JACK and JILL A favourite nursery rhyme but what is it all about? The origins are obscure and remain disputed. Some think it refers to Cardinal Wolsey (Jack) and Bishop Tarbes (Jill), others that it’s about Charles 1’s attempts to tax liquor, Jack being a half pint and Jill (gill) being a quarter. But I…
The Italian pianist Roberto Prosseda invited me to take part in a symposium in Cremona during the annual festival in which luthiers and piano manufacturers from all over the world congregate for their annual exhibition. I had never been to Cremona before. The hotel was a stone’s throw away from the imposing duomo – the medieval…
THE VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES The Tenth Satire of Juvenal was adapted by Dr Johnson (1749). It’s a poem of 368 lines, the first ten of which are: Let Observation with extensive View, Survey Mankind from China to Peru; Remark each anxious Toil, each eager Strife, And watch the busy scenes of crowded Life; Then say…
FUNICULÌ, FUNICULÁ Peppino Turco (Italian words), Luigi Denza (music). The song was written in 1880 to celebrate the first funicular railway up Mount Vesuvius. The English lyrics by Edward Oxenford were published under the title A Merry Life. Some think the world is made for fun and frolic, And so do I! And so do…
CHOPIN In response to requests from a few members of the audience last night, here is the text of my introduction to Warren Mailley-Smith’s cycle of the complete works of Chopin at St John’s Smith Square – Friday 4th September 2015 I am privileged to have been asked by Warren to say a few words…
CHOPIN – The Two Photographs This evening sees the first in a series of 11 concerts spread over 12 months in which the British pianist Warren Mailley-Smith will play the entire solo works of Frédéric Chopin in St John’s Smith Square. It’s a mammoth undertaking for any pianist and Warren has asked me to give a…
OH! EVER THUS, FROM CHILDHOOD’S HOUR Thomas Moore (1779-1852) was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer. He was responsible, with John Murray, for burning Lord Byron’s memoirs after his death Oh! ever thus, from childhood’s hour, I’ve seen…
WHEN HE WHO ADORES THEE – MARGARET BURKE SHERIDAN There are some recordings you hear for the first time which stop you in your tracks. Something about the music and / or the performance just hits you in the emotional solar plexus – and you find your eyes burning. It takes you by surprise. Your…
THE OLD MAN’S COMFORTS AND HOW HE GAINED THEM Robert Southey (1799) Robert Southey (1774-1843) is little read today, though his poem ‘The Inchcape Rock’ remains a favourite of the period. Created Poet Laureate in 1813 (after Sir Walter Scott refused the post), his most enduring contributions to literature were to coin the word ‘autobiography’ and…
This is my favourite time of the year. The countryside round where I live in deepest rural Essex is vibrant with greens and yellows and whites, and for once the farmers have not given the verges the severe haircut they usually do, so there is plenty of cow parsley and buttercups on show. I wish…