Again this year, each month we’re posing five pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. As before, they’re not difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers – so hopefully you’ll learn something new, as well as having a bit of fun.
Music
Queen guitarist Brian May is also an expert in what scientific field?
What is the correct name for a metallophone with tuned keys?
Which German composer wrote the famous composition Ode to Joy which is the official anthem of the European Union?
In Tudor times, which English composer and Gentleman of the Chapel Royal was repeatedly fined for recusancy?
Peter and the Wolf is described as a “symphonic fairy tale for children”. Who composed it?
Yesterday morning I happened into BBC Radio 3’s Breakfast show just after 08:30 – well actually I blame the alarm clock! Between two pieces of very mainstream classical music the presenter Petroc Trelawny played what he described as a secular carol. It was rather entrancing, but I didn’t catch what it was. And oh dear, it isn’t listed in the online playlist (it is now!). A quick email to Radio 3 got a very prompt answer …
It turned out to be the Halsway Carol, performed by a group called The Neighbours on their (short) album Winter (2020). The lyrics are by Iain Fisk, melody by Nigel Eaton. And no wonder it was entrancing as Eaton is listed online as “internationally renowned Hurdy Gurdy maestro”. It goes like this:
Lo for the tiding of the long night moon
Let the sunrise call about the morning soon
Short is the biding of the fading light
Sing for the coming of the longest night
North wind tell us what we need to know
When the stars are shining on the midnight snow
All of the branches will be turned to white
Sing for the coming of the longest night
A winter day, the summer grass turned hay Frost in the field ’til the dawn of May A summer’s light never shone as clear or as bright So dance in the shadows of a winter’s night
Lo for the tiding of the long night moon
May the harvest last until the springtime bloom
Home is our comfort at the winter’s height
Sing for the coming of the longest night
All of the colours of the sunrise sky
Shine a light upon us, as the day goes by
Sun-setting shadows fading out of sight
Sing for the coming of the longest night
A winter day, the summer grass turned hay Frost in the field ’til the dawn of May A summer’s light never shone as clear or as bright So dance in the shadows of a winter’s night
The Neighbours’ album Winter is available as a download from Amazon; it’s altogether a rather nice 30 minutes seasonal folk music. However I can find out nothing about the band.
There are quite a number of renditions of the Halsway Carol on YouTube, and I’ve listened to several. After The Neighbours’ version, I prefer this one from Jackie Oates.
And, just for my Godparents, there’s also a version on Northumbrian pipes. There’s also some basic sheet music online.
An unexpected delight! But who can tell me about The Neighbours?
A friend over on Facebook has been tasked with choosing ten albums that greatly influenced his taste in music; one a day for ten days; no explanation; no reviews; just album covers.
I’ve been meaning to do this myself for quite a while, so I thought I’d play along, but as always I’ll eviscerate the rules: I’m posting them all at once and here, rather than on Facebook.
So here are my ten albums – well no, actually some are just works (large or small) as there’s a large representation of classical as opposed to pop. They’re here all at once, in no particular order. Oh, and only one item per group or composer.
Monteverdi; 1610 Vespers
(John Eliot Gardner)
Byrd; Gradualia
(broadcast on BBC Radio 3 in 1970s)
Again this year we’re beginning each month with five pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. They’re not difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers, so hopefully you’ll learn something new, as well as have a bit of fun.
January Quiz Questions: Music
Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem was composed for the consecration of what building?
Who composed Liberty Bell?
Who created 4’33” of silence?
JS Bach wrote a huge amount of both liturgical and secular music. But what brand of Christianity did he belong to?
Which Russian composer was also a renowned chemist?
This year we’re beginning each month with five pub quiz style questions, with a different subject each month. They’re not difficult, but it is unlikely everyone will know all the answers, so hopefully you’ll learn something new, as well as have a bit of fun.
February Quiz Questions: Music
Which Renaissance composer wrote a madrigal entitled El Grillo?
What was the name of the band formed by Jack Bruce, Eric Clapton & Ginger Baker?
Who composed a piano piece called the Golliwogg’s Cakewalk?
Part of which Christopher Smart work was set to music by Benjamin Britten?
Which astronomer is name-dropped in Bohemian Rhapsody?
A week or so ago we had a little jaunt through SW Essex; I needed to go there on business and it seemed an opportunity not to be missed. Regrettably we didn’t do as much as we would have liked as I wasn’t feeling very brilliant – but we did visit a couple of churches.
The first church was at Stondon Massey, north of Brentwood. The church is a mile or so north of the current village, the suggestion being that the village centre moved due to the various plagues, especially the Black Death of 1349-50. The church dates back to around 1100, with several periods of extension and rebuild. The west window, shown below, appears to date from the early 15th century, and possibly earlier. The wall is of flint, which is the only local “stone” as Stondon Massey is on the southern edge of the ice from the last great glaciation. This flintwork is delightful and “rustic” – much more in keeping with the place than the dull, dark, finely worked, obviously Victorian flintwork on the north-east corner of the church. Note too the decorative use made of the lovely red (probably Roman) tiles.
Unfortunately the church was locked (fie to parishes who lock their churches!) so we could only appreciate it’s age and beauty from the outside. Not that we minded too much as the churchyard (below) was one of the most delightful I’ve seen, embroidered as it is by a multiplicity of oaks and yews with lots of dappled shade and well kept grass all paying homage to the carefully tended graves.
Those of you who know your English music will recall that the Tudor composer William Byrd (c.1540-1623) retired from the Chapel Royal in his early 50s and lived his last 30 or so years at Stondon Massey. Byrd was a recusant Catholic who was regularly heavily fined for failure to attend Anglican Sunday worship and it’s possible he chose Stondon Massey due to its proximity to his patron, Lord Petre, who lived at Ingatestone. Byrd died at Stondon Massey and may be buried there, although there is no documentary evidence for his burial.
Byrd is one of my “heroes” hence snapping up the opportunity to visit on a lovely sunny August day. I think we shall be revisiting.
I’ll keep you in suspense about church number two; watch this space for a post in (I hope) a few days time. Click on the images for larger views on Flickr.
Eccentric looks at life through the thoughts of a retired working thinker
