Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 19 March 2023

Annette - Yes, I totally agree about the departure of melody from modern composers. Reminds me of when I was doing a music course many years ago. The tutor played something awful - ?Webern - ?Hindemith - don't know - and then asked what we thought of it. One of the students, a lovely chap who worked at Dounray nuclear power station and who rarely spoke at any of the tutorials, sat and looked pensive for a moment, and then came out with the classic - 'Well, you can't sing it!'

PatO; I often harbored the dream of playing piano in an orchestra, but when I hear some of the newer compositions I think, OMG, how can the musicians stand to play that. Of course, some of today's most popular classical pieces were booed by audiences when they were first performed.

Pat - I love that comment by the chap who worked at Dounray. Really apt. I had to study “modern” classical music as part of my degree. I tried my best to “appreciate” it but failed. I knew all the “schools” and so called “styles” but, there were no tunes!!!!! Maybe I am a bit of a philistine but to me, music is something to be enjoyed and something which creates emotions and passions. The only emotion I had about Hindemith etc was that I didn’t like it and didn’t want to be at a concert of it!!! I seem to have sparked quite a debate. And what about that John Cage piece entitled 4minutes 33 seconds????? Google it if you don’t know it!!!!! I have never been to a performance of it. Frankly it would have been preferable to that screeching yesterday!!!!
On to less contentious issues. I quite agree Lindy that when on holiday you don’t share cakes!!! Good grief, that person must be a loud snorer. I hope hé doesn’t spoil your holiday. Maybe you should get some earplugs just in case!!!
AQ - why does there always have to be one yappy person on a bus? Most annoying. I enjoyed the photos and the account of the first part of the trip. Thanks.
Annette - I feel a bit sick at the thought of R M getting married again. Yuk.
I went to my French class this afternoon. The lady who led it had brought recipes from magazines. We had to discuss them and come up with a balanced 3 course meal. It was great fun. We eventually chose an onion veloute with garlic croutons, roasted guinea fowl, and a lovely poached pear meringue. The 2 hours whizzed by. We also had questions to discuss about our favourite restaurants, our opinion of tipping and many other foodie topics.

Rusty - Yes, that was my situation as well - had to be done towards my degree. Didn't have to like it - but still had to do it!! I wonder if was something like you heard that made John Cage write his 4 minutes 33 seconds?!?!?!? Always the rebel!!

Lindy - I agree - can't possibly share cakes on holiday. Unless you each choose a different sort of cake and halve each of them ...

Lovely to see the ospreys coming back in numbers. Oh dear - there goes most of my 'spare' time for the next few months!

Exciting time of year for us Osprey enthusiasts! Always nail biting when a nest has its regular pair, & we're not sure if both of them will appear.

AQ -- Hope you enjoyed your trip, even if you were bushed afterwards! Thanks for letting us come too.

I like modern composers such as Philip Glass, but agree wholeheartedly about melody. I suppose that's what we don't like about this "new" stuff - most of it seems to be just random sounds.

By the way, finished my book yesterday which made me laugh like a drain, and nearly fall off my sunlounger a couple of times!!! A clever author who made even The Depression in the USA sound amusing.

Pat -- I'm sometimes a bit stuck for words when anyone asks me in summertime "And what have you been doing with yourself, lately?" as of course I've been glued to screens, worrying about ospreys. But everyone doesn't share our enthusiasm, so it's hard to explain!

Next is view of part of garden from Lindsay Park terrace, notice farmland beyond.

Drove past another Angas home, Hutton Vale, still in family. Next 3 photos taken somewhere along Hutton Vale Road.