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
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Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
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Janet and Allan Ahlberg
Extract from Cops and Robbers, read by Lyndsey Marshal
00:01Henry 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
00:04Edward 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
00:06Sergey 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
00:11Christopher 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
00:16Debbie Wiseman
Bucket of the Detectives
Performer: The Locrian Ensemble of London.- Dickensian (Original Television Soundtrack).
- Silva Screen Records.
- Tr6.
00:18Arthur 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.
00:21Miles 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
00:33Giacomo 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.
00:36Paul 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
00:41Lionel 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
00:43Gioachino 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
00:53Anoushka 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
01:00Bernard 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
01:06Peter 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
01:07Kurt 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 18:00Â鶹Éç Radio 3