Tchaikovsky’s Großvater
Tchaikovsky’s Großvater: two sources The source of Tchaikovsky’s Großvater (the “grandfather dance” in the party scene in Act 1 of The Nutcracker, and the tune that Schumann quotes in Carnaval…
Tooting Chariot Festival 2008
Every year on the August Bank Holiday this wonderful procession leaves the temple at the end of our road. I finally got my act together and took my video camera.…
Lopokova, Topics & Semiotics
While I was in Prague, I managed to catch up on a lot of reading. Two books by Raymond Monelle, The Sense of Music and The Musical Topic nearly overloaded…
Prague Masterclasses again
The sixth year running, and the International Ballet Masterclasses in Prague are still as exhilarating as ever. Last night, Beatrice Knop told us the story of how she got through…
The Three Graces
Greetings from Prague, where I finally caught up with Chris who flew in from New Zealand on Sunday night at 10pm. By 10.20pm we’d hooked up with these two lovely…
Mirlitons
One conundrum I missed out from the list earlier: I was passing Paul in the King’s Road the other day, when I noticed a plate of Mirlitons in the window.…