A Lark Ascending

Sally Beamish - Viola Conceto 2; Whitescape; Sangsters Birtwistle - Chamber Music . ECM collection of chamber and vocal pieces. Very beautiful - I mostly know his vast orchestral pieces that move like ice sheets. Here the music seems more watery and translucent. Birtwistle - Nenia: The Death of Orpheus; The Fields of Sorrow; Verses for Ensemble Sally Beamish - Seavaigers; The Seafarer Trio

Howells - disc of short orch pieces Finzi - Lo the Full Final Sacrifice Handel - Concerti Grossi Op 6 Bach - English Suites 1, 2, 3 Bruckner - Symphony 1 Birtwistle - Gawain's Journey, The Triumph of Time, Ritual Fragment

Tippett - Divertimento on Sellinger's Round; Little Music; The Heart's Assurance; Concerto for Double String Orchestra Birtwistle - Angel Fighter; In Broken Images; Virelai. First piece went right over my head - a dramatic piece so needs a libretto to follow at least. Enjoyed the craggy second orchestral piece much more. And the short third is almost a neoclassical pop tune! RVW - Symphony 9. Brought to mind whilst wandering around Stonehenge - the LP I had of this in the 70s had a striking Constable or Turner pictures of the stones on the cover.

Has anyone invented a MP3 player where the player deals withe the playing but you stick a memory stick in with the files? My home streamer will do this. Why not make it portable? Given the size of memory sticks now this could solve all sorts of problems. Just thinking ahead to when my iPods die - I'd be lost without them.

Hugh Wood - Symphony/Scenes from Comus - the Symphony deserves a life in the concert hall. Two or three decades old now and I believe a fuss was made when it came out. I play it once or twice a year - you really hear the Berg influence. Alwyn - Symphony 2 Birtwistle - String Quartet: The Tree of Strings; 9 Movements for String Quartet Finzi - Violin Concerto (reconstruction) Vaughan Williams - Five Tudor Ortraits; Five Mystical Songs - the former is RVW in hon nailed boots but rather fun; the latter an absolute gem with lots of those otherworldly chord progressions that are one of his finger prints.

You have to be careful with Holst - a lot of his early music has been recorded and most of it is hard to distinguish from run of the mill Edwardian stuff. Things get interesting from Beni Mora - chorally look out for the sets of the 'Hymns from the Rig Veda' - he was fascinated by the east and learnt Sanskrit - unlike his earlier music these pieces are crystal clear. 'The Hymn of Jesus' is quite different from most choral music of the period with a Byzantine influence in text. I'm very fond of his lesser known 20s music - small scale pieces, increasingly influenced by neoclassicism. Because he never produced anything on the scale of The Planets again he's often seen as having lost his touch. But I regularly return to that music. There are a couple of old Lyrita discs - one by Boult and another by Holst's daughter that cover the ground well. ''''' William Alwyn - Symphony 1 (twice) - late-Romantic Briish music with its own character; the only disappointment is the ending which is a bit hackneyed - lots of grand punctuation marks. Arnold - Symphony 3 Birtwistle - Carman Arcadiae Mechanicae Perpetuum; Silbury Air; Secret Theatre - also twice. Can't pretend to understand this even after ten years of listening but it certainly packs a punch. Like listening to tectonic plates grinding away beneath one another. I'm on Salisbury Plain and passed Silbury Hill yesterday so this seemed appropriate. I believe Birtwistle lives in Wiltshire - I might pop in for tea. I was glad to see this appear a couple of years back - had never heard Ruggles before but remember a DG record in the 70s with Suntreader on that I liked the name of but never bought. i've enjoyed listening to those 'back woods' American composers of late - Partch, Crumb etc. Always up for a wander up the footpaths off the A roads.

