at the London Oratory.
Anyone out there coming too?
PS I have officially broken my broadband at home and am therefore on a go slow bloggingwise, which is probably no bad thing.
Friday, 29 January 2010
Monday, 18 January 2010
Aid to Haiti
Just as lots (most, all) Parishes had collections for Haiti on Sunday, so it was in Blackfen. I was supposed to be singing when the collecting thing came round, so will have to make alternative arrangements.
Aid to the Church in Need
Aid to the Church in Need
Sunday, 17 January 2010
Auditions Auditions
Just spent a couple of days hearing small people playing things which is always interesting and occasionally very enjoyable. It is surprising how quickly you can tell whether someone is good or not. Finished the second day with a 10 year old playing a Prelude and Fugue from the Well-Tempered Clavier, which he carefully informed us was by JS Bach (Oh him). He played it beautifully too.
We always listen to all the pieces though as we have to be entirely fair No brilliant comic moments and I only had to engage the mute button in my head twice, which allows Music Teachers not to go mad whilst listening to notes of indeterminate pitch, rhythm.....
We always listen to all the pieces though as we have to be entirely fair No brilliant comic moments and I only had to engage the mute button in my head twice, which allows Music Teachers not to go mad whilst listening to notes of indeterminate pitch, rhythm.....
The Sunday Programme
on R4 is always good for a laugh when I am engaged in early morning cooking as I was this am. The generally miserable sounding Roger Bolton is about to give up prsenting the prog too. Who will replace him??
Anyway, I particularly like it when the person being interviewed does not conform to the interviewer's script. A classic was the elderly Irish Missionary Priest take hostage in the Philipines, who not only didn't have bad word to say against his captors, but rather praised them for trying to get the right medicines to treat his heart condition and said yes he was coming back to Ireland for a bit to reassure his folks and then wanted to get back to work.
Today of course they focused on Haiti and interviewed several Haitians in NYC, who were all very robust and positive. Then the lady from CAFOD (yes I know...) said that the Catholic Church was the only trusted instution on the ground that could do the bis aid wise. Then they interviewed the Christan Aid guy in Haiti who was a Haitian Catholic and said that yes his faith was fine thanks. Which is not to in anyway to underestimate the terrible suffering in that country, but just to highlight that the random selection of Haitians who made it onto R4 were very impressive. More please.
Anyway, where does this, ' Being a Christian guarantees you a cushy life,' idea come from? Can't be Catholic, all the Saints seemed to have a very rough time in one way or another and as for the Crucifixion....
In other news I've just heard Ed Balls use the phrase 'single relationship.' Is that me and can I have a special tax allowance please? Ed, you've lost it mate.
Anyway, I particularly like it when the person being interviewed does not conform to the interviewer's script. A classic was the elderly Irish Missionary Priest take hostage in the Philipines, who not only didn't have bad word to say against his captors, but rather praised them for trying to get the right medicines to treat his heart condition and said yes he was coming back to Ireland for a bit to reassure his folks and then wanted to get back to work.
Today of course they focused on Haiti and interviewed several Haitians in NYC, who were all very robust and positive. Then the lady from CAFOD (yes I know...) said that the Catholic Church was the only trusted instution on the ground that could do the bis aid wise. Then they interviewed the Christan Aid guy in Haiti who was a Haitian Catholic and said that yes his faith was fine thanks. Which is not to in anyway to underestimate the terrible suffering in that country, but just to highlight that the random selection of Haitians who made it onto R4 were very impressive. More please.
Anyway, where does this, ' Being a Christian guarantees you a cushy life,' idea come from? Can't be Catholic, all the Saints seemed to have a very rough time in one way or another and as for the Crucifixion....
In other news I've just heard Ed Balls use the phrase 'single relationship.' Is that me and can I have a special tax allowance please? Ed, you've lost it mate.
Thursday, 14 January 2010
Phew
Having been sat on the train a fair few times this week studying what I must conduct in the big concert this term, we hacked through it and did the spade work today. Now we just have to take it to pieces, practise all the wiggly bits and it'll sound like the piece it is. I can't have my favourite violinist on the front desk alas cos he's too young. The great thing is that they are up for it and have a great expectation that they will do a good job. It may yet be fine...
