We’d like to set the ball rolling and show you a bag that we’ve made with a couple of Deco Metric fabrics by Ro Gregg for Northcott.  This collection is quite subtle with a mixture of light, mid and dark browns and a lovely pop of green to lift it. As ever, it’s the fabric design that attracted us and we’ve used the green and dark brown frond fabric for the body of the bag with the dark brown circles to coordinate.  The pattern is Amy Butler’s Frenchy Bag in the smaller size.  We love Amy’s patterns as they’re so easy to follow (even the more elaborate ones) and you always end up with a great looking bag!  So please let us know what you’ve been up to with your fabric.  It does’t have to be from our website – we’re not fussy.  Just contact us through our website if you’d like to share.

In the meantime we’ve turned into cutting fiends in readiness for the Spring Quilt Festival at Chilford.  Last November was our first time as stallholders at Chilford and, despite a few nerves, it was pretty exciting.  You know those experiences you really look forward to but don’t quite know what to expect?  Well it was one of those but in a good way!  So hopefully we’ll be a little more prepared (ha!) and we’re looking forward to meeting loads of lovely people.  We’ll have a range of fabric from our website in fat quarters, bundles and larger pieces – let us know if you’re going to Chilford and there’s something on our website that you’d like to see in the flesh and we’ll bring it along.  We’ll have some pieces made up including the bag above and Janet is working on some Isabella and 30s Playtime while Louise is hand sewing some Blueberry Crumb Cake so we’ll have lots to show you.  And now it’s back to the cutting board…

Janet & Louise

It’s a Northcott panel from their Rhapsody line of fabric, by Jane Spolar of Quilt Poetry.

Rhapsody panel by Northcott

The clerk pointed out the companion attractive fabrics in the line, but I will find something on hand for the borders.

Upon returning home, I started looking for orange & turquoise fabrics & could hardly wait until after dinner was out of the way to tackle the project!

Here it is, ready to quilt. I plan to couch the fuzzy yarn around the narrow Fairy Frost borders after it is quilted.

Handspring Puppet company, well known for having created War Horse, have returned with the unique performance that is Woyzeck on the Highveld. The company began in 1981 by co-founders Adrian Kohler and Basil Jones, starting with children’s shows, later moving on to adult theatre. Their technique works to make the audience feel that the puppet has been brought to life, even though the puppeteers are not hidden from view. If anything, being able to see the puppeteers means you’re able to see the faces of the people who love what they do.

Woyzeck on the Highveld is the story of Woyzeck, a migrant worker struggling in the city. His ultimate stressor of urban life boils down to the unfaithfulness of his partner, and mother of his child (it is not completely clear whether she is his wife or not) as she takes interest in another man. Throughout the performance, however, it is clear that Woyzeck is a troubled man, with strange visions, and it is not only the situation of his partner that bothers him.

The most striking part of seeing Woyzeck on the Highveld are the puppets and animation screen. Featured in the centre of the set, it provides a constant partner to the puppets. The screen provides beautiful, detailed illustrations, which move and change with the play, creating a fantastic extra. The characters have detailed and even haunting faces, which adds to the bleakness of the play. They are joined by a human actor who plays the role of narrator, and keeps the audience involved and entertained throughout.

However, whilst the main plot of the performance is the issue of Woyzeck and his partner, there are continuous parts of the play that were hard to follow in their relation to the rest of the play. Whilst these interludes provide stunning artistic work, it was easy to feel lost in what was happening. For example, the narrator returns to stage with an amazing rhino puppet and commences a circus-esque section of the play. The rhino puppet was incredible and the puppeteers really brought it to life, but the significance of this part to the play as a whole was hard to figure out. The whole performance was still enjoyable despite this, but you were left feeling that you didn’t quite understand what was going on at all times.

Despite this, the play cannot be denied its creativity and excellent workmanship. All the puppeteers were committed and in character at all times. The set and animation screen were brilliant additions, and the puppets themselves were works of art. This play is definitely worth a watch for even if you don’t fully understand what’s going on, the audience is still entertained and enticed by the puppets and music.

The final performance is tonight (5th November) at 7.30pm. Book your tickets here!

Razz love, Anna

I will readily admit to you that it is rare for me to purchase fabric for a whole project. Typically, I dive into my stash of scraps, pulling bits and pieces from here and there until I have just the right mix of fabrics. The hunt is part of what I love best, and that joy is increased by the generosity of my friends, who pass on their bits and pieces to me.

Even so, from time to time, I do things in reverse.

The gorgeous selection of Stonehenge you see here is one of those times. I have an upcoming project that will be done completely from this fantastically stone-textured fabric for no other reason than I think it will capture exactly what I want to say with my project.

What project might that be? Well, you’ll just have to wait and see!

Add your Sewhooked-related photos to my flickr group and you might be featured in a future post!

 
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My trusty piecing assistant Susanne was Betty Binder on Tuesday, sewing the binding onto the 4 quilts that I finished quilting last week for our shipment to Japan.  We have a slick quick way of binding that is particularly good for quilts that will see a lot of use.  We make double-folded binding, and sew it onto the back of the quilt first, then turn it and machine-stitch it to the front of the quilt using a mock-applique/blind-hem stitch, just covering the previous line of stitching.  When we stitch the binding on the front side, we use monofilament polyester thread (our favorite is Mono-Poly by Superior Threads) so that the stitching blends right in.  We can completely bind a lap quilt in just over an hour.

