From Elgar's 150th Anniversary to the Latest Member of The Zimmers?

Today is the 150th anniversary of Elgar's birth. To read more about him you can take a look at 'The Elgar Society' site.
There are many celebrations going on around the country over the next few weeks, and here are a few of them.

Meanwhile, at home, my gran has been over for the day.
She's always interested in current events and keeping up to date with the world of blogging.
She has been following the success of 'The Zimmers', and was rather amused by the video.
If you want to see it, go to this earlier blog of mine, 'From Concerto Premiere Coming Soon to The Zimmers: My Generation', and follow the links.
I think it all went to her head, at 87 years young, she found Robin's Fender Stratocaster, learnt a few power chords and is now hoping for an audition....

The Beatles, Sgt Pepper -Segovia -The Zimmers - Rosslyn Chapel

The Beatles were one of the factors that decided Robin's fate in life, (Bach, 'Chaconne' was another, but I'll save that one for now.)

The Beatles themselves recognised the importance of classical music and George Harrison once said that, "Segovia is the Daddy of us all."
On hearing this, Segovia's response was, "These pop stars might be nice boys, but what they are doing is obscene and a disease."
Sorry Segovia, I just have to disagree with you, on that one. Maybe he just wasn't quite ready for The Beatles.

Celebrations are underway to acknowledge that 40 years have elapsed since the recording and release of 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'.
This incredible album, which sounds as fresh as the day it was released, is being re-recorded by various artists, Bryan Adams, Razorlight, Kaiser Chiefs, to name a few.
Read Robert Sandall's report, 'It was 40 years ago today', for the full story.
Whilst I can't imagine anyone bettering The Beatles own performance, I'll be watching BBC2 on Saturday at 10.45pm, to see what's going on.

Meanwhile, 'The Zimmers', continue to take the world by storm.
They have now had a complete makeover. Read,'From Gran to Glam - Zimmer's new look is a huge hit' , by Hilary Alexander.

Also, you can watch this short video clip, 'Rosslyn chapel: making the stonework sing', to see just how the code was cracked.

Happy Birthday to Isaac Albeniz

Today would have been Isaac Albeniz's birthday, he was born on the 29th May 1860.
Albeniz, the Spanish composer and pianist, is one of the most important figures in Spain's musical history.
He was a child prodigy who at the age of four, so amazed the audience with his performance, that they suspected trickery. Famously as a young child, he stowed away on a ship to South America where he entertained audiences by playing with his back to the piano and other amazing antics.
Albeniz performed for most of his life, and, continued composing until his death on the 18th May 1909.
Albeniz composed, 'Suite Espanola', of which the fifth movement is possibly one of the most famous classical guitar pieces, 'Asturias'.
Although originally composed for piano it was later transcibed for guitar by Francisco Tarrega, along with many other pieces by Albeniz.
In fact Albeniz once declared that he preferred Tarrega's transcription of Asturias to his own original piano version.
Asturias can be heard on Robin's, 'Virtuoso' album.


If you go over to Jessica Duchen's blog you will see that it is also Korngold's birthday!

Update on previous blogs:
The other day I mentioned an article by Ben Quinn on an elderly pop group called, 'The Zimmers'. Their version of 'My Generation', by The Who, has been viewed by more than two million people on YouTube. Read, 'Pensioners pop on course for number one', for the full story.
Well done to The Zimmers, and also to Tim Samuels of the BBC, for putting the group together, and highlighting the needs of the elderly - or not!
There's also a further twist to the tale about the 'code cracking' antics of Thomas and Stuart Mitchell. I first mentioned them on the 1st of May, and it appears that Stuart Mitchell has been contacted by a Mexican astronomer who claims the same hexagonal shape can be seen on Saturn.
Apparently, in musical terms, this shape represents a B natural, suggesting more code cracking is needed.
I'm not making it up, read Ausian Cramb's article, 'The Da Vinci chapel echoes to the sound of Saturn', for the full story.