I'm hearing images...

I’m being haunted by a song which keeps playing on Radio 6. It’s not yet been released, but it seems to be played at all the right moments. Take today, for example, I’d just removed my headphones in the cafe, and was staring wistfully at a bicyclist on the street outside, and there it was, somehow louder than the previous track, and there I was, suddenly in a 5 minute trance. I’ve tracked it down on You Tube – and anyone who likes their music slightly alternative, yet delicately epic should have a listen. Put some headphones on and allow it to caress your soul!

Today’s been about trying to transfer one of my earliest songs from manuscript paper onto the computer. The songs I wrote with Arnold Wesker for Letter to a Daughter are incredibly complicated and far more detailed than anything I’ve written recently. The song from the musical we hope to perform on November 27^th is the busiest of the lot, and I’ve never imputed so many freakin’ semi-quavers into one score. When I close my eyes, I see dancing spiders.!

With miraculous ironic timing, Sir Arnold himself emailed at lunchtime, telling me that the woman who’d performed Letter to a Daughter in Korea (with songs written by a different composer) had decided she wanted to stage a performance of the piece over here. She’s apparently incredibly wealthy and this would be something of a vanity project for her. Apparently she’s not “grabbed” by my music and has asked ‘Nold what he thinks about her commissioning a different composer. He, in turn, asked me what I felt.  I told him that the thought of a big British production of the work without my music would make me feel a little sad, but if she was offering to take the piece to a wider audience, he should grasp the opportunity. Instinctively, I can’t imagine anything less appropriate than the lead role (which is implicitly Jewish) being played by a Korean, but I guess if she wants to do it, she should do it with the music she wants to sing. Besides, the music I wrote was probably as implicitly Jewish as Arnold’s text, so it's hardly surprising it doesn’t resonate with her. If I were really sneaky, I’d simultaneously stage my own production of the work! Arnold’s been telling me to direct it for years!

I’m currently in the process of finding a name for the choir that I’ve been setting up. A name is such an important thing, because it tells you in a second everything you need to know about an ensemble. I put out a plea on Facebook to see if anyone had any ideas. Ideally I’m looking for something a little bit eccentric, a little bit wistful, a little bit fun, and totally free of any puns, or any sense of a classical ensemble who are taking themselves too seriously. People, in response, have left some incredibly witty puns; totally unusable, but hysterically funny. My favourite has to be “Choral Sex” – although I was also partial to “Ad Nauseum.” As Ellie pointed out, many choirs have Latin names... Thanks for that! Any suggestions gratefully received.

Saturday 12^th October, 1661, and Pepys spent much of the day in bed – although the swelling on his testicle had begun to get better. There was no other news... unless you count another round of machinations concerning Uncle Robert’s will, which was surely fast becoming the most bitterly contested will on record!