Helen Ougham, Dawn Sanders and I contributed a paper today (21 May) at ‘The fierce urgency of now: Navigating paradoxes in sustainability education’. (SHE Conference 2020) hosted online by Canterbury Christ Church University. It’s on the subject of Plant Blindness. The presentation is available online (don’t know for how long). If you’re interested, here’s the…
Continue readingThe Splendid Splice – some thoughts about music in crisis
2020 is turning out to be the dawning of the Age of Isolation. Musicians who perform and teach are having a tough time. Music is traditionally a social activity, but the community of players, students and audiences has been shattered, maybe irreparably. Musicians have responded by exploring alternative ways to communicate with each other and…
Continue readingMore sounds from behind closed doors
I was looking for something in the Fossil Songs file when I came across this specimen of disposable compositions from early in the millennium, and with plenty of time on my hands, heaven knows, I did this.
Continue readingI remember Aberystwyth
Exiled for almost 6 weeks, with no prospect of returning to the Land of Cymric Mists and Bara Brith for at least a month. So here’s a little memory of a tiny, not very beautiful nook in the old town that I’m quite fond of. The Nanoband has…errmmm…disbanded, due to artistic and personality differences and…
Continue readingBe careful, or else…
It could happen to you – by me and me, lazing on the deck in the sunshine.
Continue readingSea fever
This is Nance Wilson singing John Ireland’s setting of the famous John Masefield poem. I’ve reharmonized it for the piano accompaniment. Nance did it in one take on a flying visit from NZ to my studio in Kent. Music of the hemispheres.
Continue readingNew album by Veronique Bouchet and Sid Thomas
A CD comprising chansons in a variety of styles and moods. We were privileged to be mentored by ‘The Divas’ – the great Tina May and the superb Anita Wardell. Eventually tracks will be available for download. See the Bouchet-Thomas web page for the latest news.
Continue readingCitation style
Every journal seems to have its own format for citing references, mostly a variant of one or other of the Big 5. They are all, to a greater or lesser extent, a pain to conform to and every publication has one or more conventions that seem to me to be unnecessarily fussy and inappropriate for…
Continue readingNew album by Maggie Nicols and Sid
A collection of originals, comprising a little free impro (of which Maggie is, of course, the Queen), settings of poetry by George Wither and Rainer Maria Rilke, and songs about darkness, fear, greed, epiphanies, time, life and the complete history of agriculture and civilization. More about What are We here.
Continue readingGreen heritage
I recently attended an interesting Workshop at Canterbury Christ Church University, organised by Peter Vujakovic. One of the participants, Sheila Sweetinburgh, has included a brief report of this event on her blog (you have to scroll down a bit until you see a picture of me teaching the group how to draw the chlorophyll…
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