Giving voice

The second Sunday of December each year is designated World Choral Day. I’m not sure when it was established, but I suspect that my primary school teacher may have preempted it: he always reserved one day per year as his Opera Day. That was over 50 years ago. For the whole morning and afternoon, we Read More …

Stanford. Ripe for renaissance.

If you think of British music in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, then the name most likely to spring to mind is Sir Edward Elgar (1857–1934). Not for the first time in history, other significant composers of the generation regrettably became overshadowed. One such was Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924), though his music Read More …

Farmyard Frats

While each November in America sees the Presidential Thanksgiving Reprieve (an annual symbolic stay of execution for a live turkey by the incumbent US president), June is National Turkey Lovers’ Month, dedicated to one of nature’s less appreciated creatures, but one of the most—how best to put this?—consumed. Casting aside thoughts of roast potatoes and Read More …