As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of darkness surrounding it
Albert Einstein
My Music
Without music, life would be a mistake
Friedrich Nietzsche
My Library
If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads
Ralph Waldo Emerson
My Albums
Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop
Ansel Adams
Some Anecdotes
Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experiencedLife can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards
>Søren Kierkegaard
Quiz Number 4
These quiz questions were originally posted in facebook with a very short clip as a clue – so here I will post the clues before the teaserbreak. The task is to identify the composer and the music.
Possibly not the best recording – definitely not the best video – but this was my “home” orchestra (although I left Glasgow a few years before this particular recording) and I knew many of the players as well as the principal conductor Sir Alexander Gibson.
I didn’t ever play with the SNO – actually that is not quite true – I did play as goalkeeper a few times in their football team.
The horn section I knew very well and a number of the other members of the orchestra were in schools/youth orchestras at the same time as I was – including one of my best friends at school on Double Bass.
My last connection with the orchestra was a few years after this video when they visited Vienna whilst I was resident there and the morning after their concert I acted as “tour guide” for a group of the folks who knew me – using my local knowledge to go around the sights.
Going back to the horn section – the ending of the first movement is particularly tricky – not only do you need to hit a quiet top B♭ – you need to do it twice one after the other. Hugh Seenan does it beautifully in this recording.