So I thought it was time I shared some of my thoughts and favourites.
There was a quiz question a few days ago along the lines of which river runs completely through the Czech Republic? Most people would plump for the Danube. But the answer is the much lesser known Vltava. Now I knew the answer for two reasons. Firstly we have walked along the banks of the Vltava but mainly because at school the wonderful music teacher Bernard Burrell introduced us to Ma Vlast by the Czech composer Smetana. Ma Vlast means My Country and Vltava is just one part of the whole.
Vltava is one of the most descriptive pieces of music ever written. It follows the passage of the river as it winds its way through the countryside, beginning as a trickle and becoming ever more expansive until it eventually winds away into the distance. Along the way it passes a wedding and many other scenes. It is possibly my favourite piece of classical music.
In a similar vein is the incidental music to a Midsummer Night's Dream by Mendelssohn. Again hugely descriptive. Then there's The Hebrides Overture also known as Fingal's Cave and also by Mendelssohn. Bernard Burrell got us to hum this using the words "how lovely the sea is" and I can instantly hum it by remembering those words.
A few days ago I was driving and listening to Classic FM when another of my favourites came on. This was the Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor by Borodin. Many of you will recognise part of this wonderfully stirring piece as the song "Stranger In Paradise" from the musical Kismet.
In the main I'm not a great Opera fan but I do love a bit of Puccini and one of the arias from La Boheme usually reduces me to tears.
Here's some more of my favourites:
Mahler symphonies - pretty much all of them but number five in particular.
Bruckner's fourth symphony.
Beethoven's ninth symphony.
Pomp and Circumstance Marches by Elgar and not just Land of Hope and Glory.
Rhapsody in Blue by Gershwin
West Side Story by Bernstein (I think this just about qualifies as classical)
Quite a bit of Chopin and Rachmaninoff.
Jazz Suite Number Two by Shostakovich (used on plenty of television programmes). Barber's Adagio.
The Padstow Lifeboat by Malcolm Arnold (stirring and.amusing at the same time).
Quite a bit of Aaron Copeland's work.
Pavane for a Dead Infant by Ravel.
Quite a bit of Debussy's output which I find very soothing. Music by Ketelbey (who).
And here's a bit of a surprise - Days of Future Past by the Moody Blues, a rock album with huge classical leanings. So I also have to include others like the music from Dances with Wolves and the soundtrack to Twin Peaks.
And how about Peer Gynt suite by Grieg or his piano concerto , the Karelia Suit by Sibelius which people who remember the silver knight emblem on Anglia television will remember the music, the Planets by Holst, the four seasons by Vivaldi, St Nicholas cantata by Benjamin Britten etc etc.
And those are just for starters. I will list some more as and when they come to mind over coming blogs.
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Doctored photos. All the publicity over the picture by the Princess of Wales. So don't we all doctor photos and isn't it a lot of hot air over nothing?
Well not really because it's all about control. People who doctor photos are trying to control the images that are shown to others. I might lighten the sky or change things to sepia but I never change people. In the same way I would never have plastic surgery or inject my face in an attempt to look younger. Creating an illusion will always lead to tears just like trying to pass off a picture taken 20 years previously as one taken last month. It's so wrong and so misleading.
We should celebrate any imperfections we have. They are part of who we are and no amount of titivating of a photograph will change that. The real you will always be more than an image.
Of course if there is a more sinister reason for changing a photo, well that's another matter. Whatever the reason it's a matter of trying to control things and this is only going to get worse in the coming world of AI.