Category Archives: category-defying

a Wagnerian pizza

Posted on August 19, 2007 by vhk10

Earlier this month in Sicily I consumed a ‘Parsifal’ pizza at a restaurant which for some reason had an Arthurian theme. Among the ingredients were rocket, prosciutto and mushroom, but it wasn’t a great success, being on the soggy side. … Continue reading →

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Bruckner did not write heavy metal

Posted on April 27, 2007 by vhk10

But this didn’t stop the Grauniad from putting a spurious umlaut over the u in his surname today. I recommend the Wikipedia article on this topic. I expect that I won’t be mentioning heavy metal again here in a hurry … Continue reading →

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the golden age of compound time

Posted on April 4, 2007 by vhk10

As I was singing the opening chorus of the St. Matthew Passion a thought occurred to me: why did it go wrong for compound time after the baroque period? Why did later composers use it less, apart from niche markets … Continue reading →

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at the school jumble sale

Posted on March 27, 2007 by vhk10

This year I helped to run the bookstall at the school jumble sale. Among all the chick-lit, thrillers, airport reading and the like there was just one book relating to music: the Cambridge Opera Guide to Wozzeck. As I withdrew … Continue reading →

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MIDI manœuvres

Posted on April 12, 2006 by vhk10

I bought a new mobile phone and wanted to write my own MIDI file to use as a ringtone. (My old phone would allow you to compose ringtones on it, but you were restricted to a single melody, in a … Continue reading →

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a calendrical plea

Posted on January 9, 2006 by vhk10

This isn’t really related to music, but someone reading it may be able to help. Every year I buy a calendar with photographs of British Cathedrals. The format has varied – perhaps they haven’t all been produced by the same … Continue reading →

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a move

Posted on July 29, 2005 by vhk10

So here we are on devbox, as the old server had to be shut down. I’ve upgraded to a new version of the software so the look and feel is slightly different. I may adjust it a bit over the … Continue reading →

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Cheltenham’s secret

Posted on July 2, 2005 by vhk10

Last year I realised that the Cheltenham Music Festival was within striking distance, and put myself on the mailing list. But as a way of finding out about the 2005 Music Festival this was a failure. I never a received … Continue reading →

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scoring music on a PDA

Posted on May 25, 2005 by vhk10

I recently posted this request to an email list and may as well make it here too. Meanwhile, I think I’ve been invited to sing in two concerts in the first week of July (Chandos Singers/Exultate Singers) but am trying … Continue reading →

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Which Russian composer are you?

Posted on May 18, 2005 by vhk10

For a bit of fun I recommend the Dead Russian Composer Personality Test. I took it and came out as a Stravinsky, while my husband was a Shostakovich, which seemed right somehow. A few friends sat the test, producing more … Continue reading →

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