There has been a constant flow of visitors to our office as various groups drop off their donated quilts before our April 30 deadline.  Since my last post, we have received 600 more quilts!!  Thanks goes out to:

• Gisele Lapointe of Pointe Claire, QC (2)
• Pamela Chasen (1)
• Upper Canada Quilt Guild (4)
• Country Quilter in Richmond, ON (6)
• Garden Thyme in Kingston, ON (8)
• Quilting Quarters in Almonte, ON (6)
• Marnie & friends in Prescott
• Lois Miller in Sherwood Park, AB (2)
• Maria Hrabovsky in Mississauga, ON (1)
• Mrs. Maguire in Brantford, ON (1)
• Fran Auty in Toronto, ON (1)
• Michele of Kindred Spirits in St. Catherines and her local guilds (25)
• Mississauga Quilt Guild (25)
• Sunshine Piecemakers & friends from Fabricland Orillia, ON (71)
• Sew Have Fun in Oshawa, ON (7)
• Daphne Greig of Patchworks Studio in Victoria, BC (8)
• Cheryl of Ye Olde Fabric Shoppe in Stratford, ON (126)
• Quilters by the square in Goderich, ON (46)
• Helen Foreman of Oliver, BC (1)
• Quilts & Calicos in Exeter, ON (1)
• Louise Rogers of Conception Bay, NL (2)
• Melville & District Quilt Guild in Melville , SK (6)
• Country Concessions in Cookstown, ON (108)
• Thimbles & Things in Bracebridge, ON (80)
• Aline Chan, Brant Quilters Guild, Paris Quilting Bee & Ladies of the Night (10)
• Oakville Sewing Centre in Oakville, ON (50)
• Agota Dolinay of Toronto, ON (1)
• Aileen Conway of Victoria, BC (3)

Thank you one and all!  Your generosity is so inspiring.  Please keep those quilts coming!

I am pleased and excited to announce that I, or more accurately, my block, was selected to be in Quiltmaker magazine’s issue of 100 Blocks Volume 3, on newsstands any day now.  I received my advance copy yesterday, and eagerly flipped through it to find my block right there in living colour on page 57.  I am also on the blog tour next week promoting the issue – my day is Tuesday.  I shall post images of my block with other new fabulous Northcott fabrics, and will have a prize offered that day, so please come by for a visit.  I hear that these 100 Blocks issues sell out, so you’ll want to get your copy early.

Well, off to finish quilts for our Quilt Market booth.  As always, I’ll keep you posted with pictures.
Cheers,
Patti

There has been quite a bit of confusion in the past 2 weeks as to where these quilts are going, so here is the latest update.  Northcott is collecting and sending quilts to Patchwork Quilting Tsushin magazine in Japan, where editor Naomi Ichikawa is distributing them through Unicef and other organizations.  Northcott had also agreed to partner with Quilts for Japan, who is sending quilts to CRASH, however Quilts for Japan has decided that they no longer wish to partner with Northcott.   Quilters interested in sending quilts to CRASH through Quilts for Japan should visit www.quiltsforjapan.ca for size and shipping details.
Northcott is accepting NEW QUILTS OF ANY SIZE, though large lap/small twin is most needed.   Our initial deadline is end April to receive the quilts, and quilters are asked to forward their quilts to Northcott’s office in Vaughan, ON   (101 Courtland Ave.  Vaughan, ON   L4K 3T5) or to their local shop if the shop is collecting and forwarding the quilts to Northcott.  Canadian company Lapel Stick has posted a wonderful downloadable label that can be included on the quilts if desired (http://www.lapelstick.com/quilts-for-japan).  It is designed by Barb Round and includes inspiring words from one of Singing Quilter Cathy Miller’s songs.  Thank you to Barb, Cathy and Lapel Stick for providing this!  I will be putting the label on the 4 quilts that my little dynamo of a piecing assistant Susanne whipped up while I was on holidays.  Here is a picture of Susanne putting the borders on Quilt #3 made with the beautiful My Asian Garden collection.  And another picture of me basting Quilt #4 made with the brand spanking new Stonehenge Skins in the Colorado colourway – I love it!  I hope to quilt them this weekend if I get bored piecing another version of my king-size Stonehenge Beauty pattern for a show at the end of the month.
A final word of encouragement is from editor Naomi Ichikawa who reports “A family who escaped from the tsunami and is living temporarily at their relative’s house got a big size quilt to use as a big comforter because they want to sleep all together under the quilt.”  Please keep those quilts coming!

Bài 2.- Tân Thủ Hiến BARRY O’FARRELL

Sinh năm 1959 tại Melbourne, ông Barry O’Farrell sinh sống ở nhiều nơi trên nước Úc vì phụ thân của ông là một quân nhân. Ông Farrell tốt nghiệp trung học từ St. John’s College ở Darwin và sau đó dời về Canberra, bắt đầu theo học ở Australian National University vào năm 1975 về Lịch Sử nước Úc và Chính Trị Học, tốt nghiệp Cử nhân năm 1980.

