A Lark Ascending

Good record.

Great series. I love the way he alternates between a serious Zen novel followed by one that is almost opera buffa. 'Cosi Fan Tutti' has the most amazing opening chapter which is told almost like the prologue to an opera; the whole novel plays with the Da Ponte plot but twists it into the murder story.

Just as long as they don't branch out to other labels and genres:

Nick Hornby's 'Hi-Fidelity' gently lampoons the mix tape thing, if I recall correctly. I think it was in that book that the main character makes them to widen his girlfriend's musical appreciation. The response is generally 'Lovely, dear' as she puts on an Abba record. Can't remember if that made it to the film.

Very good longish article about Nic here from a few years back: http://www.propergandaonline.com/depth-cult-nic-jones/

I had almost given up railing against this one. You give an old man hope. (and Hope is none too pleased) The kids in the school I work in have been using it for some time. In the last year I noticed its use by younger members of staff! I do my fogeyish bit with them. I blame American High School movies (interesting the way that British kids have picked up on a lot of that argot but use it in a highly ironic American accent).

The Sidewinder!

I had a couple of brief flirtations with cassette. In the very early 70s I had one bought for me. I'd record bits of the John Peel show (and other album based radio programmes) - the radio sessions and so forth. This involved putting the microphone next to the speaker and praying that no-one burst into the room! That recorder only lasted about a year before it broke down. In the mid-80s I bought a proper one connected to my amp. I used it for two purposes. Firstly, recording LPs and CDs borrowed from the library ('home taping is killing music'), mainly of music not available at the time. This was mainly classical and where I started exploring highways and byways - Nottingham City Library had a rich classical section; not so good in other areas. Secondly, I did the 'mix tape' thing for the car. This was time consuming as it had to be done in real time but it didn't half get you listening to those individual tracks you were focussing on (I did much the same in the 90s with a CD recorder before iTunes etc made it all much easier). Only ever bought a handful of pre-recorded cassettes - generally things like 'Mozart Opera Arias' at a time when I was trying to familiarise myself with that world. They had their purpose in their time but as with LPs whatever sentimentality I might have based on memory is not translated into a desire to return to the format.

Sorry ma'am. I didn't mean you.

I don't believe you, you're a.... Not at all. The truth was that it was a really boring concert. So much so that me and my mate started playing a history quiz (we were so rock'n roll). He shouted out 'The British Royal Family in the 16thC?" as the applause died and I shouted back into the ensuing silence....

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/aug/30/cassette-store-day-music-tapes

They don't get much better. Stunning guitar playing (listen to 'Canadee-i-o'), and a brilliant way with both a traditional and contemporary song (he seemed to be moving that way in his last few performing months). The other thing I like about him is that he sang in a plain voice, shorn of cod-ploughboy (though you can hear that on his first couple of records, long OOP for infamous legal reasons). I saw him not long before his accident. He's making a bit of a comeback singing (played Sidmouth this year though a couple of days before I got there) and did a nice dry interview in fRoots a while back - a very dead-pan, self-deprecating sense of English humour. My favourite performance is 'Annachie Gordon' locked away on the predecessor to Penguin Eggs, The Noah's Ark Trap. Dreadful that that one is locked away. I can recommend the three 'live' discs that have surfaced in recent years. If nothing else they get him some royalties.

Due up on BBC 4 TV on 27th Sept: The Enigma Of Nic Jones: Return Of Britain’s Lost Folk Hero http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2013/nic-jones-bbc-four.html Worth watching even if you haven't a clue about him. A giant both in terms of guitar playing and arranging songs.

Further to the above - within 50 pages of finishing this one - utterly gripping. I've taught Nazi Germany since the late 70s to younger students (13-16) but never fully appreciated the scale of the violence in 1933. Hadn't realised that Evans was an expert witness in the David Irving trial in the late 80s, playing a key part in demonstrating the latter's distortions through hard evidence.

Has the OED redefined awesome as meaning quite nice?

Excellent new documentary on the March on Washington for the 50th anniversary. I'd seen very little of the footage shown previously. Now if they could just get round to putting out 'Eyes on the Prize' on DVD.

Three from my Canterbury days. Come to think of it, I've never been to Canterbury. Only one track on the last one. Not sure if this counts:

1993 Royal Festival Hall London Can't believe it was 20 years ago!

You can hear me shout out at one point.

He's lost! Major backtrack took place but it was largely hidden from public view. The provisional K3 curriculum that snuck out in early July looks very similar to what we have now. Though he still has a chance to bugger up GCSE and A Level.

Another topic I teach regularly but have not read an adult book about for a long time. I've read Evans' excellent book (and highly recommended - it's an easy read) on historiography ('In Defence of History') and he's been a major voice in opposing our current education secretary's attempt to return history teaching in schools to a 1950s 'Our Island Story' approach. The first of three big volumes. But the first 30 pages have me hooked. Strong, narrative history for the general reader that carries off its analysis within an unfolding tale.

Do they have to be 'about' anything? Some composers are quite explicit about what their music is 'about' - through titles, words if sung, comments made. But an awful lot of the 'about' is projected onto the music by commentators (the lack of sex comment earlier being a classic example of reading onto the music; I don't hear much sex in Bach's music but he seems to have had a bit!). I don't know enough about Bruckner to argue with any firmness of evidence; but what I've constantly read was that he was a devout Catholic. I can accept that he was expressing that devotion in some way. As a non-believer I don't hear the omniscience of God when I listen. I do hear glorious abstract music that does make me think of the inside of cathedrals at times (that might be simply because that is how the music has been packaged since I first listened) but I also hear what sounds like pastoral, nature music in places (again, my brain is doing that, rather than it being explicit in the music, probably because it sounds like other music that does have an explicit nature programme (e,g Beethoven 6)). It also makes me think of Friedrich paintings (again a result of the way it's often been packaged). I can see where you are going with the idea of none of them being totally satisfying (not a feeling I share in 5, 7, 8 and 9) as if he wasn't totally sure what he wanted to do; but you could say the same about a lot of canons of free improvisation - you don't get a sense of everything tied up and finished, more of something continually evolving until the musician just stops.

Not sure if this amounts to too much - Count Basie appears to be giving it out with some restraint.

"Gypsy Soul" a BBC 4 programme about flamenco. Probably too simplistic for the specialist but as someone who knows little about the music I found it really interesting. Great to see really young kids getting completely absorbed into the music and dance. And they used bits of Sketches of Spain in places as link music between scenes. Nice section filming a religious procession in Seville (Corpus Christi?) which seemed like the sort of event that inspired 'Saeta' on SkofSp. I also leant how to pronounce Cadithhhh. There was also an interesting documentary a couple of days back about how 'World Music' as a marketing genre came into being in the UK. Both on replayer for those with access.