
Little Furry Creatures: Mice, Rats and Squirrels
A rodent's eye view as we look at mice, rats and squirrels in stories by EB White and Phillippa Pearce, Nabokov and Douglas Adam and music by Tchaikovsky.
Often ignored, overlooked or even feared, it's time to celebrate the humble little furry creature. Here we take a rodent's eye view to look at Mice, Rats and Squirrels.
Here our little furry friends are not just vermin, rather they are the heroes of children's literature by writers such as EB White, Philippa Pearce and Beatrix Potter; and we hear music from John Lanchbery's 1971 Ballet 'The Tales of Beatrix Potter'. The rat becomes a metaphor for the writing of poetry in Don Paterson's The Rat, Nabokov's Pnin is followed around by a squirrel, and it's mouse vs cat in Franz Kafka's A Little Fable. We've got the Three Blind Mice jazz style from Art Blakely, The Nutcracker and The Mouse King from Tchaikovsky and everyone's favourite rodent chef is represented with music from the film Ratatouille.
Readings:
WB Yeats - To A Squirrel at Kyle Na No
Robert C O'Brien - Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Robert Burns - To A Mouse
Sam Savage - Firmin
Daniel Keyes - Flowers for Algernon
Kenneth Graeme - The Wind in the Willows
Jia Tolentino - My College Roomates Were Rats
ALOE (A Lady of England) - The Rambles of A Rat
Deborah Levy - Things I Don't Want to Know
Simon Armitage - Drey
Vladimir Nabokov - Pnin
Jia Pingwa - The Shaanxi Opera
Don Paterson - The Rat
Philippa Pearce - The Squirrel Wife
John Burroughs - Squirrels and other fur-bearers
Beatrix Potter - The Tale of Two Bad Mice
Anon - The Squirrel
Wendy Cope - Christmas Ornaments
EB White - Stuart Little
Franz Kafka - A Little Fable
Readers: Louise Brealey and Solomon Israel
Producer: Jessica Treen
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Music Played
Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes
WB Yeats
To A Squirrel at Kyle No Na
00:00Benjamin Britten
A Suite on English Folk Tunes, Op. 90 "A Time There Was": IV. Hunt the Squirrel
Performer: Sir Simon Rattle.- Warner Classics.
- Tr 24.
Robert C O’Brien
Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
00:01Robert Schumann
3 Romances, Op. 11: No.3 in A flat major, Moderato
Performer: Isata Kanneh‐Mason.- Decca.
- Tr6.
Robert Burns
To A Mouse
Sam Savage
Firmin
00:09John Faulkner
We Will Wash It
Composer: Sandra Kerr. Performer: John Faulkner. Performer: Sandra Kerr.- The Music From Bagpuss.
- Twist and Shout.
- 2.
00:10Michael Giacchino
Wall Rat
Performer: Michael Giacchino.- Walt Disney.
- Tr6.
Daniel Keyes
Flowers for Algernon
00:14Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers
Three Blind Mice
- Milestones of a Legend - Art Blakey, Vol. 10.
- Documents 2.
- 1.
Kenneth Graeme
The Wind In The Willows
Jia Tolentino
My College Roomates Were Rats
00:22Hugo Wolf
Goethe-Lieder for voice and piano: no.11 The Ratcatcher (Der Rattenfanger)
Performer: Ashley Riches.- Chandos.
- Tr4.
00:21Joseph Haydn
Haydn: Piano Trio in D Major, Hob. XV:24: I. Allegro
Performer: London Fortepiano Trio.- Hyperion.
- Tr6.
ALOE (A Lady Of England)
The Rambles of A Rat
00:25Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Korngold: The Prince And The Pauper Suite - 7. Duel
Performer: André Previn.- Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd..
- Tr36.
00:27Big Mama Thornton
One Black Rat
Performer: Big Mama Thornton.- Island Mercury.
- Tr2.
00:29Tiny Leaves
The Song Of the Trees
Performer: Tiny Leaves.- Copyright Control.
- Tr1.
Deborah Levy
Things I Don’t Want To Know
Simon Armitage
Drey
Vladimir Nabokov
Pnin
00:32Igor Stravinsky
Étude pour Pianola
Performer: Rex Lawson.- NMC.
- Tr4.
00:00John Du Prez
Music Boat (from The Clangers)
- Ocean Music.
- Tr4.
Jia Pingwa
The Shaanxi Opera
00:39Sufjan Stevens
Year of the Rat
Performer: Sufjan Stevens.- Enjoy your Rabbit.
- Asthmatic Kitty.
- 3.
Don Paterson
The Rat
00:43Trad.
The Tailor and the Mouse
Performer: Shirley Collins.- Top Tracks.
- Tr5.
Philippa Pearce
The Squirrel Wife
00:46Judith Weir
Forest
Performer: BBC Symphony Orchestra.- NMC.
- Tr801.
John Burroughs
Squirrels and other fur-bearers
00:53Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five
The Two Little Squirrels (Nuts To You)
Performer: Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five.- Geffen.
- Tr5.
Beatrix Potter
The Tale of Two Bad Mice
00:55John Lanchbery
The Tales of Beatrix Potter - film ballet: The Mouse Waltz
Performer: Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.- Warner Classics.
- Tr5.
Anon
The Squirrel
00:59Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
The Tales of Beatrix Potter - film ballet: The Mouse Waltz
Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.- EMI.
- Tr8.
Wendy Cope
Christmas Ornaments
01:04Frank Sinatra
Fly Me to the Moon
- Red Cab Records.
- Tr34.
01:06Various Artists
Fly Me To The Moon
Performer: Frank Sinatra.- A Night On The Town With The Rat Pack.
- Red Cab Records.
- 34.
01:08Chick Corea
Senor Mouse
Performer: Chick Corea.- Concord.
- Tr5.
EB White
Stuart Little
01:09Béla Bartók
Quartet no.4 - Allegretto pizzicato
Performer: Arcadia Quartet.- Chandos.
- Tr7.
Franz Kafka
A Little Fable
Broadcast
- Sun 16 Nov 202518:00BBC Radio 3