Tháng 3 năm 1995, ông Farrell đắc cử ghế Dân biểu NSW đơn vị Northcott cho đến khi đơn vị này bị bãi bỏ vào năm 1999. Tháng 3 năm đó, ông Farrell thắng cử ở đơn vị Ku-ring-gai.

Sau khi đảng Tự Do lại thất cử vào năm 2007, ông Farrell được bầu lên làm Lãnh tụ của đảng này và trở thành Lãnh tụ đối lập từ đó cho đến thứ Bảy 26/3/2011 vừa qua.

Tân Thủ Hiến NSW đọc diễn văn đắc cử hôm 26/3/2011

*** Ông O’Farrell phải là một vị dân biểu có tài và phục vụ cử tri rất đắc lực vì trong mỗi kỳ bầu cử mà ông ra tranh, tỷ lệ số phiếu cử tri dành cho ông rất cao: 68.63% (1995, Northcott), 70.03% (1999, Ku-ring-gai), 71.6% (2003, Kup-ring-gai), 78.99%(2007, Ku-ring-gai).

Trong đêm bầu cử 26/3 vừa rồi, ông Farrell đã tỏ ra là một chính trị gia có bản lãnh và một người lãnh đạo tài ba khi ông không để cho niềm hân hoan của một chiến thắng to lớn lôi cuốn khiến ông tuyên bố những lời đao to búa lớn trong bài diễn văn đắc cử.

Trái lại, vị tân Thủ Hiến NSW đã trầm tĩnh nêu rõ những khó khăn trước mặt và kêu gọi mọi người dân NSW phải đồng tâm hiệp lực để đưa tiểu bang này trở lại hàng đầu như trước đây.

Người viết bài thiển nghĩ trong tình trạng tan rã và phân tán như hiện nay, đảng Lao Động ở NSW sẽ mất một thời gian khá lâu để chấn chỉnh nội bộ hầu có khả năng chống lại đảng Tự Do dưới sự lãnh đạo của ông O’Farrell.

Bài 3.- PAULINE HANSON

In the past few days, I have had several pleas for help, asking if Northcott could possibly assist in getting quilts to the earthquake/tsunami victims in Japan.  I consulted with The Prez, and the answer is yes – Northcott will collect quilts sent from Canadian addresses and ship them to Japan at the end of April.  Interested Canadian residents should send their quilts by end April to:
Northcott – Quilts for Japan
101 Courtland Ave.
Vaughan, ON   L4K 3T5

Why only Canadian addresses, you ask?  Because getting quilts across the US/Canada border is a nightmare, and rather costly.  US residents, don’t despair!  Your quilts are wanted too.  Please send them to:

Mission of Love Foundation
2054 Hemlock Court
Youngstown, Ohio 44515 ~ U.S.A.

For more information, check out details at equilter.com. Our contact in Japan has requested NEW quilts only, please, up to a maximum size of 60″ x 70″.  This is a fabulous oppurtunity to use up some of those fat quarters that are languishing in my stash.  I think I may whip up a couple of super-quick quilts using Tricia Cribbs’ Turning Twenty… Again pattern and some of the new Stonehenge Skins fabrics (by Northcott, of course).  I’m going to use a polyester batt because it is much lighter for shipping, and I find that it is warmer than cotton.  I just purchased some new pantographs for my longarm machine, so this will be a great opportunity to try them out.  I’ll keep you posted.

Cheers,

Patti

Creating a blog is a wonderful experience. I will tell you more about my journey to get here in days to come, right now I’m just trying to figure out what all these little buttons do beside my cursor. I know one of them publishes my text and broadcasts it into the entire free world, and another supposedly sends tweets – any bird watchers out there? If I click the big red one I’m sure my computer will suddenly burst into flames and I will lose everything, but the inviting green one promises to make the sun come out and a bluejay to land on my shoulder.

Anyways, thanks for your patience in getting started. I am very excited to share with you all the stories that occupy a normal week here at Northcott and in my spare time as a quilter. More posts are sure to come, and my design team might be changing the look of our site until their creative minds are satisfied.

Looking forward to chatting soon!

Sincerely yours,
Patti.

Was there some need that the WCSSs filled?

The following comment about optimism goes to the atmosphere of the events:

In a recent post Caroline Mustill mentioned her surprise at hearing and reading on this blog that the WCSSs ended with damage to the property. I asked Davies why there were only two WCSSs:

This tallies with Northcott’s recollection, and also with a letter that Hugh Wood showed me, written by ‘Biddy’ Mackintosh and indicating that there was some damage to the property of Cranborne Chase.

One of the reasons I wanted to interview Davies was to clarify how the event came about in the first instance. Birtwistle’s version has it that he put an ad in the Musical Times and that people simply came. When I saw Bayan Northcott on 25 January at Wigmore Hall for a BCMG concert of Leopardi Fragments, The World is Discovered and The Deluge, he said ‘don’t believe a word of what Harry tells you, things don’t just happen’. Davies asked me if I had spoken to Birtwistle, so I told him Birtwistle’s had told me, hoping that Davies would fill out the picture:

Davies had nothing more to add to the explanation. Although Davies is considered one of the driving forces behind the event, he had returned from Princeton only shortly before the start of the 1964 event, and it is likely that he had little to do with the school’s planning.

