What were you celebrating this weekend?


Over the weekend Romas from around the world gathered in the town of Les-Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer in France to celebrate the feast day of the black Saint Sarah. It is now generally believed that this Romani festival is linked to the ceremony of the Durga Pooja of India. This celebrates the Hindi Goddess Kali, who is seen above. More on that link here, and the story of my visit to Les-Saintes-Maries in 2006, and its musical connections, here.

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David Munrow - more than early music

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'David Munrow and the Early Music Consort of London transformed our view of medieval music. The impact of their performances far surparssed any that had gone before: by demonstrating how medieval music could sound normal, they created a niche for it in the concert hall and on record that it has never lost' ~ From Daniel Leech-Wilkinson's notes for Music of the Gothic era May 15 2007 is the thirty-first anniversary of the death of David Munrow. His contribution to the acceptance, understanding and performance of early music almost defies summary. He was born in 1942, and learnt the bassoon and recorder as a child. Between school and university he travelled and taught in South America , and started the collection of ethnic instruments that were to give him, and the world, a new perspective on early music making. He read English at Pembroke College , Cambridge, and was encouraged by Thurston Dart to take an active role in the music-making of that most musical of cities. ...
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Those are my principles....

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Classical music's biggest problem is that no one cares

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This LP is dedicated to Richard Wagner

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Label me obsessed

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I read the fake news today, oh boy

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New music for old instruments

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