A Lark Ascending

5 + 6 off the first; 131 off latter. Have just started reading: A book by an English violinist in the Takács Quartet. Really interesting mixture of thoughts on playing the quartets, the human relationships of the players and the historical background to their original composition and performance. Some nice asides about the audience too! Not a great deal of help in following the individual quartets, but each chapter is based round one of them so another way in. Good to read about this music from the perspective of someone living with it on a daily basis. No 6 of the Ludwig.

Well thought out programme. Contrast rather than all the hits.

Kossuth...Bartok's 1812 Overture (including national anthems). Lots of Wagner in there but there was a section in the middle that sounded like one of those horseback chases in Hollywood westerns. Another case of central/eastern Europeans crossing to the States in inter-war period, perhaps? No. 25 of latter.

Harpsichord Concerto No. 2 + 3 off the Bach.

No 24. No 3 off first; Rhapsody for Piano off third Then went all olden days: Harpsichord Concerto 1 off first.

Don't write him off too quickly. There's a reasons he is revered by musical eggheads, performers and the wider listening public (not many composers manage all three!). The thing I try to do (and I emphasise try) with music before the late 19thC (after that I feel I'm reacting naturally rather than trying to get in the door) is to imagine how the music would have sounded to people listening at the time. We've listened to everything that came afterwards and so a lot of what was striking to the original audiences we probably don't even notice. Obviously I can't hear that by myself but with a bit of reading you start to get an idea of why Mozart (or Bach or Beethoven...) are held in such reverence. 'Greatness' is a term bandied around very easily (the idea that all you need is a Glenn Gould recording and the "greatness" of Bach descends on you like the Holy Spirit); I'd say it lies in the relationship between what was being written then and what had been written before. It takes a lot of listening (more than I've done and at a more analytical level than I'll ever manage) to really get to that but over time the mist starts to thin. Don't know if you know it but the Mozart "Serenade in B flat, K.361 "Gran partita"" might give you a different experience of Mozart. That and the Jupiter Symphony broke my aversion to Mozart in the late 80s. ********************* Sounds like a great concert - I'm on the lookout for a bit more baroque live myself. There's a good one coming up next Saturday locally with the Orchestra of the Age of the Enlightenment (nice grand title!) with an all Bach programme - sadly it clashes with a folky concert I've already booked.

Richard II. Superb production. Whishaw is brilliant as the rather fey king. The play is heavy on the English nationalism.

No 5 off latter. Nothing says England like this piece. I'd take it to my desert island but I think I'd find listening to it unbearable amidst all that sand.

I'd agree there. I have the titles off the box in question individually and they are very enjoyable. But you get the impression those ECMs are where he was at his most concentrated. For a more free flowing quintet go for Widow; for carefully constructed large band music, go for MfL&SE (which also has some less 'written' music on disc 2).

Sleet and rain but no snow.

I don't think the paintings would be the point. **************** Just watched this: Very interesting. Relieved to know that what I used to teach A Level kids wasn't that far from the mark.

But quite localised. I knew someone who taught in Eastwood, about ten miles away from my school, and he'd never heard the term. Must have drifted down from Sheffield. Watched the last 'One Child' last night. Some improbable plot lines but it avoided the easy ending. And I'm loving "The Renaissance Unchained" - not having any training in the world of painting I'm often not sure what I'm looking at, especially with pre-19thC pictures. This is a wonderful primer, drawing you into the details and explaining some of the symbolism. Never knew that all the story lines attributed to Mary Magdalene aren't in the Bible - she's a portmanteau of a bunch of different Marys. Waldemar Januszczak's blokish delivery will drive some people nuts...but I prefer it to the usual cut-glass Oxbridge type they usually employ for such things. I love this quote from him: “The BBC has a lot to answer for,” Januszczak told Radio Times. “They’ve helped create this image that art is a kind of homework, that needs to do you good.” He added: “I hate that art isn’t really popular on television, it really annoys me. You get some bloke talking about frogs in the Amazon and there will be a million and a half watching every time. People would rather see frogs shagging in the Amazon than a great Raphael. Why is that?” I think he's being a bit harsh there...I've seen a fair few 'art' programmes in recent years done by down-to-earth chaps and chapesses. Just as long as its not bloody Portillo (I'm dreading Ian Duncan Smith's 'World of Art' in a few years, though perhaps 'Boris stands in front of Paintings' is more likely!). Oh, and very good news...'Line of Duty' series three is due very soon...the Beeb are starting to plug it between programmes. One of the best police series of recent years.

