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Agatha Christie and music

In her autobiography, Agatha Christie details her singing and piano lessons and her hopes of becoming a professional performer; and music features in the plots of her novels.

Siân Thomas and Tim McInnerny are the readers in a programme marking fifty years since Agatha Christie's death, aged 85, on January 12 1976.

In her autobiography, Agatha Christie describes practicing Schumann's The Merry Peasant and Czerny's exercises; appearing with a local family in Gilbert and Sullivan's The Yeoman of the Guard, which was 'one of the highlights of my existence'; and her hopes of becoming a professional performer after training in Paris. But her 'cherished secret fantasy to do something in music' was ended by her teachers' assessment of her talents, and the stories she had already begun writing became her focus: 'If the thing you want beyond anything cannot be, it is much better to recognise it and go forward, instead of dwelling on one’s regrets and hopes'.

Music features in the plots of some her novels from Death on the Nile and A Caribbean Mystery to Hercule Poirot's Christmas, Mrs McGinty's Dead and Elephants Can Remember, and you find in her writing quotations of poetry by Tennyson, Shakespeare, William Blake and nursery rhymes, as well as poetic inspirations for some of her book titles, so this Words and Music celebrates the poetic and musical world of the woman who became known as the 'Queen of Crime'.

Producer: Robyn Read

Readings from
Agatha Christie An Autobiography
Shakespeare's Macbeth, Twelfth Night and Othello
Elephants Can Remember
Hercule Poirot's Christmas
Dead Man's Folly
They Do It With Mirrors
Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott
Mrs McGinty's Dead
Death on the Nile
A Caribbean Mystery
William Blake's Song of Innocence
Poirot's Last Case

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1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sunday 18:00
Â鶹Éç Radio 3

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Music Played

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

  • William Shakespeare

    Macbeth, Act 4 Sc.1, read by Tim McInnerny

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie An Autobiography, read by Sian Thomas

  • 00:01

    Christopher Gunning

    Agatha Christie's Poirot (Main Theme)

    Ensemble: London Music Works.
    • TV Themes.
    • Decca 0062458558814.
    • Tr8.
  • 00:02

    Christopher Gunning

    Agatha Christie's Poirot - Theme

    Ensemble: London Music Works.
    • TV Themes.
    • DECCA.
    • 8.

  • Agatha Christie

    Elephants Can Remember, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:03

    Robert Schumann

    Album for the Young Op.68, No.10: The Merry Peasant

    Performer: Richard Tilling.
    • Sleep with Classical Piano Music.
    • Silent Star Music 889176647406.
    • Tr18.

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie An Autobiography, read by Sian Thomas

  • 00:03

    Robert Schumann

    Album for the Young Op.68, No.10: The Merry Peasant

    Performer: Richard Tilling.
    • Sleep with Classical Piano Music.
    • Silent Star Music.
    • 38.
  • 00:04

    Felix Mendelssohn

    Lieder ohne Worte Book 1 Op 19 no 1 in E Major MWV U86

    Performer: Howard Shelley.
    • Mendelssohn: The Complete Solo Piano Music 1.
    • Hyperion CDA67935.
    • Tr13.

  • Agatha Christie:

    Hercule Poirot’s Christmas read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:04

    Felix Mendelssohn

    Song Without Words in E major, Op.19 no.1

    Performer: Howard Shelley.
    • Mendelssohn: The Complete Solo Piano Music.
    • Hyperion.
    • 13.
  • 00:07

    Gerald Finzi

    Let Us Garlands Bring Op. 18 (Version for Strings): I. Come Away, Death

    Singer: Christopher Maltman. Orchestra: Â鶹Éç Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Martyn Brabbins.
    • English Orchestral Songs: Parry, Stanford, Finzi & Gurney.
    • Hyperion CDA67065.
    • Tr14.
  • 00:07

    Gerald Finzi

    Come Away, Death (Let Us Garlands Bring)

    Lyricist: William Shakespeare. Singer: Christopher Maltman. Orchestra: Â鶹Éç Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Martyn Brabbins.
    • English Orchestral Songs: Finzi, Gurney, Stanford & Parry.
    • Hyperion.
    • 14.

  • William Shakespeare

    Twelfth Night, Act II, Sc. 4, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:09

    Carl Czerny

    30 Études de mécanisme, Op. 849: No. 11 in G Major

    Performer: Nicolas Horvath.
    • Czerny: 30 Etudes de mécanisme, Op. 849.
    • Grand Piano GP018.
    • Tr11.

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie An Autobiography, read by Sian Thomas

  • 00:09

    Carl Czerny

    30 Études de mécanisme, Op. 849: No. 11 in G Major

    Performer: Nicolas Horvath.
    • Czerny: 30 Études de mécanisme, Op. 849.
    • Grand Piano.
    • 11.

  • Agatha Christie

    Extract from Dead Man’s Folly, read by Tim McInnerny

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie An Autobiography, read by Sian Thomas

  • 00:11

    Eric Ball

    Star Lake

    Performer: Rolls Royce Coventry Brass Band.
    • The Magic of Brass.
    • Parade PAR 2001.
    • Tr12.