Accept the consensus idea - helps for some time to pass for that to convince. I'm also comfortable with a judgment based on considerable evidence, clear criteria and at least an attempt at objectivity (as far as that is possible for anyone - I know no historian manages it but some are much better than others). I'm not going to dispute the greatness of Bach or Shakespeare - not because I have the means to detect it (though I like both), just because I've been convinced by many writers who know far more than me and whose judgment I trust. I might initially listen/read/watch them because of their reputation of greatness - but I carry on because I enjoy them. Very often, however, the term is used to mean 'I really, really like this...and you should too'. Now that's fine if the term is used a la Tony the Tiger; but it's often used to imply something much bigger without a great deal of support beyond 'I say so.'

If you come across Holst's 'The Hymn of Jesus' for a buck, give it a go. Worth hearing a little Victorian/Edwardian choral music (it was hugely popular) or a contemporary like Bantock to get an idea of how fresh RVW was - I always find the former a bit stodgy (even a fair bit of Elgar). From what I've read as well as the folk music influence RVW was heavily influenced by Tudor church music (you hear that in his moments of agnostic spiritual ecstasy) and I suspect the brief lesson/s he had from Ravel might explain why he is often (not always...he can gallumph) more translucent than what went before. Today: Arnold - Symphonies 1 & 2

Will give it a listen when I'm back home and not using up an iPhone battery, Jim. Always up for recommendations of the unfamiliar. Papsrus - agree with your viewpoint. Sometimes the pub blues band up the road can be much more fun than the 'great' legend at your nearest big hall. I somehow doubt most composers set out to be 'great' - though some do. Mahler seemed in no doubt of his own genius and the lesser nature of those around him (including his Mrs who he banned from composing!). Greatness is usually projected on them by commentators - In some cases what they really seem to be saying is aren't I great for recognising Xs greatness. it's nigh on impossible to keep your ear on the range of contemporary composers currently writing. My perception might be wrong here but I get the idea that in the 60s a fair bit of contemporary music was released on record; but it seemed to be less available after the 70s. There seems to be a lot more available now, possibly due to changes in recording methods. I tend to focus on British stuff, not out of chauvinism but just because it links with my interests with earlier British music. Otherwise I tend to respond to things from anywhere heard on radio, reviews in the press or enthusiastic recommendations in places like this.

The Guardian runs a lighthearted set of series of interviews with classical musicians here: https://www.theguardian.com/music/series/facing-the-music Standard set of questions to which the musicians respond, usually bringing out a breadth of interest and a down-to-earth approach to music a million miles away from the mythologies that get constructed around them. I'm always especially fascinated by What single thing would improve the format of the classical concert? An amazing number mention the performers actually talking to the audience, something that I'm noticing more and more (yippee!). The most recent response from Pekka Kuusisto is a good one: "Improvisation. Not only in the music being performed but in everything that happens inside the concert hall. I think we should try different gestures more often, even when there’s a risk of looking like an ass. Maybe especially when there’s a risk, or rather, an opportunity, to look like an ass. I’m not particularly excited about the persona of the performer overshadowing the repertoire, but I often feel the nature of the concert makes us performers seem detached and alien in a way that might actually obscure the message in the music. The audience should not always be allowed to sink into a comfortable familiarity at a concert, but they should be derailed in all kinds of ways that scratch the skin of whatever organs they receive their experiences with."

Might be of interest to some: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jul/23/argentinian-composer-alberto-ginastera-spanish-connection

Never noticed the similarity between 'Fetes' from the Nocturnes and the Holst of 'The Planets' before. 15 years or so between them so I's imagine Holst was familiar through performance or score.

Kelly Willis and Bruce Robison (Greystones, Sheffield) That was fun. I've known Willis since the 90s on record but never expected to see her round these parts (although she's been before, it seems). Just two guitars, two voices and a bit of mouth organ. Excellent songs - I've only come across Mr Willis since their last record together and knew nothing of his history as a songwriter to the country stars. Marvellous harmony singing. Two relaxed but engaging sets. And all at what has become my favourite venue. Small and intimate, always drawing a positive crowd, into the music and rooting for the performers.

