A Lark Ascending

The mystery composer on the first is Simon Bainbridge. SQ 6 off the latter - end of a nice little journey that I will repeat very soon. Never paid much attention until today as to how this was structured - fast, not so fast, slower, slow, with the same theme opening each movement and generating the whole of the last. Quite different to the previous two. The third movement reminded me very much of Shostakovich.

Just put it up because it might be of interest. Like most things from the 'arts' pages of newspapers it's aimed at passing interest rather than the passionate aficionado. Only skimmed it myself.

Appears Bill Bruford has not been idle since retiring the drum sticks. He's now a Doctor of Philosophy (proper one, not one of those things given to celebrities without them even having to open a book). Wonder if Keith Moon would have done something similar if he'd been a bit more careful? https://www.dgmlive.com/news.htm?entry=5470

Duchang, China: Swans fly at dusk http://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2016/mar/01/photo-highlights-of-the-day-carolina-police-korean-independence San Francisco, US: Fog blankets the Golden Gate bridge and Alcatraz Island at sunset http://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2016/feb/29/photo-highlights-of-the-day-refugees-on-the-move-and-a-kkk-rally Ofterschwang, Germany: The sun shines through fog rising from a snowy forest on the Ofterschwanger Horn mountain (Very Richard Strauss...or, maybe, Julie Andrews). http://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2016/feb/26/photo-highlights-of-the-day-elections-and-revolutionaries Germaringen, Germany: A cluster of trees in the snow, seen through a window pane covered in raindrops http://www.theguardian.com/news/gallery/2016/feb/25/photo-highlights-of-the-day-a-berlin-jogger-and-a-bollywood-star

Sites that shaped Chicago's sound: from Louis Armstrong's spots to Kanye's crib

I bought this after watching an episode of 'Morse' several decades backs where Lewis whizzes around northern Italy with the Mandolin Concerto in the background. A wonderfully breezy record....a sort of classical equivalent to an early Pat Metheny record. I've tried playing it whilst skimming around the North Nottinghamshire Corniche in an open top but it's not quite the same. No 22 of the Mozart.

Episode 2 of both "The Night Manager" and "One Child", both very enjoyable, though the latter had one of the most uncomfortable scenes I've seen on TV in a long time. "The Renaissance Unchained" Very enjoyable first episode. Waldemar Januszczak sets out to demonstrate how the idea of The Renaissance was Italian propaganda - absolutely fascinating look at the Flemish painting that preceded it. I like his bonkers uncle presentation style.

New recording of the Elgar. My Boult/Tortelier that I've had since 1978 (on LP and later CD) sounded very flat (recording/remastering wise) last time I played it so I've been on the lookout for a more modern recording. Good coupling here - the Walton is a little known crepuscular gem. Also includes Holst's 'Invocation', a gorgeous piece of romantic pastoralism, similar to the Butterworth orchestral pieces and a short solo suite by Imogen Holst. Sawyers is quite unknown to me - a contemporary composer writing in a early to mid-20thC style. Reminiscent of Walton.

Only my third run through of this box so it's not music I know very well but am enjoying it - especially the enormous disparity between the tonal, folksy pieces and the more experimental music. Next time I need to try and listen chronologically to the pieces.

About to appear...seems to be another 'interim' release with an 'official' one drawn from several concerts due in September... CD 1: 1 Threshold Soundscape 2 Larks' Tongues In Aspic Part I 3 Pictures Of A City 4 VROOOM 5 Radical Action (To Unseat the Hold of Monkey Mind) 6 Meltdown 7 Hell Hounds of Krim 8 The ConstruKction of Light 9 Red 10 Epitaph CD 2: 1 Banshee Legs Bell Hassle 2 Easy Money 3 Level Five 4 The Letters 5 Sailor's Tale 6 Starless 7 The Court of the Crimson King 8 21st Century Schizoid Man Seems to be the set list they performed in Salford in September last year. The first full concert release by the current line-up of King Crimson. Featuring both brand new and classic material, this 'Official Collector's Bootleg' captures King Crimson on a single night in the middle of the band's Canadian tour in November 2015. With the exception of one small edit following an announcement before the band take the stage, the running time of this concert is exactly as it was heard in the hall by those fortunate enough to have been there. Even by the high standards set by King Crimson's current line-up, this concert was agreed by all involved to have that extra special ingredient, making it the perfect choice when seeking a release to counter the poorly recorded bootlegs that have begun to circulate. Featuring the recorded debut of new material such as Meltdown and Radical Action, the three drummer percussion pieces Hell Hounds of Krim and Banshee Legs Bell Hassle, plus a variety of King Crimson classics - including Easy Money, VROOOM and material from In The Court Of The Crimson King - this Collector's Edition of the first full concert release by the current line-up of King Crimson provides a perfect counter to poorly recorded bootlegs that have begun to circulate. The first release by the current band was the 2014 mini-album, Live at the Orpheum. In autumn 2016, the band will be releasing their long-awaited and much anticipated first major album - a comprehensive live release, taking the best performances of each song from the extensive set list (which changes nightly) and also including footage of selected performances. The album will be released to coincide with the King Crimson's 2016 European tour, which begins in the UK with two concerts at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury on September 4th and 5th (the band's only UK dates for 2016). FROM BURNING SHED WEBSITE: I'VE REMOVED THE LINK AS THE SITE SEEMS TO BE EXPERIENCING AN ATTACK OF SOME SORT This release seems to be a bootleg spoiler.