What of the legacy of the WCSSs:

Davies’s reference to Bayan Northcott reflects the centrality of Northcott’s contribution to my understanding of these events; many of the questions that I was asking were quoting or paraphrasing him.

And how did this event compare to Darmstadt?

That idea quickly dismissed, Davies tells me about meeting Stockhausen:

I’m reminded of Cavell:

‘I believe it is true to say that modernist art – roughly, the art of one’s own generation – has not become a problem for the philosophy contemporary with it (in England and America anyway) [...]‘ Cavell 1976, in Contemplating Music: Community of discourse By Ruth Katz, Carl Dahlhaus.

________________________
What then was Davies’s role there?

His teaching was of Mahler, and Bach, canons and rhythm. I will return to Mahler later, but first, here is Davies’s recollection of his teaching about rhythm:

What, then, did he think his students expected of his teaching?

I asked Davies about his canonic teaching, quoting Northcott’s who had recorded that Davies said that he was writing ‘a canon a day’:

As to his teaching of Bach Inventions:

That his teaching drew on Ratz’s Einfuhrung in die musikalische Formenlehre (actually published in 1951) places Davies firmly within the Schoenbergian tradition that was one of the School’s hallmarks. (See Trackings: composers speak with Richard Dufallo, OUP, 1989). I asked him about Die Reihe:

Given that Davies was teaching Mahler’s Third Symphony at the WCSS, I wanted to know more about what it meant to write a ‘Symphony’ the mid-1960 (it’s not until the mid-1970s that Davies first uses the term in the title of one of his works):

I then quoted Northcott, who quoted Davies saying that the first movement of Mahler’s Third Symphony: ‘should have ended [after the development], that the entire recapitulation is a caving in to convention and therefore a lie’ (see here):

I asked a more specific question about the difficulty of analysing his First Symphony in the light of the problem of recapitulation in Mahler’s Third Symphony:

I asked for his memory of various performances and discussions. Firstly, the Opera Today discussion to which Gilbert’s response was so strong:

His memory of the outdoor concert was no better:

Throughout the interview Davies was quick to tell me if he didn’t remember the events or conversations about which I was asking. He did remember Beardslee’s performance of Pierrot Lunaire:

What  happened between Ecce Manus, composed for the WCSS, and Revelation and Fall, composed soon after?

What of Tragoedia and the significance of this performance for Birtwistle?

________________________

Finally, throughout this research the Melos Ensemble had been discussed as the new music ensemble in Britain at that time. The following makes clear how avant-garde Davies and his contemporaries were and how difficult their demands on the players:

________________________

Increasingly my knowledge of the facts of these events – who was there, what was discussed, what was performed – exceeds that of my interviewees. It is interesting that Birtwistle and Davies, as two of the organizers, have little memory of many of the events. For others, such as Gilbert, the WCSSs were significant points in their development as composers, which reinforces the importance of speaking with as diverse a range of composers and performers as possible.

Northcott has a great fabric line called Stonehedge it’s a great line.  I used this lovely orange in the bargello piece I made for the class that starts this week.  We’ve had a few more come in over the last couple of days that nearly make me want to leave my paycheck in the shop and take it all home.  Oh, it’s quite inspiring.

I brought this bright blue home with me last night and think I’m going to add this and several other fat quarters I have in to the mix with the NY Beauty quilt I have planned.  I love the texture and color in these fabrics – the color range is fantastic.  We’ve had quite a bit in the shop and looking at Northcotts site there’s a whole lot more.  I think I need a bib!

They have purple & orange – two of my very favorite colors.  

This morning as I perused blogs through Google Reader I stopped by How About Orange.  Jessica is a crafter who’s favorite color is orange!  A gal after my own heart.

As an aside I was chatting with another quilter about going to Lancaster for the Quilters Heritage Celebration and sharing with her how every year I went it rained.

The first year I went with the Pelham Quilters as we passed by The Old Country Store the window display happened to be Moda Marbles by Patrick Lose.  Both Renee and I had to head right over.

Back to Jessica’s blog – this morning when I visited she had this link on her site: Career Color Test so being the curious sort I went to check it out.  I was a bit surprised by the first result “Best Occupational Category” – CREATOR – they give a list of occupations that work into this category and quilter fits this listing.

The “2nd Best Occuptional Category” is ORGANIZER – well usually.  I’ve been a bit scattered for a while and my sewing room reflects that.  Oh well.

Happy Quilting!

Teri

The greatest strength of Anderson’s work is to focus attention on the change in value of information. What was once a product is now given freely to heighten the value of another product. For this blog, conducting research involves monetary cost that is counterbalanced by my ability to sell the musicological skills that this blog displays. One of the frustrations (widely shared) of scholarly publishing is that word limits and reader interest restrict the level detail that can be disseminated in any one article of monograph. Data is deployed as necessary to providing evidence to support an argument. The problem for other researchers is that without the data sets (to borrow terms from scientific enquiry) the results are unable to be verified by repeated (and varied) analysis. Whilst my aim is not to prove the arguments I engage, nevertheless it is essential that I make available as much of the raw data of this research as possible. The first motivation for this blog was to make available details that I was unable to access during my doctoral studies. These details are for the most part of low level interest, but build a picture of a era and its contemporary understanding and will be useful for the research of others. One of the most exciting aspects of working with a blog is the ease with which different levels of data and argument can be connected and filtered.

