A Lark Ascending

Nah. That's Lincolnshire.

Get yourself a copy of: It doesn't seem to be in print at present which is daft. A collaboration with David Munrow's Early Music Consort. One side-long suite of songs, loosely based around the impact of WWI on the country world, with early music backing; then some individual songs. Bizarrely came out on Harvest alongside Deep Purple and Pink Floyd! Or: Which is classic early 70s folk rock - the template for what became the Albion Band. Never notice Lol Coxhill on the list before. Her really famous one is from much earlier: Also excellent. Her voice takes a bit of a-climatising to - it's quite pure but richly accented. But once you get it, you become addicted. Her book about song collecting in the states with Alan Lomax mentioned in the article is tremendous too.

Shirley Collins: ‘When I sing I feel past generations standing behind me’ Best line: ‘How many banjo-playing prostitutes are there?’ 80 years old this year!

BBC Radio 3 rather than TV 4 but might be of interest to some. Django Bates did this morning's 'Something Understood', a regular 30 minute meditation on things religious or spiritual. I generally find it a bit god-bothering for my determinedly materialistic outlook but there are often bits of music that pique my curiosity. Includes Mingus, Reich, Coltrane (including a bizarre moment where someone reads the lyrics to My Favourite Things as if reciting Wordsworth), Feldman (Bates recommends dancing to Feldman) and an interview with a recording engineer about the differences between vinyl and CD (told you it was a religious programme!). Feeling Groovy

I'm not sure how useful these lists (I include myself there) are. You're probably better keeping an eye on the 'what are you listening to' thread. I find every now and then I catch a poster getting really excited about someone I don't know and trying to articulate the reason for their engagement with the composer's music. That's the point I get interested. Having said that, someone not mentioned...Malcolm Arnold. If you don't know him, a British composer of the second half of the 20thC who wrote diatonic music when it was not fashionable to do so. Lots of colour, some fine tunes. He suffered from severe mental illness (several suicide attempts) - in his writing you often get quite jaunty passages suddenly disturbed by bleak, '3 in the morning and what am I doing with my life?' sections. In his 5th Symphony he creates a gorgeous melody early on, brings it back in the last movement and then, rather than ending in triumph, smashes it to bits with dischords. A good way in are through the various sets of 'Dances' like on this disc: Short pieces and alluding to the areas in the titles but much more than just picturesque music. Symphony 2 and 5 are the two I'd recommend for starting. This Naxos set is good (individual discs also available): A very down to earth composer who regularly took the mickey out of the pomposity of the classical music establishment - try "A Grand Grand Festival Overture (featuring three vacuum cleaners and a floor polisher, all in turn polished off by a firing squad)" (there are performances on Youtube...it's short!). He also conducted the Deep Purple Concerto for Group and Orchestra, encouraging Jon Lord and defending him against the snootiness of some of the orchestral musicians. Think Shostakovich for a very rough parallel - Arnold is rarely as intense but there are similarities in the way he uses conventional harmony but in a very contemporary way; and in the use of parody. Most of this should be there to sample on Spotify.

Agree about the doc...seemed like an attempt to do something "poetic" rather than tell a narrative or analyse the qualities of the label. More about restating myths and appealing to Blue Note chic than anything else. Nice to hear the music, see the musicians (and hear them talk) and covers etc but overall didn't leave you any the wiser. When was it made? Seemed to rely on the 80s/90s for footage. No mention of the post-Norah era...but that does not fit the myth. Either it was made before that or it was excluded. It did make me play a Jackie McLean record afterwards!

Vaughan Williams - try symph 5 for the lush, modal harmonies; No. 6 for something starker (but with one of the most beautiful soaring melodies you'll ever hear). Britten - Four Sea Interludes and Passacaglia from 'Peter Grimes'. Might lead you into the very distinct world of Britten - luminous, see-through orchestration. Falla - El Amour Brujo; The Three Cornered Hat; Nights in the Gardens of Spain - should fit with your Debussy/Ravel liking; he didn't write a great deal so you can get most of his orchestral pieces on a couple of discs - the Harpsichord concerto is wonderful but much more restrained. Delius - any collection of his shorter pieces like 'In a Summer Garden' - again, not a million miles away from Debussy. The same tendency to avoid direct repetition. Sibelius - start with 5; then 6, 7, 4, 3; 1 + 2 are good but more 19thC. The tones poems are awash with orchestral colour but more brooding than Debussy. Jongen, Cras and Koechlin are also worth investigating from the French/Belgian angle. There's so much....

