The Classical Music Guide Forums

Lark Ascending

Holocaust denial makes me want to vomit. Good on the Iranians courageous enough to show their displeasure of this hate fest - all its attendees deserve a damn good kicking.

Lark Ascending

Ravel's Mother Goose Suite is a favourite of mine, so thank you for sharing your impressions of your first concert.

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I am a recent convert to classical music as a result of hearing some of Vaughan Williams' music last year on a TV documentary - prior to this classical music was a world of which I was in complete ignorance. My CD collection is ever expanding, and includes composers from the Classical, Romantic and ...

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Crossbench peers are not aligned to any political party so are able to vote independntly of any party line.

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Some of my choices:

Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending and Norfolk Rhapsody No. 1
Ravel - Mother Goose Suite
Chopin - Prelude in E Minor (arranged for piano, violin & cello)
Butterworth - The Banks of Green Willow

Lark Ascending

I am short sighted so have had to wear glasses ever since I was five (the condition wasn't realised until I started school). I have always made sure to have a spare pair of glasses ever since I pulled a pair in half whilst staying with friends (we had to glue them together - as if I'm not geeky enou...

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I sometimes wake up with some tune or other running through my head. Schubert's Marche Militaire is a favourite, and one morning it was the jig from Holst's St Paul Suite - I was practically jigging on the way to work which must have made an alarming sight for passing traffic

.

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Coughing and fidgeting are my dislikes. I attended my first concert at a major British venue (London's Barbican) last July and even though it was hot summer's day the coughing and spluttering of the audience was more in keeping with the depths of winter. I also had the misfortune to be seated behind...

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In the 1970's I used to watch the Dracula films featuring Christopher Lee that were often shown on British television, on reflection perhaps not ideal viewing for a child just before bedtime. I wouldn't want to watch them now, or any modern horror film either.

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Please excuse my ignorance - I don't actually recall learning any poetry at school so its charms have mainly passed me by, although I have made a point of looking up George Meredith's The Lark Ascending

.

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Mr Straw made a perfectly reasonable request in asking that Muslim females remove their veils when visiting him at his constituency surgery - I for one would not like to be in a room with a stranger whose face was obscured by some sort of covering.

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Another Schubert here.

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My jaw dropped when I learned my score - 45. I consider that pretty good for someone whose knowlege of classical music prior to June 2005 was non existent. I did make quite a few lucky guesses though.

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Stravinsky - The Firebird & Petrushka (Philharmonia Orchestra/Robert Craft)
Holst - The Planets (BBC Symphony Orchestra/Sir Andrew Davis)

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Lark Ascending wrote: Trek geek alert! I have just returned from a fantastic weekend at a small UK Star Trek convention held in Coventry. I asume they played the TNG episode in which Deanna and her mother are stripped naked by a Frerengi. No, but the convention was held in the Lady Godiva suite of ...

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For Corlyss, and anyone else interested in what us sad sci-fi types get up to on certain weekends, here is a link to the convention website: http://www.sfbevents.com/reunion/index.php There are several reports and photos posted on the forum, fortunately none of them featuring me on the dance floor. ...

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Trek geek alert! I have just returned from a fantastic weekend at a small UK Star Trek convention held in Coventry. I've been attending these events for almost 10 years now and have met many of the actors from my favourite Trek shows (I became a fan during the Voyager/DS9 era). They are also a great...

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I favour the sit quietly and listen to the music approach, so this would not suit me (and the thought of an environment of smoke & beer is equally off-putting). However if it helps to interest young people in classical music, good luck to the organisers.

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Thanks for this, Agnes. Schubert is a composer I've been listening to more and more of late so I'll definitely give it a look.

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The sleeve notes of a CD I have of Schubert's Trout Quintet state that it was composed in 1819 when the composer was on a walking holiday in Upper Austria.

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I am reading Fresh-Air Fiend by Paul Theroux, a collection of his travel writings spanning the years 1985-2000.

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Vaughan Williams - Symphony No.6 (New Philharmonic), Concerto for two pianos & orchestra (London Philharmonic), Job:A Masque for Dancing (London Symphony Orchestra). All conducted by Sir Adrian Boult

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Schubert - Symphonies 5,6, 8 & 9 and Rosamunde Overture (Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Herbert von Karajan)
Delius - various orchestral works (Paris, Brigg Fair, Eventyr, Irmelin and La Calinda)

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I have to admit that I buy my CDs from the big chains (HMV and Virgin) as they very often have sales on. When visiting London yesterday I did buy a couple of CDs from Harold Moores Records, an independent shop just off Oxford Street but a lot of the stock was more expensive than at the majors so the...

