Hello, everyone. A special hello to new subscribers, a few more every week, and I love that you want to share in my writing. Thank you everyone for taking a little time out to join me here.
We’ve had some reasonable weather this week, but the mornings are definitely cooler, and the preponderance of spider webs clinging to me as I walk the garden path says ‘autumn’ more than anything. The horse chestnut trees in a neighbours garden are definitely turning brown and the red maple in our own garden is shedding a few leaves. We have had a couple of days with north-easterly winds, reminding us that colder weather will make its inexorable approach. The sun is still warm though, and we have colour in the garden courtesy of luxurious canna, ever-reliable hardy geranium Roseanne, and a robust rudbeckia that is like a pool of sunshine. The garden is a lasting pleasure whatever the season. Plus, we are now into the preserving months - fruits to jam and jelly, copious cheap lemons at the greengrocer to turn into marmalade and curd, white onions and cucumber or small courgettes to make bread and butter pickle. Preserving always makes me feel virtuous and self-sufficient, even though we would be hard-pressed to live on jams and pickles through the winter!
In the UK we are also coming to the end of another season—the BBC Proms season. The Proms are an annual season of (mostly) classical music concerts from the Royal Albert Hall in London. They start in mid-July and finish in mid-September and most, if not all of them, are broadcast on radio and TV. The term ‘Prom’ is short for promenade concert, which were originally outdoor concerts in London's pleasure gardens, where the audience could stroll around, i.e. promenade, while the orchestra was playing. These days ‘the prommers’ usually refers to those members of the audience who stand at the front of the concert space, facing the orchestra—where the stalls would normally be. It is quite a coup to get one of these standing tickets (I’m not talking Oasis levels here, but still), and the enthusiasm of the prommers are an integral part of the experience.
The Proms were inaugurated on 10 August 1895 by the impresario Robert Newman to encourage a broader knowledge of, and interest in, classical music. Henry Wood was employed as the sole conductor, and it is Wood's name which is now most closely associated with the Proms. As conductor from that first concert in 1895, Sir Henry was largely responsible for building the repertoire played over the years. The BBC took over the running of the concerts in 1927. Since the 1960s, almost every major international orchestra, conductor and soloist has performed there. The Proms remain true to their original aims—presenting newly commissioned music, and Early music, together with pieces more central to the classical repertoire. Innovations continue, and in recent years there have been more changes introduced with ‘themed’ Proms: the Northern Soul Prom, the Disco Prom, Rodgers and Hammerstein Prom, Sondheim Prom and others which widen the scope of the concerts and have proved hugely popular.
This week I found myself listening to and watching an extraordinary Prom performance of Beethoven’s 9th symphony. Played from memory (no sheet music) by an orchestra of young people—the Aurora Orchestra. The first half of the programme was taken up by a theatre performance, fully signed for those with hearing loss, of a deconstruction of the ‘making’ of the symphony, telling us about Beethoven’s personal challenges as he put this piece together. The signing really brought focus on to his deafness and the constraints on him and those around him (plus his famous irascibility, of course). The final performance of the complete symphony by this relatively small orchestra was all the more sublime now it had been cleverly brought home to listeners that Beethoven created this magic when he was almost completely deaf, and couldn’t hear any of it, neither in the creation, nor in the performance. I found it astonishingly moving. The tenderness of the 3rd movement after the rambunctiousness of the 1st and 2nd is breathtaking. And that final chorus - perfection. I haven’t listened to Beethoven so intently for a long time. One can get complacent about these ‘classic’ classics. It pays dividends in joy to not be complacent and listen with fresh ears. There is a link to the performance here.
On the other hand there was a repeat of the Disco prom on Saturday night—another exercise in pure joy as conductor, orchestra, singers and audience joined together in singing along, and dancing at their seats. The prommers had a little more room to throw their shapes from the 1970s and much fun was had under the glitter ball lights and in the wearing of sequins. The Disco Prom was an exercise in celebrating a much loved music genre, pure enjoyment, and the joy that is only felt from a shared, immensely positive experience. Music hath charms indeed. And here is a link to that exuberance too . Both—very different— concerts left me exhilarated and smiling.
Reading this week has been like the proverbial curate’s egg—good in parts. I got around to Philippa Gregory’s Normal Women, which has been on the bookshelf since last Christmas. Having waited so long, I found it a bit disappointing. Gregory’s historical fiction is always focussed on the women of the story and this work of non-fiction aims to do the same—to restore them as key players in social progress and equals in Britain’s history. A doorstop of a book, covering 900 years of ‘ordinary’ women contributing to society. Maybe it’s because it covers such a huge period of time that I found it a bit ‘skimmy’, if you know what I mean. Gregory writes such well-researched and engaging historical fiction that I suppose I was expecting this to mirror her story-telling style. In fact, it felt a bit like I was reading a PhD thesis—footnotes and references abound, it’s beautifully ordered into sections, but there is necessarily a lot of ‘telling’ and I missed the ‘showing’ skills of her fiction writing. Nonetheless, it’s a comprehensive, impressive text and she also reminds us that even after 900 years of contributing, full equality is still just out of reach.
Alongside Normal Women I read a light, cosy-country-crime novel (have I just invented a new genre?) A Devon Midwinter Murder by Stephanie Austin. This is, I think, the 7th in a series, all set in the surroundings of the Devon town of Ashburton at the edge of Dartmoor, and all of which I have read. I love a bit of fiction that is set in an area I know well, and her protagonist, Juno Browne, is flawed and funny, and there is a nice group of recurring characters. There’s nothing too taxing here, but the books are well-written page-turners, perfect as ‘palate-cleansers’ between the more serious and the non-fiction. I always enjoy them, can read them in a couple of sittings, and recommend them to lovers of the genre. In my opinion, they are better than some of the ‘cosy crime’ novels written by ‘celebrities’, that sell millions.
And on that note, dear friends, I shall love you and leave you. I am off to re-play the Disco Prom and bop around the living room. 🎶 Burn, baby, burn…burn, baby, burn…🎶
I’ll write soon, x
If you enjoyed this, you could buy me a coffee/tea, if you like! Thanks.
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What an inspired idea - a signed performance to introduce the Beethoven. Thanks so much for the introduction.
As entertaining as ever. - thank you. Love the Proms although it's a long time since I have attended in person. Introduced me to Orff's " Carmina Birana " and lots more. It was great to attend as an impoverished student nurse and staff nurse. Love the thought of disco dancing. When husband and I celebrated our 60ths we had a range of music that we danced to.....the Stones, the Beatles, " Maggie May ", " Stranger on the Shore ", the Hornpipe and more. Great fun.