  • Agatha Christie

    Dead Man’s Folly, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:12

    Eric Ball

    Star Lake

    Performer: Rolls Royce Coventry Brass Band.
    • The Magic Of Brass.
    • Parade.
    • 12.
  • 00:12

    Peggy Lee

    This Little Piggie

    • The Capitol Transcriptions 1946 - 1949.
    • Capitol Records 00602508657658.
    • Tr68.

  • Agatha Christie

    Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:15

    Frédéric Chopin

    Sonata for piano no. 2 (Op.35) B flat minor, 3rd movement; Marche funebre

    Performer: Yuja Wang.
    • 111 Years of Deutsche Grammophon The Collector’s Edition Vol 2.
    • Deutsche Grammophon 0002894779196.
    • Tr3.
  • 00:16

    Trad.

    This Little Piggie

    Composer: Sam Coslow. Composer: Harold Lewis. Singer: Peggy Lee.
    • The Capitol Transcriptions 1946-1949.
    • CAPITOL CATALOG MKT (C92).
    • 68.

  • William Shakespeare

    Othello, Act 3, Sc. 3

  • 00:19

    Ken Howard/ Alan Blaikley

    Miss Marple - Theme from the Â鶹Éç TV Series [1980s]

    Performer: Consort (ensemble).
    • Best of Â鶹Éç TV’s Themes.
    • Â鶹Éç Records RESL 153.
    • Tr.

  • Agatha Christie

    They Do It With Mirrors, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:20

    Ken Howard

    Miss Marple theme

    Composer: Alan Blaikley. Ensemble: Consort.
    • The Best of Â鶹Éç TV's Themes.
    • Â鶹Éç Records.
    • 1.

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie An Autobiography, read by Sian Thomas

  • 00:21

    Arthur Sullivan

    The Yeoman of the Guard (Overture)

    Orchestra: Welsh National Opera Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • Gilbert & Sullivan: The Yeomen of the Guard and Trial by Jury.
    • Telarc CD-80404.
    • Tr1.

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie An Autobiography, read by Sian Thomas

  • 00:22

    Arthur Sullivan

    The Yeomen of the Guard (Overture)

    Orchestra: Welsh National Opera Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • The Yeoman of the Guard and Trial by Jury.
    • TELARC.
    • 1.
  • 00:23

    Arthur Sullivan

    The Yeoman of the Guard Act I: Ballad. Is Life a Boon?

    Singer: Neill Archer. Orchestra: Welsh National Opera Orchestra. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • Gilbert & Sullivan: The Yeomen of the Guard and Trial by Jury.
    • Telarc CD-80404.
    • Tr6.
  • 00:24

    Arthur Sullivan

    The Yeomen of the Guard, Act I: Ballad. Is Life a Boon?

    Lyricist: William S. Gilbert. Singer: Neill Archer. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • The Yeomen of the Gaurd and Trial by Jury.
    • Telarc.
    • 6.

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie An Autobiography, read by Sian Thomas

  • Alfred, Lord Tennyson

    The Lady of Shalott, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:27

    Snorre Kirk

    Jubilee Rag

    Performer: Giacomo Smith (saxophone), Joe Webb, (piano), Anders Fjelstead (bass), Snorre Kirk (drums).
    • What a Day (Bonus Edition).
    • Stunt Records STUCD24032.
    • Tr9.
  • 00:27

    Snorre Kirk

    Jubilee Rag

    Performer: Giacomo Smith. Performer: Joe Webb. Performer: Anders Fjeldsted. Performer: Snorre Kirk.
    • What A Day! (Bonus Edition).
    • Stunt Records.
    • 9.

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie An Autobiography, read by Sian Thomas

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie Elephants Can Remember, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:29

    Giuseppe Verdi

    'Una macchia è qui tuttora' (Macbeth)

    Singer: Anna Netrebko. Orchestra: Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Torino. Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda.
    • Anna Netrebko Sings Verdi.
    • Deutsche Grammophon 00028947918141.
    • Tr5.
  • 00:30

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Macbeth - Version 1865 For The Paris Opéra / Act 4: Una macchia è qui tuttora

    Singer: Anna Netrebko. Orchestra: Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Torino. Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda.
    • Anna Netrebko Sings Verdi.
    • Deutsche Grammophon (DG).
    • 5.

  • William Shakespeare

    Macbeth, Act 5, Sc.1, read by Tim McInnerny

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie An Autobiography, read by Sian Thomas

  • Agatha Christie

    Hercule Poirot’s Christmas, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:32

    Christian Sinding

    6 Pieces Op.32 for piano (no.3; The rustle of spring)

    Performer: Christian Ihle Hadland.
    • Violin and Piano Music.
    • Naxos 8.572214-15.
    • Tr1 S2.
  • 00:33

    Christian Sinding

    The Rustle of Spring (6 Pieces Op.32)

    Performer: Christian Ihle Hadland.
    • Sinding, C.: Violin and Piano Music.
    • Naxos.
    • 1.