Delius SQ off latter.

If the music has staying power (related to the context of my listening) I could listen to it many times live or on record. I've got back into going to live classical events in the last three or so years after a long period of not attending concerts. What I like is that in a concert I'm more likely to give music the maximum focus I'm capable of. No distractions, no wandering off to the computer when you get to a dull bit. I also like the visual clues - I frequently find that even in a piece of music I've listened to many times I'll suddenly notice - 'Oh, that bit was a solo viola' - I've the tune in my head but I've never really thought about the instrument playing it. The way the string sections interact are so much easier to follow with the visual clue (as always I'm speaking as someone with no musical training whatsoever...a lot of this is second nature to the musically trained). [Although Kent Nagano has a very different preference to this in his opening answer to this Q&A - http://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/feb/29/facing-the-music-conductor-kent-nagano] When I hear a piece of music on record that really catches my attention I like to hear a live performance for those reasons. But when I hear something new or only hazily known previously in concert I'm generally anxious to hear it again on record soon afterwards (there's a recording of Orlando winging its way to me at present!).

Andy Cleyndert's a wonderful bass player. Some stamina too...at Appleby he seemed to be on stage every other set in a 14 hour day! Nice record label to.

I never thought I'd say this, but it looks like US capitalism has a thing or two to learn from British capitalism! Free programmes! Isn't that Marxism? ****************** That Couperin concert sounds like fun. Trying one or two solo keyboard live performances is on my list of personal taboos to break. I have a few Couperin records on piano but, I must me honest, I've never been able to sit and just listen to them. They tinkle away in the background. I find listening to solo music I lose the thread very quickly - another case where a decent 'map' would help me.

Des Canyons aux etoiles - remember reading a review of one of the first performances of this in the mid-70s and being captivated by the idea of it. A piece I've enjoyed without yet really getting to grips with it. Another listen to the very early Scherzo. Understandably in a very 19thC idiom but you already hear the impact of the folk song collecting. There's a fascinating section at the start of the fourth part that sounds like Petrushka-era Stravinsky...still several years in the future. Comes across more like an episodic ballet suite rather than the highly systematic pieces he would right in his maturity. Interesting to listen to once in a while if not particularly memorable. Bliss! The first Mahler symphony I heard. Despite all the music I've listened to in the 42 years since, Mahler still seems like 'home' (well, one of several 'homes'). I'm not remotely religious but you can catch a glimpse of heaven at several points in this symphony - the wonderful mystical chords at the end of the third movement, the way the different string lines weave in the finale, the clarinet theme at the first return of the A section (last movement again) and the brass chorale when it returns towards the end. Not so sure about the timpani right at the end!

Disc 2: Lontano, Atmospheres, Apparitions*, San Francisco Polyphony, Romanian Concerto ("Ah, so this is the piece with the virtuoso tea-tray of crockery hurled into a box. Brilliantly interpreted here. Such touch! Such tone!) No 21 from the Workout-with-Wolfy set.

Yes, both Thorne and Yorkston seem to have extensive backgrounds. I must admit to being immediately attracted to an album with the title of "The Cellardyke Recording and Wassailing Society" by the latter. Wish we had one in Worksop.

Never seen this before (though I read the book around the time it came out...must have had some rating that stopped me going to see it as a 13-14 year old). Very impressive...recall all the discussion about what it all means. Bugger if I know (though it did solve the mystery of what happened to Reginald Perrin). Interesting to see how some things in it have subsequently come to pass - Skype, voice recognition technology. Though, mercifully, the Habitat decor of the space stations have gone out-of-fashion, BBC presenters no longer have obligatory public school accents and we don't have to eat our food through straws (until our latter days). No explosions and no-one got shot. Would it get made today?