Nil nutrition. Salt, sugar, fats..... Generally indulge only at Christmas. But had a packet a few days back. Am now on the waggon. I'm so rock and roll.

You are welcome. I vaguely recall hearing the last BBC concert they did on the radio (early 1971?). It was on in the kitchen - I didn't know who Fotheringay (or Fairport for that matter) were at the time but recall the presenter being all sad about the break up. My intro was via the Island 'Bumpers' compilation - I was transfixed by 'The Sea', still one of my favourite songs. Wonderful chord changes and a near perfect guitar solo. Jerry Donahue, Gerry Conway and Pat Donaldson are taking 'Fotheringay' on the road next month with various others. Nostalgia, no doubt, and missing two vital elements (and 40 years!) but would be interesting to hear. Sadly the closest concert to me is sold out. http://www.folkradio.co.uk/2015/03/fotheringay-to-tour-uk-with-new-lineup/

Finished Series 5 of 'The Good Wife' last week. Excellent series all round though how you'd live with so many twists inyour life I don't know. And do take-overs happen that frequently? I know, it's fiction. Very enjoyable. Just started 'House of Cards' (the Andorran version). Saw the original back in 1990 and was a bit sceptical of another rewrite. But this is proving to be excellent. I'm not up on the intricacies of how steering and lobbying happens in US government so it takes some following in places; but it has me gripped.

Nearly 12 hours and no foaming outrage at the use of the W word! Amazing. Didn't notice the Blue Note doc in the Radio Times - thanks for that. Will watch.

Throwing it down here - though Saturday is supposed to be good according to the weather forecast. I might do my long planned trip up to Haworth - I have the semaphore flags ready.

I like that - the buildings just showing through the tangle of twigs. Reminds me of Germany - though it says he comes from Edinburgh and lives in Trinidad. I doubt it's Trinidad!

I always liked Klimt's landscapes. A bit different to the gold encrusted babes he's mainly known for.

I was there on Sunday - well worth the trip. Nice book as well (which I restrained from buying). ********************* I'm in London for a few days in August so will pull in one or two visits to galleries. This is the one I particularly want to see: Eric Ravillious at the Dulwich Picture Gallery. http://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/2015/april/ravilious/?gclid=CPnni-yy5sUCFQTLtAodOHEAwg I think one or two people here might have already been - I'm sure I've seen it mentioned.

I have it. If you loved Fotheringay then it is worthwhile. Has the original album, the Fotheringay 2 album put out a few years back and a host of radio and live tracks. Interesting to hear them play some of the key tracks live - they were good. I'd always thought of 'Banks of the Nile' as a studio only track for some reason. Soundwise it's fine on the studio tracks - I don't notice any difference from the CD of the main album I had in the late-80s. Obviously the radio/live tracks are variable but like with the other sets built around Thompson, Fairport etc, you adjust. I've heard much worse. (Disclaimer: I'm not an audiophile so keener ears might pick up differences). The original album (with, perhaps, the 2 album) will be enough for most. But if this band (or the musicians involved) were important to you, it's well worth the purchase.

This won't mean a thing if you have no experience of going to a folk club or festival. But if you have: Andrew Lloyd Webber pulverised!

Merci.

Ah, thank you. I've seen it here - in fact I think I had a pulled pork Vietnamese salad in London last year.

What is pulled pork? Made from a pig that has 'lost its maidenhead' (as we say in these parts)? [There just might be too many colloquialisms in there to make any sense).

Better put up a picture before we get in trouble: It's pretty up't North too.

That make's sense. In our Alice in Wonderland world 'one nation', 'blue collar' and 'working people' also seem to have changed their meaning. "When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less."

Cornish pasties with vinegar on (Americans might need to check their dictionaries - this is not as kinky as it sounds). I thought everyone ate them this way but I was in a pasty shop in Looe a few years back and the looked at me gone out when I asked for vinegar. Must have been a peculiarity of my father's family.

Avebury and Clarksdale. Both mythical landscapes. ....... just what I was looking at last weekend, visiting my son in Manchester. It's that Northern Powerhouse again!

Gosh. Not what I think of when I hear the word Atlanta, Here's a very different landscape: Casper David Friedrich - Hills and Ploughed Field near Dresden. 1824 My favourite painter. First came across him on Penguin book covers; then was knocked out by his paintings in the gallery in Berlin c. 1978. 1820-22 Meadows near Greifswald