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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

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 16 Nov 202518:00

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

  • 00:00

    Benjamin 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

  • 00:01

    Robert 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

  • 00:09

    John Faulkner

    We Will Wash It

    Composer: Sandra Kerr. Performer: John Faulkner. Performer: Sandra Kerr.
    • The Music From Bagpuss.
    • Twist and Shout.
    • 2.
  • 00:10

    Michael Giacchino

    Wall Rat

    Performer: Michael Giacchino.
    • Walt Disney.
    • Tr6.
  • Daniel Keyes

    Flowers for Algernon

  • 00:14

    Art 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

  • 00:22

    Hugo Wolf

    Goethe-Lieder for voice and piano: no.11 The Ratcatcher (Der Rattenfanger)

    Performer: Ashley Riches.
    • Chandos.
    • Tr4.
  • 00:21

    Joseph 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

  • 00:25

    Erich Wolfgang Korngold

    Korngold: The Prince And The Pauper Suite - 7. Duel

    Performer: André Previn.
    • Universal Music Australia Pty. Ltd..
    • Tr36.
  • 00:27

    Big Mama Thornton

    One Black Rat

    Performer: Big Mama Thornton.
    • Island Mercury.
    • Tr2.
  • 00:29

    Tiny 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

  • 00:32

    Igor Stravinsky

    Étude pour Pianola

    Performer: Rex Lawson.
    • NMC.
    • Tr4.
  • 00:00

    John Du Prez

    Music Boat (from The Clangers)

    • Ocean Music.
    • Tr4.
  • Jia Pingwa

    The Shaanxi Opera

  • 00:39

    Sufjan Stevens

    Year of the Rat

    Performer: Sufjan Stevens.
    • Enjoy your Rabbit.
    • Asthmatic Kitty.
    • 3.
  • Don Paterson

    The Rat

  • 00:43

    Trad.

    The Tailor and the Mouse

    Performer: Shirley Collins.
    • Top Tracks.
    • Tr5.
  • Philippa Pearce

    The Squirrel Wife

  • 00:46

    Judith Weir

    Forest

    Performer: BBC Symphony Orchestra.
    • NMC.
    • Tr801.
  • John Burroughs

    Squirrels and other fur-bearers

  • 00:53

    Louis 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

  • 00:55

    John 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

  • 00:59

    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

    The Tales of Beatrix Potter - film ballet: The Mouse Waltz

    Performer: Berliner Philharmoniker.
    • EMI.
    • Tr8.
  • Wendy Cope

    Christmas Ornaments

  • 01:04

    Frank Sinatra

    Fly Me to the Moon

    • Red Cab Records.
    • Tr34.
  • 01:06

    Various Artists

    Fly Me To The Moon

    Performer: Frank Sinatra.
    • A Night On The Town With The Rat Pack.
    • Red Cab Records.
    • 34.
  • 01:08

    Chick Corea

    Senor Mouse

    Performer: Chick Corea.
    • Concord.
    • Tr5.
  • EB White

    Stuart Little

  • 01:09

    Béla Bartók

    Quartet no.4 - Allegretto pizzicato

    Performer: Arcadia Quartet.
    • Chandos.
    • Tr7.
  • Franz Kafka

    A Little Fable

Broadcast

  • Sun 16 Nov 202518:00

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