A carol for Jeremy Corbyn
Must Be Santa
Category: Music
Not Dark Yet
A carol for Boris Johnson
A Walk To Sainsbury’s
We were in Norwich recently, staying at a hotel in the city but eager to visit the Sainsbury Centre just out of town. We were advised to take a taxi because buses were temporarily diverted. “It will take you about half an hour on foot but it’s not a pleasant walk. Better to cab it.” And yet, despite the advice, we walked it, and the sun came out, and the way was lined with trees and other hopeful signs. Continue reading “A Walk To Sainsbury’s”
For Ashley
Video: Peter Rudolfi / Performer: Ashley Bathgate / Composer: Andrew Norman
These visual illustrations attempt to complement a contemporary music take on Unaccompanied Cello music. This version is derivative of the iconic J.S. Bach Cello Suites written 300 years earlier with both compositions containing implied three-to-four-voice contrapuntal and polyphonic music in a single line. Uniquely, composer Norman adds ingenious changing metric structural patterns posing an added challenge to the performer. The effect is a rich rhythmic mosaic indicative of the Baroque aesthetic.
For Ashley
These days I seem to be mostly listening to cello music. I was recently introduced to this wonderful video performance by Ashley Bathgate of a piece written for her by Andrew Norman, inspired by J S Bach’s Prelude from the Fourth Cello Suite. It’s energetic, bouncy, playfully repetitive and fantastic.
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Drombeg Stone Circle
I’m away for a few days so I’m leaving Ernst Reijseger in charge. He knows what to do.
Ernst Reijseger performs an improvised piece at the 4000 year old ‘Drombeg’ Stone Circle, situated in the very beautiful surroundings of West Cork in Ireland.
Born in Naarden (NL) in 1954, Reijseger started playing cello at the age of seven. At the Conservatory of Amsterdam his teacher Anner Bijlsma encouraged him to follow his own path in order to develop his musical vocabulary. This resulted in a life time of out-of-the-box and genre-bending collaborations and that enabled Reijseger to grow into a unique musical force.
Living Symphonies
We came down the hill and over Chingford Plain and joined others arriving from north and south in a steady stream flowing into the woods. I thought of Geoffrey Chaucer – Those that sleep all the night with open eyes… Then folk long to go on pilgrimages… We really should’ve known about this, but it crept up and took us by surprise. We’d been here just a few weeks before, but walking in the opposite direction. Today, 28th July, we got to see it just in time, on its last day in Epping Forest. Continue reading “Living Symphonies”
Never Failed Me Yet
A 12-hour continuous performance of Gavin Bryars’ iconic piece Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet at London’s Tate Modern. Produced by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, the event brought together musicians from the Academy, Southbank Sinfonia and the Gavin Bryars Ensemble who performed throughout the night alongside people with experience of homelessness.
The performance was preceded by more than 50 hours of music making workshops at two day centres for homeless people in London.
‘None of us were homeless last night. Instead we were welcomed and royally entertained as special guests of one of the city’s most glamorous and sophisticated palaces of art!’ Gerry Salmon, participant from The Connection at St Martin’s.
‘Last hour spellbinding, moving, uplifting.’ @domcavendish (Theatre Critic, The Telegraph)
‘It was outstanding and, in its own way, astounding. And quite, quite beautiful’ The Afterword
Tate Modern / Academy of St Martin in the Fields
One Day In Calvi
We were staying at the top of the hill, behind the beach and the hotels, looking east over the bay to the mountains beyond. North of us was the Citadel but it only came into view as we descended the zigzag path back down into town. It seemed like a good place to begin exploring. Continue reading “One Day In Calvi”
Jolie Holland
I’m away now for a few days, meanwhile here’s Jolie Holland and an anonymous string band with three songs, caught in the woods at Happy Valley Pickathon in 2014. Continue reading “Jolie Holland”