Similarly, statistics such as ‘views per day’ and ‘referrer’ are available to me at the click of a button, bringing immediate feedback that shapes new avenues of research. Recently there were a large number of views referred to the blog by Wikipedia. For anyone interested in contemporary copyright issues Wikipedia is (and has been for some time) one of the most visible aspects of the changes in citation.

Over the past couple of months significant changes have been made to wikipedia’s Melos Ensemble article, which now includes information about their involvement with the Wardour Castle Summer Schools, using information from this blog. It’s information that is all clearly cited and it’s an excellent entry. One of the main contributors is identified by the name Gerda Arendt, who has also contributed articles on several of the Melos Ensemble’s members, and much else besides. What interested me was a discussion that took place on Arendt’s ‘user talk’ section of wikipedia. One of the posts, written by someone known as Eebahgum, included the following:

The Wardour Castle Summer Schools are indeed interesting: but Dr Hooper, the researcher in your link (external, a blog), has collected much information on the subject already, and lays it out as being his own research. In justice to him I would steer away from actually making an article on the subject as it is enough to redirect the reader to Dr Hooper’s webpage. You could also add in the other site (Boosey and Hawkes Composers site) with a timeline on Harrison Birtwistle which gives the dates and the fact that HB, Alexander Goehr and Maxwell Davies were co-founders and Tippett the President. That site also explains that the reason for the site being chosen was that Birtwistle held a teaching post at the school at New Wardour Castle and make the links accordingly. (00:40, 16 December 2009 (UTC))

Arendt replied with:

Thank you for your detailed response on my talk! I changed WCSS and incorporated your Boosey as ref. A no-blog source for the concerts there would be desirable but I don’t see one at the moment and think the special kind of programming there is worth mentioning, just the facts. (12:39, 16 December 2009 (UTC))

Two aspects of this are worthy of note. Firstly, the value of citing other research is alive and well, bolstered by a quest for accuracy. Secondly, the nature of this blog as a research project is helping to identify its contents as my work, to be cited rather than copied. Of course, I am pleased that the blog is useful for others in forming new understandings of what went on and its continuing significance and I look forward to its cited use in future wikipedia articles.

Finally, the information about links to this blog is presented to me as part of my work, not as something that I need actively to seek out. This means that I am better able to keep track of the aspects of the WCSS that need closer investigation. The recording company NMC linked to this blog in one of their tweets, which has directed people to listen to the comments by Bayan Northcott (one of NMC’s long-time associates) contained in several recent posts. NMC was alerted to by post about him by way of google alerts (as they will to this post, so hello!), and I have subsequently set up several of these to alerts me to new discussions of the Wardour Castle Summer Schools.

It’s nice when it all works and links together.

Sunday, 15 August at 8 p.m.

BETHANY BEARDSLEE, soprano

EMMANUEL HURWITZ, violin

STEPHEN PRUSLIN, pianoforte

I. Five Songs . . Schubert

Ganymed (Goethe)

Auflösung (Mayrhofer)

Nachtviolen (Mayrhofer)

Auf dem Wasser zu singen (Stoliberg)

An Sylvia (Shakespeare)

II. Chansons de Bilitis (Pierre Louys) . . Debussy

III. Sonata No. 13 in B-flat major for piano and violin, K. 454 . . Mozart

INTERVAL – 25 MINUTES

IV. Two Songs . . Schoenberg

Ich darf nicht dankend (Stefan George)

In diesen Wintertagen (G. Henckel)

Three Songs, opus 25 (Hildegard Jone) . . Webern

Wie bin ich froh

Des Herzens Purpurvogel

Sterne, Ihr silbernen Bienen

V. Philomel for soprano, recorded soprano, and synthesized sound . . Milton Babbitt

To begin, Northcott made some general remarks about Bethany Beardslee, one of the featured performers of the 1965 WCSS:

Monday, 16 August at 8 p.m.

BETHANY BEARDSLEE, soprano

Melos Ensemble

EMANUEL HURWITZ, violin

CECIL ARONOWITZ, viola

TERENCE WEIL, cello

COLIN CHAMBERS, flute and piccolo

GERVASE DE PEYER, clarinet

ALAN HACKER, bass clarinet

ERIC ROSEBERRY, piano

EDWARD DOWNES, director

I. Trio No. 1 in B-flat major for pianoforte, violin, and violoncello, opus 99 . . Schubert

INTERVAL – 25 MINUTES

II. Pierrot Lunaire, opus 21 . . Schoenberg

This was one of the most significant concerts of the 1965 summer school, and the impact of the Pierrot Lunaire here is deep and long lasting. Northcott suggests that this may well have been the genesis of the Pierrot Players. First, thought, he confirms some of Hugh Wood’s information about the lighting:

Northcott then describes the performance, particularly striking for its information about Maxwell Davies:

Tuesday, 17 August at 5 p.m.

