It's taken me a long time to realise the rather close connection Philip Larkin had with Roger McGough. At first sight, any connection seems unlikely. It is true that both are popular poets, but their readerships are probably not that closely aligned - although research might prove me wrong. Their public profiles are certainly very dissimilar: Larkin, the deeply private academic librarian writing poetry of febrile subtlety, and profound feeling, which underlines his complex, i

Alfred Schnittke 'Concerto for Choir' - The Cantus Ensemble - Jesuit Church of the Immaculate Conception Farm Street - Saturday 8th November 2025. Alfred Schnittke (1934-1998) was a self-defined 'polystylist' composer who often introduced contrasting, even conflicting elements in the same work - heterogeneous ideas yoked by violence together to borrow Dr Johnson's famous definition of metaphysical poetry. This polystylism extends to his work over all. Schnittke wrote a good d

For many years, my personal acknowledgement that Christmas is upon me has been a private recital of Bach's 'Christmas Oratorio' . This has usually taken place in the week before Christmas with the First Part (there are six) repeated at some point on the Day itself, when it was originally performed. For several years my recording of choice was from 1958, conducted by Kurt Thomas and featuring Agnes Giebel, Marga Hoffgen, Josef Traxel and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. I still have

Wandering through London's Belgravia (a rare event for me) I came across a notice in an upmarket wine merchants: 'Customers, please note: we shall be closing at 5.00 pm on Tuesday 4th November to allow our staff the opportunity to enjoy a well-deserved Christmas party.' Chistmas comes earlier every year, and already the supermarkets are glittering with festive delights. With this in mind, and pausing only to wish the staff at Belgravia's Jeroboam's a happy and profitable Yule

Adolescence has a lot to answer for. Harry Enfield's Kevin goes from pleasant, polite young boy to foul mouthed pustular monster when he...

Apologies for my rather lengthy absence. A summer of marking public exam papers is largely to blame, but now all those have been safely...

Collegium Musicum - London - 'Mass in B Minor' (J.S. Bach) - St James' Clerkenwell. Saturday 3rd May 2025. The title of this Post comes...

Wilfred Glenn (1881-1970) and Frank Croxton (1877-1949) This is another of my 'one thing leads to another' musings. My post on Lawrence...

I have mentioned before in these posts how one thing frequently leads to another, and so it was when I wrote about Stainer's ...

Stainer's 'The Crucifixion' Temple Church Wednesday 16th April 2025 My maternal grandparents, who were both fine amateur singers,...

'Songs of Eden' London Choral Sinfonia Sinfonia Smith Square Tuesday 15th April 2025 This concert forms part of an enterprising Easter...

Bach - St Matthew Passion - Southwark Cathedral. Thursday 3rd April 2025 I attended this performance of Bach's 'St Matthew Passion' for a...

The Magic Flute - Charles Court Opera - Wilton's Music Hall My varied singing career saw me perform five roles in 'The Magic Flute':...

Apologies to my hordes of readers (ahem...) for my prolonged silence. An unexpected return to the classroom and an even more unexpected...

Considering my close ties to Britten's 1946 Chamber Opera (I sang the role of Tarquinius in two productions, and was taught by Otakar...

A brief comment on Prom 24: Purcell's 'The Fairy Queen'. My son, Hugo Herman-Wilson, was performing, along with other members of Le...

For these few brief thoughts I am returning to Oliver Soden's comment recorded at the start of my last Blog, 'The Past and I': 'As with...

'As with all the best setting of poetry, the words were liberated by the music.' The above comment in Gramophone Magazine, by Oliver...