Free programme notes! Wow! I did get a single sheet summary with a string quartet concert I went to last year. But they are usually at least £2.50. If I remember correctly they were £5 a go at Proms last year - I didn't buy one for any of the concerts I went to. The pre-talks sound good. I used to skip them but have taken to going recently where offered.

I had a feeling you'd like that one. Have you heard this: Came out at the end of last year. Starts more from the Indian musical direction but the female vocalist is Welsh; some songs are Welsh but absorbed seamlessly into the more eastern feel. One of my favourites from last year. Sadly not on Spotify. You can hear a few tracks here: The Guardian review is a bit imperious (there's a surprise! 'We don't do pretty! We eat nails for breakfast!') but most reaction I've come across has been instant love!

It's hardly one of life's most exciting activities - but not one that you notice much (equivalent to sticking a load in the washing machine). I tend to rip mine as I want to use them on the iPod. New discs (admittedly rare for me as I buy mp3s where possible) go straight on. But I've been working on the existing CDs for years. As with everything, I think we have our prejudices about format and generally stick with them, occasionally breaking out. I understand the nostalgia for vinyl, CDs etc .... but I do think it's a nostalgia that record companies exploit. I'm forever getting e-mails about multi-disc vinyl re-issues of famous records. Good example of seeing the world through the prism of our own prejudices here from the editor of fRoots: "Actually, I’m not that great a seer, I just go on gut feeling and what other people tell me. So it didn’t come as much of a surprise to read that in the past year, the decline in physical CD sales has pretty much halted, even been reversed in ‘specialist’ fields like those within the fRoots remit. And we’ve all heard about the much-hyped vinyl ‘revival’ (and even the retro-hipster micro-mania for cassettes), boosting physical sales even more. Meanwhile, we read that it’s paid downloads that are now plummeting, being killed off by free streaming services. And why should anybody be surprised – particularly the fRoots postman who is bringing as large a quantity of new CD releases in for review as ever? Compressed digital files do have their place of course, convenient when on the move and particularly as an easy way to sample music before buying whichever physical format floats your boat – always the point of our fRoots compilations. But I don’t think many people ever considered an electronic bundle of zeros and ones lurking in some device’s memory to have much actual value though, and certainly not be a loved possession that you could cherish very much. Serious music fans, whichever genre, always seem to want something to have and to hold and the human desire to accumulate stuff once they start nesting shows little sign of going away. It might just be that younger people have been forced to delay nesting until a lot later, what with this country’s appalling housing situation, and them being the student loan debt generation. Just a theory…" http://www.frootsmag.com/content/issue/edsbox/ Well, I value (and, perhaps, cherish!) my bundles of zeros as much as any physical CD! I love Anderson as a champion of off-the-wall music (in the folk/world area mainly) but don't share his need for the tactile at all. Black mark, however, for use of the appalling phrase 'Serious music fans'.

Marvellous. Although I can just about pick out some of the palindrome effects with my ears (and a guide book!) things like the inversions in the first movement I'd never have spotted. The colour coding helps you focus on the shapes of sections when they first appear so you can recognise them when transformed later on. Not necessary, of course, to enjoy the music and those with a technical training will get it from the score (and trained ears). But I've found this amateur site invaluable for increasing my enjoyment (I suspect his labelling of the sections is a mix of the score, analysis from scholars and a bit of projection on his part).

Schumann is one composer I've never warmed to. Apart from Dichterliebe which for some reason clicked. I had a real go at the symphonies a year or so back but I can't remember anything about them (my loss, I stress, no fault of Schumann). There's a black hole in my listening between Schubert and Brahms/Bruckner - there's something in the harmony of high Romanticism that doesn't work for me. Which is odd because I can wallow in a warm bath of the most glutinous Late Romanticism for days. Programme notes! Now there's an issue in itself. I like a booklet that gives me a bit of a map of the music to be heard, especially in contemporary or unfamiliar music. I've seen some very good ones of late - the ones at the Boulez, Villa-Lobos, Musgrave and Birtwistle immersion days I went to in the last three years were exemplary, really helping you find your way in the music. I use them at home. Too often programmes tend to be potted biographies, historical contexts of the pieces with just a few unsystematic comments on the music itself. All the blurb on the performers (essentially lists of some of the things they've done before) could be dispatched with a web link. As for the pages of adverts for expensive watches, posh restaurants and fee-paying schools ("we've got your social aspirations nailed, culture-vulture!")....I know, they have to cover the costs. I only buy a programme if the music is unfamiliar to me - I'm starting to train myself to read up before on established pieces I don't know.

The "snow moon" rising on 22 February, at Roker Pier, Sunderland. http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/features/35631557