Radio 4 presenter Race dies at 88

Race had an early career as a pianist

Presenter Steve Race, best known as the host of Radio 4's long-running quiz show My Music, has died aged 88.

The popular programme, which ran from 1967 to 1994, included comedians Frank Muir and Denis Norden on the panel.

"He had a great broadcasting voice - warm, inviting, distinctive. And he knew a lot. He was a class act," said Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer.

Race also anchored the station's Home in the Afternoon in the late 1960s and its successor, PM.

Children's presenter

Damazer described Race as "a terrific foil on My Music to the differing comic talents of Denis Norden and Frank Muir.

"He pushed and prodded them and held the programme together with good humour and grace... he was a class act," he added.

Race was born in Lincoln in 1921 and attended the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied composition.

He began a career as a pianist and music arranger with several big bands, which saw him work with big names including Judy Garland.

His first foray into broadcasting was in television, when he became presenter of children's programme Whirligig in 1953.

But his radio work dominated his career, with other credits including Any Questions?, With Great Pleasure, A Good Read and Jazz in Perspective.