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I am reading The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman, his memoirs of how he survived in wartime Warsaw (I haven't seen the film).

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Hello, Nashvillebill, welcome to the forum. Which composers do you enjoy listening to?

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Re. distraction while driving and accidents, we should all know about this NHTSA study concluding that drivers on cell phones are twice as dangerous as inebriated ones. In Britain using a mobile phone whilst driving is banned, although I've seen plenty of drivers disregard this virtually impossible...

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keninottawa, mine are Vaughan Williams and Ravel, who are on your list, and also Gerald Finzi (50) and George Butterworth (a mere 15 as a result of his death during the Battle of the Somme in 1916).

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Richard wrote:The extracted vanillin can be used as a fragrance in shampoos and candles. Japan produces about a half billion tons of cow manure every year.

Anyone for a romantic candlelit dinner?

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Chips form one half of the popular British takeaway dish fish and chips. Almost every high street in the U.K. has a fish and chip shop or "chippy" in it. I don't very often eat chips but when I do l have them from the local chip shop with a piece of fish, usually cod, in batter. They are much thick...

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Vaughan Williams: Film Music (The 49th Parallel, The Dim Little Island and The England of Elizabeth)

I also purchased Ravel Remembered by Roger Nichols, a book of recollections of the composer by those who knew him.

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A friend who's hooked on Lost loaned me the first season. It was pretty addictive as long as I could watch 3 or 4 episodes an evening. To watch it as a weekly thing, I don't think I could do it - it's a fictional reality show. I don't watch reality shows. So, Lark, and anyone else hooked on Lost, w...

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My all time favourite TV show is Star Trek Voyager (yes, I am a Trekkie :lol:, I like DS9 too ). I also like to watch documentaries on a variety of subjects - current affairs, history (especially British history), nature, travel, anything to do with space. The only drama series I'm watching at prese...

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paulb wrote:Lark Ascending wrote:
Chopin, Ravel and Debussy

Just curious if you had to take along to an island, 2 of the 3?
I realize this thought of leaving one behind might be anguish to you. But it must be done.

I would take Chopin and Ravel.

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Today I went to the library and took out the following: Notes From A Big Country - Bill Bryson. I hope his commentary on his home country is as hilarious as his Notes From A Small Island is about my country, that book had tears of laughter rolling down my cheeks. Fenland Chronicle and A Pride Of Tig...

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My landlord doesn't allow pets but I love cats. When I lived at home there were always cats, sometimes up to 6 at a time.

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The only time I eat them is if they're part of a pizza topping.

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On weekdays, a brand of muesli called Alpen (without milk which I dislike) and a cup of black coffee. At weekends, fruit and coffee.

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Chopin, Ravel and Debussy

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Ralph wrote:Henry VIII was crowned king of England on this date in 1509. A talented musician and composer, he brought cultural diversity the the royal court.

Did he actually compose Greensleeves for Anne Boelyn or was it simply a case of plagiarism? (not that anyone was going to object

).

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What titles about life in England before the 1930s in particular have you enjoyed, Lark? Actually, I meant to type autobiograpies. Some of the ones I've enjoyed are: Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee, and its 2 sequels, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and A Moment of War Lark Rise To Candleford ...

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And one of my favourite composers (Percy Grainger).

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I have just finished reading Wild Swans by Jung Chang about the experiences of one family in China during the 20th Century, particularly the horrors of the Cultural Revolution. I'm not sure what I'll read next. I enjoy both fiction and non fiction - history ( especially anything to do with World War...

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Richard wrote:The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.

This one made me gag. I sincerely hope the student in question does not end up working in a restaurant kitchen for a living

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Michael, thank you for the information about the Delius film.

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I understand there to be a film about Delius, but I know nothing about it - can anyone shed any light? I would like to see it as the composer is one of my favourites.

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The kind of British secondary modern school I attended can be summed up by the expletive for "Go forth and multiply" that some enterprising individual had etched into the school name board which greeted pupils, teachers and visitors alike. It was not a pleasant experience.

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That's quite all right, it's obviously one of those "internet moments" - face to face conversation would resolve such misunderstandings in seconds

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I'm sure that's the kind of response Donald was hoping for, and thanks. BTW we do know that what we call "private schools" are called "public schools" there, and what we call "public schools" are called "comprehensive schools." And I teach "maths," not "math." In responding to Donald's query I type...

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I wasn't brought up to appreciate classical music, it was something I discovered quite by accident last year. I don't have any children, but in Britain, where at time the class system still prevails, I would say that classical music is more likely to find favour in the more expensive private, as opp...

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