Why we can have fun reciting all our preferences and prejudices all over again.

Three black cows: Staraya Erikla, Ulyanovsk, Russia - ‘After evening rain and a foggy morning, the sun rose over the autumn plain, and three black cows appeared through the mist.’ Catch the sunset: Vietnam - A fishermen tosses his net. http://www.theguardian.com/travel/gallery/2016/mar/03/smithsonian-13th-annual-photo-contest-in-pictures

Lovely,varied record by a little known Welsh composer. Started a history book on Venice during its period of power yesterday. Time to the dig out the Venetian records...though maybe not the Christmas one. No 23 of the Mozzy. ************************** Some hours later:

Excellent book, tracing the endless tension between liberty and security. Focuses on the intelligence role of the FBI rather than crime fighting. Weiner writes in a very plain style - short bullet-like sentences, rather than flowing argument, though by his choice of information you are left in no doubt to his opinion (a fine balance but security has generally won the day). The first half covering the Hoover era with all his underhand wire taps and break ins really made me think about the legislation going on at present in the UK to extend surveillance. Read his book on the CIA a while back. This is just as good.

1 + 2 off the Kreneks. 6 off the Wellesz. Used this wiki guide to try to get my head round this piece better: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldberg_Variations A wonderful 75 minutes but my did it show me how little I know. Trying to follow the multiple lines gave me brain ache - you pick up a top line and a bass line but, hold on, there's another line. But she's only got two hands! No. 2

It could be a swallow and summers delusion but the last few orchestral concerts I've been to have not seen the end spoilt by the 'look at me everyone, I know when the piece ends' idiot bawling out before the last note has faded. Again I might be reading more into it than is there but I noticed the conductors very visibly holding their arms in the air for several seconds after the last note, their relaxing signalling that it was appropriate to applaud. The worst example of "narcissistic public schoolboy syndrome" was in a performance of Boulez' 'Pli Selon Pli in London last year...the most distracting bellow as the last note was sounded. I'm generally completely opposed to the death penalty but I'd gladly vote for the introduction of punishments modelled on Vlad the Impaler's methods for toffs who do this.

No macs yesterday. Just sensible pensioner clothes. A few weeks back I was the only one in the cinema for a film. That was weird. The advantage with these afternoon codger sessions is you don't get overwhelmed with the smell of popcorn. [I never skived off school (or 'wagged it' as kids in west Notts would put it)...even as a teacher! (the Daily Mail would say otherwise re: all those long holidays, strikes etc)]

Buxton, England: A walker makes his way through snow in Derbyshire, as forecasters said Storm Jake may bring ice, snow and 70mph winds http://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2016/mar/02/photo-highlights-of-the-day-london-smoke-bombs-and-a-spanish-tenor

At the local cinema (audience of 3! It was a Wednesday afternoon.). Absolutely wonderful. Remember seeing the BBC TV version sometime around the late 70s and being smitten. Minimalist staging - opens in a modern office - then all the furniture gets hauled on rope into the air and with lighting and appropriate noises becomes the Forest of Arden. Being a sucker for mythical arcadias this had me bewitched for three hours. Lots of famous faces including the bloke who did the annoying Nationwide Building Society add (Mark Benton) - he was very funny as Touchstone. Hope the low audience turnout doesn't see this sort of thing disappear from the cinema - it was a re-broadcast; the live evening broadcast last week was apparently well-attended.