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie An Autobiography, read by Sian Thomas

  • Agatha Christie

    Mrs McGinty’s Dead, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:36

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Overture, Aida

    Orchestra: Orchestra of La Scala, Milan. Conductor: Riccardo Muti.
    • Verdi: Overtures and Preludes.
    • Sony Classical SK68468.
    • Tr11.
  • 00:37

    Giuseppe Verdi

    Aida (Overture)

    Orchestra: La Scala Philharmonic. Conductor: Riccardo Muti.
    • Verdi: Overtures and Preludes: Muti.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 11.
  • 00:38

    Patrick Doyle

    Death on the Nile Theme 2022 film

    Performer: Patrick Doyle.
    • Death on the Nile (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).
    • Hollywood Records D003690225.
    • Tr25.

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie An Autobiography, red by Sian Thomas

  • 00:39

    Patrick Doyle

    Death on the Nile (From "Death on the Nile")

    Conductor: Patrick Doyle. Orchestra: Studio Orchestra.
    • Death on the Nile (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack).
    • Hollywood Records.
    • 25.

  • Agatha Christie

    Death on the Nile, read by Tim McInnerny

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie An Autobiography, read by Sian Thomas

  • Agatha Christie

    Death on the Nile, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:42

    Lena Horne

    Frankie and Johnny

    • Frankie and Johnny.
    • Fantastic Voyage 884385877620.
    • Tr6.
  • 00:42

    Lena Horne

    Frankie and Johnny

    • Frankie & Johnny.
    • Fantastic Voyage.
    • 7.

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie An Autobiography, read by Sian Thomas

  • Agatha Christie

    A Caribbean Mystery, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:50

    Trad.

    Mongoose

    Performer: Trinidad Steel Band.
    • Steel Drums of Trinidad (Digitally Remastered).
    • Essential Media Group 894231384622.
    • Tr7.
  • 00:50

    Trad.

    Mongoose

    Ensemble: Trinidad Steel Drum Band.
    • Steel Drums Of Trinidad (Digitally Remastered).
    • Essential Media Group.
    • 7.

  • Agatha Christie

    A Caribbean Mystery, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:50

    Johann Strauss II

    An der schönen blauen Donau, Op. 314 (Blue Danube waltz)

    Orchestra: Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Ondrej Lenárd.
    • Classical Music: 30 of the Best.
    • Naxos 8.578355-56.
    • Tr8.

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie An Autobiography, read by Sian Thomas

  • 00:51

    Johann Strauss II

    The Blue Danube - waltz, Op 314

    Orchestra: Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Ondrej Lenárd.
    • Classical Music: 30 of the Best.
    • Naxos.
    • 8.

  • Agatha Christie

    A Caribbean Mystery, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:55

    Trad.

    Sing a Song of Sixpence

    Performer: Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra.
    • Golden Era.
    • Cleopatra Records 803680282151.
    • Tr14.
  • 00:56

    Traditional English

    Sing A Song Of Sixpence

    Composer: Tommy Dorsey.
    • Golden Era.
    • Cleopatra Records.
    • 14.

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie An Autobiography, read by Sian Thomas

  • 00:57

    Dmitry Shostakovich

    Concertino for two pianos in A minor, Op.94

    Performer: Martha Argerich. Performer: Lilya Zilberstein.
    • Piano Concerto No.1, Piano Quintet, Concertino for Two Pianos.
    • Warner Classics 5099950450459.
    • Tr5.

  • Agatha Christie

    They Do It With Mirrors, read by Tim McInnerny

  • 00:58

    Dmitry Shostakovich

    Concertino in A minor for two pianos, Op 94

    Performer: Martha Argerich. Performer: Lilya Zilberstein.
    • Piano Concerto No.1, Piano Quintet, Concertino for Two Pianos.
    • Warner Classics.
    • 5.
  • 01:02

    Frédéric Chopin

    24 Preludes Op.28 for piano: no.15 in D flat major; 'Raindrop'

    Performer: Alice Sara Ott.
    • Alice Sara Ott Plays Chopin.
    • Universal UME Global Clearing House 0002898588411.
    • Tr16.
  • 01:02

    Frédéric Chopin

    Prelude in D flat major, Op 28 No 15 (Raindrop)

    Performer: Alice Sara Ott.
    • Alice Sara Ott plays Chopin.
    • UME - Global Clearing House.
    • 16.

  • William Blake

    The Auguries of Innocence

  • 01:07

    Johann Sebastian Bach

    Violin Sonata No 2 in A minor BVW 1003 transcribed for the piano

    Music Arranger: Alexander Siloti. Performer: Hamish Milne.
    • Bach: Piano Transcriptions.
    • Hyperion 00602458143225.
    • Tr8.
  • 01:08

    Johann Sebastian Bach

    Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor BWV 1003 III. Andante, transcribed for piano

    Performer: Hamish Milne.
    • Bach: Piano Transcriptions, Vol 5 Goedicke, Kabalevsky, Catoire & Siloti.
    • Hyperion.
    • 8.

  • Agatha Christie

    Poirot’s Last Case, read by Tim McInnerny

  • Agatha Christie

    Poirot’s Last Case, read by Tim McInnerny

  • Agatha Christie

    Agatha Christie An Autobiography, read by Sian Thomas

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    Â鶹Éç Radio 3

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