Move over iPod


Here comes the latest in mobile media. Radio Barkas from Holland is playing at the Norfolk & Norwich Festival. Last night we were at La Vie from Montreal based company les 7 doigts de la main which is not to be missed if you can get to Norwich. There are some very exciting things happening where music meets dance meets circus. Is the answer to take classical music to the visual?

All photos (c) On An Overgrown Path 2010. Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

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Elgar's other enigma

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Like Pliable Elgar was a keen cyclist , here he is in Malvern with his much-used Sunbeam tourer. Jessica Duchen's classical music blog about Edward Elgar's birthplace at Broadheath, Worcestershire reminded of a link to him sitting on my bookshelf. The score of Elgar's Violin Conerto contains an enigmatic dedication in the form of a mysterious Italian phrase - "Acqui esta encerrada el alma de" - followed by five dots; meaning that the identity of the dedicatee of this perenially popular work is unknown. Some years ago I bought a second hand copy of the autobiography of Mrs Richard Powell, 'Dorabella' of the tenth of the Enigma Variations ('Edward Elgar - Memories of a Variation published by Methuen). Stuck into the book are hand written letters and postcards sent to the original owner by Mrs Powell who was then living in East Grinstead. A letter of 12th Feb 1950 from Mrs Powell in her own hand writing says the following ... "What a curious fac...
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Critical Mass

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What price the BBC Proms?

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My life was changed by a Henry Wood Promenade Concert on 4th August, 1975. In the second half Sir Adrian Boult gave us Vaughan William's Fifth Symphony , and the blazing intensity of that performance remains unmatched, in my experience, in the concert hall or on record. Sir Adrian's 86 years had no relevance to his music making. Music, not age, was what mattered then. In the summer of 1975 punk was at its peak and the Vietnam War had ended after Communist forces took Saigon in the spring. Back with classical music, Pierre Boulez was in his last season as principal conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, which was at the top of its game , while William Glock's golden period as BBC controller of music and Proms administrator still informed music making in London. Your life could be changed for £1.30, which was the price of a balcony seat in the Albert Hall. All of which set me thinking, what price today's BBC Proms? In 2009 Promenade Concerts are one of few remaining...
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John Cage's crazy creativity

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Jonathan Harvey on the record

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