RECITAL

by LEONARD STEIN, piano

Bagatelles . . Beethoven

Three Piano Pieces . . Alexander Goehr

Prelude for Piano and Tape . . Subotnick

(short pause)

Cocktail Music . . Salvatore Martirano

Piano Pieces OP. 23 . . Schoenberg

NB there was no performance of Boulez’s Third Piano Sonata as one of the earlier flyers had indicated. Part of Northcott’s response to my question about Boulez was to mention that Bill Colleran has set up a shop in the hall for the summer school, selling, amongst other things, Boulez’s Third Piano Sonata.

Wednesday, 18 August at 8 p.m.

Melos Ensemble:

EMANUEL HURWITZ, violin

KAY HURWITZ, viola

LEONARD FRIEDMAN, violin

CECIL ARONOWITZ, viola

TERENCE WEIL, cello

WILLIAM BENNETT, flute

ALAN HACKER, bass clarinet

ERIC ROSENBERRY, piano

STEPHEN PRUSLIN, piano

BARBARA ELSY, Soprano

PAULINE STEVENS, contralto

IAN PARTRIDGE, tenor

GEOFFREY SHAW, bass

ALEXANDER GOEHR, director

I. Busoni – Canonic Variations and Fugue for pianoforte on the theme of King Frederick the Great from Bach’s Musical Offering.

followed by

II. Bach – Six Part Ricercar from the Musical Offering.

The six-part ricercar, which follows the Busoni work, will be performed in an instrumental arrangement by Alexander Goehr.

III. Mozart: Quartet for flute, violin, viola, and violoncello in D major, K. 285

IV. Cantata on texts by Edward Benlowes . . Robin Holloway

First performance written for Summer School

V. Cryes of London . . Orlando Gibbons

VI. Fourteen Ways of Describing Rain . . Hanns Eisler

Holloway’s Cantata was performed only in part:

Thursday, 19 August at 5 p.m.

BARBARA ELSY, Soprano

PAULINE STEVENS, contralto

IAN PARTRIDGE, tenor

GEOFFREY SHAW, bass

TRISTRAM FRY, percussion

Aquil Altera . . Jacapo da Bologna

In tua memoria . . Arnold de Lantins

Westron Wynde . . Anon

Western Wind Mass . . John Taverner

Pause

Veni sancte spiritus . . Robert Sherlaw Johnson

(First performance written for Summer School)

Little Cantata of Proverbs (Blake) . . Alexander Goehr

_________

Sibylla Delphica

La nuit Froide et Sombre

Fuyone Tous

Bonjour mon coer

Ich weiss ich ein madlein . . Orlando di Lasso

Northcott’s comments here are more valuable for their suggestions of the flavour of the time than there are to the concert at hand. He begins with Alexander Goehr:

And continues with Bill Hopkins:

The earlier concert flyer had given Birtwistle’s Ring a Dumb Carillon as having it’s first performance at this concert. The published programme booklet (submitted to the Arts Council) didn’t list it as one of the pieces performed, but Northcott seemed to think that it was performed:

Friday, 20 August at 8 p.m.

EMANUEL HURWITZ, violin

LEONARD FRIEDMAN, violin

CECIL ARONOWITZ, viola

TERENCE WEIL, cello

WILLIAM BENNETT, flute

PETER GRAEME, oboe

WILLIAM WATERHOUSE, bassoon

NEIL SANDERS, horn

HILLARY WILSON, harp

BARBARA ELSY, soprano

PAULINE STEVENS, contralto

IAN PARTRIDGE, tenor

GEOFFREY SHAW, bass

MEMBERS OF THE SUMMER SCHOOL

LAWRENCE FOSTER, director

PETER MAXWELL DAVIES, director

I. Canon for Syntagma Musicum (1619) . . Michael Praetorius

_________

II. Dunstable:

voices and instruments: Sanctus and Agnus Dei

organ: Sub tuam protectionem

voices and instruments: Motet, “Veni Sancte Spiritus – Veni Creator”

III. (a) Plainsong, Gloria Tibi Trinitas

(b) Benedictus, from “Gloria Tibit Trinitas” Mass . . John Taverner

(c) In Nomine . . John Taverner

(d) In Nomine . . Thomas Tallis

(e) Gloria Tibi Trinitas . . John Blitheman

(f) Two “In Nomines” . . Peter Maxwell Davies

(g) Fantasia (In Nomine) . . Henry Purcell

The two new “In Nomines” use the plainsong, and the instrumental versions of the Tallis and Blitheman are by Maxwell Davies.

Tragoedia . . Harrison Birtwistle

First performance, commissioned by the Melos Ensemble for the Summer School

INTERVAL – 25 MINUTES

V. Motet – Ecce Manus Tradentis . . Peter Maxwell Davies

Again, this is one of the most significant concerts of the summer school. Northcott began his comments with the Maxwell Davies arrangement of Taverner, Tallis, Blitheman and Purcell. The programme here is slightly misleading, and the music performed is now entitled Seven In Nomine. Maxwell Davies’s website gives a programme note in which he writes that the first five were premiered at the Wardour Castle Summer School in ‘September [sic] 1965′ with the complete work performed for the first time in December 1965.

