Who is John Sinclair, you are probably asking? Those of you who read my last post, Shy love smiles and acid drops: Letters from a difficult marriage, may remember that he was the husband of the marriage in question, and father of the author, Jane Sinclair. However, as I briefly mentioned in that post, John … Continue reading On John Sinclair
Classical music
The Griffyns are mummified
Those Griffyns, if you haven't realised it from my previous posts, are a brave and versatile bunch. Their latest outing, the Ear of the Cat, was inspired by musical director Michael Sollis' residency in Egypt last year. Performed last weekend, it was the ensemble's first real concert of the year and was included - a first for them I … Continue reading The Griffyns are mummified
Delicious descriptions: Emma Ayres on music
If the bicycle trip gives Emma Ayres' travel memoir Cadence its chronological spine, it is music which provides its skeleton. However, before I discuss music, I need to respond to those commenters on my review who noted that "cadence" is also a cycling term. As I'd heard the book rather than read it, I couldn't quite recollect … Continue reading Delicious descriptions: Emma Ayres on music
Emma Ayres, Cadence: Travels with music (Review)
Although Emma Ayres' memoir Cadence had been passed around my reading group with much enthusiasm over the last year or so, I wasn't intending to read it - not because I wasn't interested, but because there were other books I wanted to read more. However, when I found the audiobook at my aunt's house while … Continue reading Emma Ayres, Cadence: Travels with music (Review)
Virgil Thomson, Taste in music (Review)
There are several reasons why now seemed an opportune time to write my first Library of America (LOA) post for 2015. The first reason is obvious. It's June and I haven't featured one yet. The second is because my last post was on music, so writing about an article by American composer Virgil Thomson seemed apposite. The … Continue reading Virgil Thomson, Taste in music (Review)
The Griffyns take us north – way north
The time has come, I think, to talk about disclosures. I have been blogging for just over six years now, mostly on literature but also, occasionally, on other cultural experiences - including the Griffyn Ensemble. The thing is that Canberra is a small place and we who move around it start to get to know each other. This … Continue reading The Griffyns take us north – way north
The Griffyns end the year on, hmm, a macabre note
Only the Griffyn Ensemble could put together a concert that included Arvo Pärt and Bob Dylan, that started with eerie sounds from a tape and ended with mysterious knockings and bumpings from who knows where to the strains of Silent Night. Intrigued? Then read on ... This year the Griffyns' theme has been Fairy Stories - loosely … Continue reading The Griffyns end the year on, hmm, a macabre note
The Griffyns are on fire
Preshow setting up And now for something completely different. If Griffyn Ensemble's last concert, Do you believe? (my review), kept us on our intellectual toes from go to whoa, their third concert* of 2014, House on Fire, had our toes-a-tapping and feet-a-walking in a program that owed more to folk traditions than classical. Collaborating this time with … Continue reading The Griffyns are on fire
Performers and the audience
Have you ever been to a show - a concert, a play, a ballet, for example - and wondered about the performers? How do they relate to each other? What do they do in their spare time? Well, quite coincidentally, two shows I went to last week looked at this question from different angles. First, … Continue reading Performers and the audience
The Griffyn Ensemble’s paean to the weather
It's pretty much a given that a Griffyn Ensemble concert will be both entertaining and challenging - and their latest concert, Cloudy With a Chance of Rain, was no exception. But this concert had an added fillip: it was unashamedly political in addressing the thorny (for some) issue of climate change. Good on the Griffyns … Continue reading The Griffyn Ensemble’s paean to the weather
Whispering Gums 