Robin Hill's Sunday Morning iPod Shuffle

What a beautiful morning it was here today.
As soon as we opened the curtains the sun streamed in and revealed a perfect Autumn day.
Robin's first words were:

"Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness'
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;"

He was of course quoting John Keats, 'Ode to Autumn', if you want to read the whole thing, it's here.

As I've said before, Sunday morning is a time to relax in our house.
We usually put the iPod on shuffle and see what happens.

Here's today's offering:

1) Santana
'No One to Depend On' from Santana lll (1971)

2) John McLaughlin
'The Way of the Pilgrim' with the Mahavishnu Orchestra.

3) Daniel Barenboim
Prelude from, 'The Well Tempered Clavier' by J.S.Bach

4) Spiderpig Theme Song
From 'The Simpsons Movie'. (caused much delight from sons numbers one and two....)

5) Joni Mitchell
'The Boho Dance' from 'The Hissing of Summer Lawn' (1975)

6) Andres Segovia
John Dowland - Song and Galliard

7) John McLaughlin (again!)
'Face to Face' from 'Natural Elements' (1977) Shakti

8) Julian Bream
Julian Bream and Peter Peers, 'What then is love', an Elizabethan song.

9) Pepe Romero
Pepe Romero with the 'Academy of St.Martin in the Field', Boccherini Guitar Quintet No.6 in G Major.

10) Jascha Heifetz
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concero: Canzonetta in D Major.

Just when we thought we had better get on with our day, the next item called up on the iPod was, 'Robin Hill's Eklectica: Claude Bolling's Concerto for Classic Guitar and Jazz Piano Trio, 3rd movement, 'Invention'.
What a fantastic way to start the day.

From Learning New Pieces to Julian Lloyd Webber and Elgar

As Robin is home for a few weeks, it is a chance to try out new pieces and revisit old ones, to keep up with the eternally evolving programme.
Robin was waiting patiently for the postman to deliver a package containing two pieces he wanted to look at.
Mid morning they arrived and he has shut himself away in the music room.
At this stage it's hard to identify exactly what they are.
There's a reason for this. Read this quote:

'I always practice the technically difficult passages first - separately and slowly - so that I learn to control and phrase them. One must resist the temptation to try out the right tempo until one has perfect control at the slower tempo. I never play such passages mechanically with the intention of adding the phrasing later. A technically difficult passage needs to be played more slowly until you learn to control it - but with the right musical expression. To separate the technical from the expressive side in music is like separating the body from the soul.'

Daniel Barenboim

Robin used this quote in his book, 'The Guitar Gymnasium', when discussing his approach to new pieces, and his own interpretation is:

'We are all impatient to play the piece up to tempo, or beyond, but, unless the firm technical and musical foundation has been laid, we will not gain mastery over the music.'

Robin Hill

So, for now, I'll have to listen to a phrase endlessly repeated, until I can identify the piece. I'll keep you posted...

Meanwhile in the newspaper, two interesting articles.
The first, by Ivan Hewett, 'Time for a ceasefire in the classical 'class' war', which has some great points, and, for Elgar week, Julian Lloyd Webber explains how Elgar's Cello Concerto had an inspirational role in his career.
Happy reading.