Then came Tragoedia. Northcott here is fascinating:

[Edit, 8 January 2010, Birtwistle indicated to me that the changes to Tragoedia were minor:

Northcott’s comments about the Times review (here) are here noteworthy and it seems likely that Northcott is right and that the entire work was performed in this concert. Northcott then moves on to Ecce Manus:

Saturday, 21 August at 5 p.m.

RECITAL

ROGER SMALLEY, piano

BRIAN DENNIS, baritone

WILLIAM YORK, clarinet

JOHN WHITE, tenor horn

Two Pieces from Amores for prepared piano . . John Cage

Last Pieces . . Morton Feldman

February Pieces I, II, III . . Cornelius Cardew

Neumes Rhythmiques

Ile de Feu I . . Messiaen

_________

Pause

_________

Piano Pieces . . Karlheinz Stockhausen

Two Poems of D. H. Lawrence

for baritone, clarinet, tenor horn, piano (1st performance) . . Roger Smalley

Participants’ Concert:

Bach: Double Concerto for 2 vioins in D minor. Leonard Freeman and Emanuel Hurwitz.

Bach: Cantata conducted by John Aldis and sung by participants. Solo parts by Barbara Elsy, Pauline Stevens, Geffrey Shaw and Ian Partridge.

March ‘Verdi’ from Macbeth played by Participants and conducted by Alan Hacker.

David Bedford: Dream of the Seven Lost Stars written for the Summer School and conducted by John Aldis.

I showed Northcott the above programme, and then some of the other information from different sources. He seemed vague about the other works, recalling clearly only the Bedford:

He began with some contextual remarks about the scene, and the position of Maxwell Davies, Birtwistle and Goehr.

First a comment about the number of people in attendence:

He continues, providing a context for understanding how they were able to draw so many participants:

On the morning of the first day, the participants made their way to Tisbury:

Upon arrival, Northcott first met Bill Hopkins and Robin Holloway:

On Saturday, 15th August there was a dinner and people explored the house.

On Sunday, 16th at 9am:
Composition class with Alexander Goehr, talking about rhythm and articulation

Then there was a rehearsal of the choir, conducted by John Alldis:

Lunch; then a composition class with Alexander Goehr:

Tea, then at 5.0 p.m. a lecture by Alexander Goehr:

Music in Our Time
ALEXANDER GOEHR will lecture on certain aspects of contemporary music with particular reference to works being performed in the evening concert.

Following the lecture was more choir practice, dinner and a concert by the Melos Ensemble, introduced by Michael Tippett:

8.30 pm Wardour Castle Assembly Room

MUSIC IN OUR TIME
Introduced by Michael Tippett
A concert of contemporary English Music.
MELOS ENSEMBLE
Three Piano Pieces – Hugh Wood
Monody for Corpus Christi – Harrison Birtwistle
Piano Sonata – Anthony Gilbert
Second Piano Sonata – Michael Tippett
Five Little Pieces (first performance) – Peter Maxwell Davies
Suite Op.11 – Alexander Goehr

Monday, 17th, 9am:
Composition class with Hugh Wood, analyzing Schoenberg’s op. 19, no. 4:

Then more choir with Maxwell Davies, lunch and composition class with Alexander Goehr and Michael Tippett:

5.0 p.m:

Early Organ Music            Recital 5.0 p.m.
Peter Maxwell Davies will introduce and play early music on a newly restored Snitzler organ. Works by: Dunstable, Taverner, Byrd, Tomkins, Gabrielli, Scheidt, Zipoli etc.

Then a choir rehearsal with John Alldis, and the evening concert:

Chamber Concert 8.30 p.m.
Melos Ensemble
Pianoforte Trio in F sharp minor Haydn
Six Little Piano Pieces, op. 19 Schoenberg
Seven Sketches, op. 9 Bartok
Première Rhapsodie for clarinet and piano Debussy
Four Pieces for clarinet and piano, op.5 Berg
Fantasia in C minor, K475 Mozart
Trio for Piano, Violin and Horn, op.40 Brahms

Tuesday, 18th

Composition class at 9am:

then choir:

and composition class with Maxwell Davies, talking canonic and rhythmic aspects of his work, with an aside about Britten’s War Requiem [late in the interview Northcott clarified that this aside was actually made on the Friday, after the rehearsal for the evening concert at the Old Wardour Castle], Stravinsky’s Threni:

Quartet for the End of Time Lecture 5.0 p.m.
Olivier Messiaen, the Man and His Music
given by Hugh Wood

Then more choir, in Northcott’s account including Verdi’s Ave Maria and Bruckner’s Gradual: Christus factus est. Neither of these pieces appears in the published programmes:

The evening concert was as follows:

Clarinet Trio in E flat K498            Mozart
Four Impromptus, op. 142            Schubert
Quatuor pour la fin du temps Olivier Messiaen

The Melos Ensemble performed; Nortcott comments on their presence at the WCSSs:

Wednesday, 19th:

Instead of composition class, in the morning was the first workshop by members of the Melos Ensemble of works especially composed for the WCSS. All of those who had nominated themselves as composers were invited to write a work for this occasion. The pieces rehearsed were by Edward Cowie, Philip Pilkington. (LS100049, 33’57″)

Northcott didn’t attend the 5.0 p.m. recital of Bach, Rameau and Couperin, but did return for the evening discussion about opera:

Opera Today 8.0 p.m.
Alexander Goehr, Peter Maxwell Davies, Michael Tippett
Chairman: Harrison Birtwistle

Thursday, 20th:

The 9am composition class was devoted to listening to a recording Messiaen’s Turangalîla:

Northcott confirmed the McGaw recital as following the printed programme, with Mendelssohn, C.P.E. Bach and Satie. Northcott missed the Pruslin (then aged 24) lecture, Characterization in Mozart Opera.