I like Benedetti. She has the talent, she has the looks (fully exploited by her record company). Yet she handles it all with great humility and a commitment to giving back. Much more important, to my mind, than whether a definition of 'greatness' should or should not be projected upon her.

From Phillip Clark earlier in the week: Where have the great composers gone? Clark covers a lot of the modern/contemporary music in The Gramophone - incredibly knowledgeable and with a deep knowledge of jazz at the experimental end too. But a bit of a a Young Fogie - has definitely imbibed the 'Darling, I'm so unimpressed' aesthetic they seem to teach at public schools to prepare their boys for leadership. Anyway, here he's decided the sky is falling in. And then, later in the week, a reply: Composers seek a new definition of greatness in a digital age I especially like: "Fixed and hierarchical ideas of “greatness” feel off-kilter with the times, even socially divisive in their narrow view of what greatness is and how it manifests itself not only musically, but also culturally and demographically. The brilliant composer Shiva Feshareki agrees. “It’s simply a different time. We live in a world where we are constantly sharing ideas. There is a place now for so many different types of music and also collaborations between different types of people on an international level. Do we really care about who is a “great” composer? Or do we care more about how we have more fluidity now, and that we have access to more perspectives, which means art can positively impact the lives of a wider variety of people?” [Brexit and Trump might suggest otherwise, but...] (I'll forgive use of the A word.) Whether it is 'great' or not I certainly find plenty of new music by contemporary composers to keep me interested (even if, like most people, I mostly listen to well established classical pieces).

Op 18 No. 5 of the latter.

Odd one - came out on the Discipline label that used to carry Robert Fripp's stuff. Mainly less well known pieces played in that folk-ragtime style that was popular in the 60s/70s. Guitar seems a bit out of tune in places but enjoyable enough - I particularly liked the arrangement of 'Morning Glory'. If you want a laugh have a look at the Amazon reviews - all very positive and then a braggadocio musician rips it to shreds.

Melencolia/Ritual Fragment/Meridian Op 18 No 3

"The Origin of Species" (mentioned above) would be too much for me but I wanted to know a bit more about Darwin, more from the historical/cultural impact point of view than the science (my brain can't take in too many finches' beaks before wandering). The Johnson book is a short but compelling survey of his life and influence, achievements and limitations. My scientific knowledge is very poor (I blame jumping between four different secondary schools) but every now and then I get curious because of things I come across in my historical reading. Bryson would probably drive readers with a strong scientific education nuts but his jokey manner works well for what I need. Also just started: David is an excellent military historian writing for the popular history market. Detailed and analytical but never losing the sense of narrative that carries the non-specialist reader through.

I was thinking more of drama - there seems to be a steady stream of good documentaries and fortunately they get recycled quickly. Expecting Michael Gove's 'Great Assassins of History' pretty soon - I fear he'll do a Portillo/Mellor in order to get into the limelight again. I have the Somme on the recorder. Wasn't aware of the natural history programme. Meant to record the Brian Cox thing too but forgot - might need to do a rapid catch up before it vanishes.

Not much on UK TV at present after being nearly deluged in the winter/spring with outstanding drama - presumably the schedules are swept clean for the annual 'Great Summer of Sport' with the good stuff stored for the autumn. Continuing to enjoy 'New Blood' though it's turned out different than expected - I thought it would be one story over 7 episodes but it's actually three with links between. More slapstick than I'd originally thought - Jonathan Creek than Line of Duty! But very entertaining.

Not really 'classical' but what's in a genre label? Very fitting for morning lolling in the garden in the current warm weather.

Disc 2 of the Ruggles - love the straightforward hymn at the end after two discs of gritty beauty. Also particularly liked the solo piano 'Evocations'. The Finzi pieces have never really grabbed me in the past; but I've really warmed to them of late. There's one of those wonderful visionary moments you get in RVW in the second piece of 'Dies Natalis', brought on by some wonderful chord changes.

Op 59 no 1 of the LVB