Category: Uncategorized

  • Music, when soft voices die

    It was rather by chance I stumbled upon some choral music in the Clore Ballroom at the Southbank Centre today, and I am rather pleased I did. I am desperate to try and write some choral music. The voice fascinates me, and the combination of numerous voices is an incredible sound. There was a fascinating…

  • Fire the canon

    I recall being at a conference-style event exploring the transition from school music study to university level study. It was a fascinating day seeing grass-roots classroom music educators conversing with academics. The gap was indeed wider than expected. One point that stuck in my mind was how quickly school-based curriculums has changed in comparison to…

  • Hanging baskets

    I was genuinely thrilled to discover the rather mediocre hanging basket I had purchased – from a supermarket – some weeks ago had bloomed into something attractive. Well, nearly. It’s that exciting realisation of progress that I like. One can often miss it when focus is on an activity so regularly, such as practice. My…

  • Linking songs

    Now I have a show to write – which indeed I must as the auditions are soon – I’m wondering how much the musical material across the show should connect. Opera comes to mind – Puccini particularly – where characters have distinguishable musical ideas. But then maybe this doesn’t matter so much in musical theatre…

  • Hide and Seek – Imogen Heap

    There is something disturbingly beautiful about this song. Perhaps it is the concentration on the voice; it sounds as if it is a cappella yet there is a synthesised sound played homorhythmically with the voice. Harmonically it uses primary triads coloured with extensions. All sounds rather straightforward – yet this music fits the text so…