To Steal Me A Peach

    Singer: Ian Partridge. Performer: Jennifer Partridge.
    • Peter Warlock: Songs.
    • Heritage Records HTGCDM044.
    • Tr4.
  • Janet and Allan Ahlberg

    Extract from Cops and Robbers, read by Lyndsey Marshal

  • 01:07

    Kurt Weill

    Mack the Knife (Live at the Deutschlandhalle, Berlin)

    Singer: Ella Fitzgerald. Ensemble: The Paul Smith Quartet.
    • Mack The Knife: The Complete Ella In Berlin.
    • Verve Reissues 314 519 564-2.
    • Tr8.

Broadcast

  • Sun 8 Dec 2024 18:00

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