Monday, 11 January 2010
stand up 4 vatican 2
It's funny how when you google things you can end up on all sorts of websites.
Why, many expat Welsh people have been seeking a taste of bara brith and ended up here, in this backwater of the Catholic blogosphere.
For more go here.
bara brith; 'cos you can't have your cake and eat it.
Why, many expat Welsh people have been seeking a taste of bara brith and ended up here, in this backwater of the Catholic blogosphere.
For more go here.
bara brith; 'cos you can't have your cake and eat it.
Friday, 8 January 2010
This year and next's composer anniversary
Mahler has managed the double by having 1860-1911 as his dates. Fine by me.
The Times has a quick guide to his symphonies.
Mahler’s symphonies: what you need to know
No1 Also known as: The Titan
Four years after Brahms’s Fourth, the symphony goes feral. Includes a funeral march with added klezmer.
No2 The Resurrection
Mahler’s most obvious response to Beethoven’s Ninth, as a ride to the abyss finishes with choral salvation
No3 The one with a poem by Nietzsche
Mahler’s response to, well, everything, including plants, animals, mankind and, ultimately, love itself.
No4 The shortest one
Mahler scales back and adds sleigh bells. Culminates in a “child’s view of heaven”, which apparently includes abundant asparagus.
No5 The one used in Death in Venice
High on the “best of” lists, with the swooingly gorgeous Adagietto.
No6 The Tragic
Mahler’s most tightly constructed symphony, with the rarity of a fatalistic conclusion.
No 7 The unpopular one
The weirdest and shadowiest, with two movements of “night music” Also has a part for a mandolin.
No 8 The Symphony of a Thousand
Intended for a thousand performers, the choral symphony is still a monster and concludes with a huge chunk from Goethe’s Faust.
No 9 The farewell to life (possibly)
Either saturated with death or full of affection for a life well lived, depending on your POV.
No 10 The unfinished
Possibly we shouldn’t even be performing it. Mahler only orchestrated the adagio, the rest was completed (twice) by the musicologist Deryck Cooke.
Neil Fisher
1860 is also the year my Great great grandmother was born in Co Clare. The eldest of 13 children, all of whom survived, she was picked out at 10 and told by the local Priest that she would be a teacher when he built a school in a nearby village. She became a teacher and appears in the 1880 census as such. The dozen younger siblings? They all emigrated to America.
The Times has a quick guide to his symphonies.
Mahler’s symphonies: what you need to know
No1 Also known as: The Titan
Four years after Brahms’s Fourth, the symphony goes feral. Includes a funeral march with added klezmer.
No2 The Resurrection
Mahler’s most obvious response to Beethoven’s Ninth, as a ride to the abyss finishes with choral salvation
No3 The one with a poem by Nietzsche
Mahler’s response to, well, everything, including plants, animals, mankind and, ultimately, love itself.
No4 The shortest one
Mahler scales back and adds sleigh bells. Culminates in a “child’s view of heaven”, which apparently includes abundant asparagus.
No5 The one used in Death in Venice
High on the “best of” lists, with the swooingly gorgeous Adagietto.
No6 The Tragic
Mahler’s most tightly constructed symphony, with the rarity of a fatalistic conclusion.
No 7 The unpopular one
The weirdest and shadowiest, with two movements of “night music” Also has a part for a mandolin.
No 8 The Symphony of a Thousand
Intended for a thousand performers, the choral symphony is still a monster and concludes with a huge chunk from Goethe’s Faust.
No 9 The farewell to life (possibly)
Either saturated with death or full of affection for a life well lived, depending on your POV.
No 10 The unfinished
Possibly we shouldn’t even be performing it. Mahler only orchestrated the adagio, the rest was completed (twice) by the musicologist Deryck Cooke.
Neil Fisher
1860 is also the year my Great great grandmother was born in Co Clare. The eldest of 13 children, all of whom survived, she was picked out at 10 and told by the local Priest that she would be a teacher when he built a school in a nearby village. She became a teacher and appears in the 1880 census as such. The dozen younger siblings? They all emigrated to America.
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