Discovering new music

For a birthday treat, my lovely friend Kate Hardy sent me a cd of John Garth -- Six Concertos for the Violoncello, soloist Richard Tunnicliffe, played by the Avison Ensemble. She enjoys surprising people. As luck would have it, the day it arrived, the Lit and Phil notes arrived also. A new biography of Avison is about to be published and the Avison Ensemble are playing at the Lit and Phil. So I was like-- who is this Avison? And more importantly is the music any good?

Anyway, John Garth is an 18th century composer who worked primarily in Durham. Durham with its Prince bishop was the centre for political power in the north east until 1839. Empowered by the monarch, the Prince Bishop was able to enforce legislation, mint his own coins and control the courts. Around Durham, there are several fine country houses dating from the period. It was also a centre for music. Well, religion does lend itself to that. Garth at one point served as the organist for the Bishop of Durham. These works were first published around 1760 and make for fantastic listening. Garth was forgotten entirely until someone was working on his Phd at Durham University and rediscovered him. The Lit and Phil holds several important scores.

I was so impressed that I ordered two cds of Charles Avison who worked in Newcastle around the same period. Avison was incredibly successful during his lifetime and has been called the finest English concerto composer.

Again, played on period pieces with a warm earthy tone, the music is easy to listen and inspiring if one happens to be writing a Regency.

All kudos to both the Avison Ensemble who are playing the music of these forgotten English composers and to the composers. Hopefully others will discover them and discover what centres of culture both Durham and Newcastle were in the late 18th/early 19th century. I am also looking forward to reading the biography of Charles Avison.

Sometimes a small gift can open windows into worlds that you never dreamt of.

ABBA and my daughter

When the whole saga about going to Mamma Mia! started about two weeks ago, my daughter sort of knew about ABBA. Yesterday my dh came home from the shops with an ABBA Gold cd. Much to my eldest's disgust, the house is now filled with the sounds of ABBA.
To be fair to my eldest, he works as a waiter at the local castle hotel as his after school job. Apparently, at nearly every wedding, ABBA is played. He says that people come in, looking normal and sober, perfectly respectable but once ABBA comes on, they flock to the dance floor, performing all sorts of werid contortions. The songs are consistently the most played at weddings, and the ones most likely to send the dance floor overflowing.
It is all sort of amazing when you think about it. I happened to read the cd's notes. ABBA until the early 90s was consigned to the bargain basement. Their compliation album did far better than the albums/individual songs' orginal release. ABBA is certainly not barbain basement now.
Anyway, my daughter is now even more excited about going to see this movie. I suspect that she would like to go to the sing along version as she trying to learn the lyrics...
My eldest on the other hand is looking forward to seeing Hellboy 2, a movie which will not have an ABBA soundtrack.

Playlists and my books

I was talking to my dd about inspirations and influences. She pointed out that I never seem to speak about my playlists and the music that I listen to incessantly when I am writing a particular novel.
Like any good inspiration, it changes with each one. Some songs set the tone and just seem to speak to me.
For example, going back to Gladiator's Honour, it is Boden and Spears "Prickled Eye Bush". For A Noble Captive, I listened to "Holding Out for Hero" from Shrek 2. Every now and then, my youngest will say -- put in C minor. For some reason, I don't remember S&S's song. I think it was from Disney's Hercules. "A Star is born" With TRVM, I know I was listening to Eva Cassidy --"Fields of Gold", and then the album for "What Women Want". With Taken by the Viking, it was the Runrig live album which has since disappeared. I suspect my children have hidden it. My eldest who now works on the weekends at Langley Castle came back recently and stated: the wedding had Runrig and he had to grit his teeth. Also the theme song from Disney's Tarzan. For ACWW, it was some of the wassail songs. Then we come to VWUW, and I started off by listening to Runrig but rapidly became entranced with Les Miserables. My dd had just been in Les Mis. In particular, "Bring Him Home".
My dd says that there are a few others, and she now actively aids and abets me. We tend to listen to things while I take her out to her riding. When she does her riding, I write in the car. My youngest and eldest have the habit of hiding the cds!
And when the copy edits or the finished version of a book comes, my dd says -- okay one last chance to play xyz.
SO does anyone else have this habit of listening to one song over and over again?