Disk number five

I notice that all my disks so far are Orchestral, well that's primarily what I listen to, but I would not want to be without some rock, so what would I have? Beatles? Stones? Who? Yes? King Crimson? all these and many more have a place in my record collection - and yes most of these are on records, large flat round black things that go round and round on a record player - but as I suspect I will have only one it will David Bowie, and the track would be "All the Mad Men" from man who sold the world, great song, great sound and great keyboard playing by Rick Wakeman.

Disk number Five All the Mad Me by David Bowie

Comments

I have been trying to leave a comment on another blog which I follow, and for some reason I can't fathom have been unable to, maybe it is just my technical inability, but anyway It's good to see you back Shayla, we have missed you

Sunday Morning

Sunday morning and happiness is a new razor blade! yes nothing quite like a really good shave, a leisurely shower followed by breakfast in the garden - life can be very good.

Bad Boy

I have slipped yet again and missed quite a few posting opportunities, this is not because I have had a boring time, rather I have been too busy, with some ups and some real downers.

The other week I heard the incomparable Grimthorpe Band in concert, this was truly inspiring, Croydon are a long way from them in almost every way, except the most important ones, we both try to perform to the best of our abilities at all times, and we both enjoy playing! I think those are probably the two most important things there are.

Last wedenesday was the final rehearsal before the CSB concert at St John's Smith Sq, I should have been there but.... just as I was about to leave for the rehearsal I realised that my diary and wallet had been stolen from my van earlier in the day. Certainly I could have done without losing the money, but by far the worst is all the fuss of replacing all my cards, AA; RHS; B&Q trade; Macro; Driving license etc. etc. - and then there are all my appointments, contact phone numbers, suppliers business cards. All in all a real downer

Disk number four

I think I may have mentioned before that my Wife and I do not always coincide on our musical tastes, while she was swooning over Donny Osmond, I was freaking out to King Crimson, when we got married we found that the only record we had in common was a Shakatak album - Night Birds.
I did take her to a few orchestral concerts and gradually we have both broadened our tastes, indeed it was through going to concerts that we found the first peace that we both liked, and because of this connection Mozart's Clarinet Concerto has to be in my eight. As soon as I hear the opening bars I am immediately reminded of my wife, and that can't be bad.
I dare say that some will say that it's not his finest work, but I don't care - I like it. It is however the last concerto Mozart wrote, and one of the best. At the time it was written the clarinet was not as fully developed as it is now and this must have been one of the earliest virtuoso pieces for it, but what I like is the way the sound of the clarinet merges and then emerges from the sound of the string orchestra, oh yes and there are some cracking tunes as well,
Disk number four - Mozart Clarinet Concerto

Disk Number Three

I love Rachmaninov, I know that that’s not a very trendy statement these days, and many of the musical literati will turn their noses up at Rachmaninov, he is accused of being overly sentimental, derivative and shallow. Well I say you can’t beat a good tune, and Rachmaninov had a melodic gift and an opulent lyricism second to none. On the way home from dropping a friend off at Paddington Station I was listening to Classic FM and heard the second movement of the second Piano Concerto, this is currently top of their “Hall of Fame” so it goes without saying that this is a very popular work. I am of the opinion that if something is popular there is a good reason, it’s often because it’s good.

I did think about including the second piano concerto, and the first and indeed the fourth, but I finally decided on the Paganini Rhapsody, or the “Rag Pag” Although the theme is Paganini’s the orchestration and lyricism is all Rachmaninov. The piece builds through a series of variations until getting to the final Polka section, it is all very lush and romantic, we even have a couple of statements of the ‘Dies Irae’ before ending quietly with a little self mocking flourish.

I can’t remember when I first came across this work, but I do remember sitting in Monk’s Hill junior school for Sunday after Sunday as CYPO rehearsed it prior to one of our Fairfield Halls concerts. The work we put in then means that whenever it comes up now, I know that I can play all the notes so I can concentrate fully on playing the music.

I just hope that the music police realise soon that Rachmaninov is one of the greats and that he is rehabilitated into our concert programmes, great music to listen too, and great fun to play

Disk numebr two

This one has to be in, I am sure that I am not the only one who think of this as the pinnacle of romantic music, a piece with every emotion laid bare, this really is a piece that leaves you emotionally drowned, as it covers every aspect to the human state.
in four movements with 1/ adagio; 2/Allegro moderato, and 3/ Maestoso in the key of C this is the great Saint-Saens Organ Symphony. I have played this with a number of orchestras, some better than others, lets be honest,,, some great and some rubbish - over the years. Since first playing this with the Croydon Youth Philharmonic (CYPO) to a recent performance with All Souls Orchestra at the Albert hall, it is always fresh, it is always exciting.