Bristol in black and white

 

Today starts well

Good news from the Today programme on Radio 4. No it's not to do with the credit crunch, Russian oligarchs or Sarah Palin impersonators. Much more exciting than that. It's the return of Snoopy and Charlie Brown! Hurrah! The comic strip is being republished, so get ready to make friends with Charlie Brown and the gang again. Here's a taster of what's in store:

Beautiful music

Brahms

And then there was Brahms. In summer mood, drunk on the Rhine and flirtation. Probably kept on the edge of tipsiness by a little Reisling. It's hard to not to drink Reisling in the Rheingau , the small wine-growing region that Brahms visited in the summer of 1883. The composer had gone there to follow a young, vivacious singer who had caught his eye earlier that year: Hermine Spies. My 'Rhinemaiden', Brahms called Hermine, who in return described herself as being in a 'Johannes Passion' (a pleasing, if unintentional link back to the Bach Prom post). Their romance came to nothing, but throughout that summer Brahms worked on his Third Symphony. And after I visited the Rheingau this summer, hearing the Berlin Philharmonic play the piece conjured up nothing more strongly than the river itself. The waves; the surge and repose, its eddys and currents running through the strings and wind, emphasised by the synchronised sway of the orchestra's players. I've never seen so many musicians moving at once, and moving together. Like waves making up a river.

By candlelight

 

Catch up time

Over the past few months I've been to some fantastic concerts, none of which I've managed to write about here, and all of which I've wanted to share. So I'll try to give you a flavour of the concerts in my next few blog posts. First up were two Prom evenings in the Royal Albert Hall. Bach's St John Passion, performed in a huge unbroken sweep,was like a grand tapestry being woven in front of our eyes by the Monteverdi Choir under Sir John Eliot Gardiner. It might not be on the same epic scale as it's younger brother, the St Matthew Passion, but the St John manages to pack all the drama into around two hours of chorales, choruses, arias and recitatives. For a flavour, take a look at the video below (well actually ignore what you see, and just listen!):

Up and away

 

ps

ps I'm trying to deny the coming of winter. Watch this space for more.

Winter Warmer 1

 

And something... !

So: the loudest picture, well at least a bold combination of yellow, orange, and brown with large type across the front. Then nothing. More of what was going on in that blog-shaped void later, but now the reason for putting up a picture of the book cover. Though I suppose it's pretty obvious: run out to a bookshop or click a few pages away from here and buy this book. A collection of beautifully crafted short stories, this book moves from nineteenth-century France to a a remote Scottish island, from the teenage girl testing her power over men, to the man who's lost his family. Sounds and smells escape from the pages; every sense and sight is captured on paper. And the voices of the characters who live and breathe in the book speak strongly, living out their daily lives. But each of those lives and the encounters that occur within them circle round dark centres: something missing, an unfulfilled desire, an unwelcome memory, an unchangeable situation, helplessness against the encroaching world. And all conjured with an economy of language and mastery of length, form, style and character that make this a darkly beautiful collection.