Following the lecture was a concert including music by Cage and Feldman, put on by Roger Smalley and David Bedford, which doesn’t appear in any programmes:

Friday, 21st:

Owing to the ‘glorious weather’ Northcott took leave of the official routine and spent time talking to Patrick Carnegie.

After the break was a composition class, with Northcott’s piece being workshopped. The following is included for those interested in Northcott’s early composition:

After lunch, Northcott, with Edward Cowie and Maxwell Davies walked to the Old Wardour Castle, discussing conducting along the way. The evening concert took place there and there was a rehearsal.

8.30 pm Old Wardour Castle
Nocturnal
A concert in the open air of English and Italian echo-music from the 16th and 17th centuries for brass and voices
Given by: Gabrieli Ensemble and Choir conducted by Peter Maxwell Davies, Alexander Goehr.
Music by Maschera, Isaac, A and G. Gabrielli

Wood’s files included a document which gives the details of this concert:

Canzon Cornetto a 4 Scheidt
Quam Pulchra Es Dunstable
Courant Dolorosa a 4 Scheidt
Paduan a 4 Scheidt
Cor Mio, mentre vi miro Monteverdi
Air, Corante, Allemande, Corante, Saraband Cocke
INTERVAL
Sonata, Hora decima No. 6 Johannes Pezel
Sonata, Hora decima No. 39 Pezel
Adieu, Adieu, my heart’s lust Cornish
Fair Phyllis I saw Farmer
Draw on, sweet night Wilbye
April is in my mistress’s face Morley
Canzon Primi Toni a 8 Morley
Canzon Septimi Toni a 8 G. Gabrielli

Northcott comments on the concert, some of the problems in performance and confirms the contents of the concert.

Saturday, 22nd:

Most of the day was spent rehearsing for the evening participants’ concert.

The programme is as follows:

Concert 8.30 p.m.
Participants Concert
A concert given by the participants of the summer school
Conductors: John Carewe, Michael Tippett
Morgengesang C. P. E. Bach
Sequentia Sanctia Evangeli Secundam Lucan [sic, Sequentia Sancti Evangelii Secundum Lucam], in illo Tempore XXII 14-20 Peter Maxwell Davies
Ave Maria Verdi
Gradual: Christus factus est Bruckner
Music for a film scene Schoenberg
Canzona II David Ellis
Movement Neville Gambier
Castle Music Anthony Gilbert
Serenade Op.11 Brahms [three movements only]

Northcott’s comments here are especially enlightening, with asides about compositional priorities at the time (‘relevance’, ‘unity’) and the notion of basing works on early music. He neglects to mention Tippett’s Little Music for Strings, although he does mention Tippett as being there conducting the rehearsal for this.

The day ended with a late-night party.

Sunday, 23rd:

Bill Hopkins drove Northcott, Robin Holloway and Anne Carr-Boyd back to London.

That Wish List keeps getting longer…

1964:

Roger Smalley, John Bulley (sp?), Bill Hopkins, Robin Holloway, David Ellis, David Bedford, Edward Cowie, Brian Ferneyhough?.

1965:

Bayan Northcott, Stephen Arnold, William Coates, Brian Ferneyhough.

When moving to a foreign place, and becoming part of a totally different educational system, one expects to find major differences, expects that one will have to adjust to radical transformations.  And so it usually turns out.  But often, it seems, those differences are not at all the ones you expected.  So it has proved in my case.  Sure, the accents are weird.  But it turns out that more than half the time, I’m surrounded by fellow Americans, so what is most surprising is is the familiarity of everyone’s accents.

Sure, the currency’s weird, but everything costs about the same in pounds as it did in dollars, so that’s a pretty simple adjustment, right?

Sure, the weather’s crazy and unpredictable, but Moscow had its fair share of that too, and once you simply abandon the idea of expecting any weather in particular, and just expect all weather at once, it becomes pretty straightforward.

And of course, they require a lot less of you in terms of schoolwork here than I’m used to at NSA, but then, I’m used to doing a self-imposed over-workload, so, that adjustment has been pretty straightforward.

The most unexpected, intriguing, and fascinating new experience for me here at New College, here outside America, has been quite simply that of being outside America.  America looks very different from over here, from the outside, through the eyes of those who are not citizens of it.  In our family, we have a favorite quote, from the movie The Cutting Edge (the source of most of favorite quotes)–after being told by Kate that she does have a boyfriend, but he lives in London, Doug retorts, “Bet you look pretty good from three thousand miles away.”  To this testimony we might add that of the familiar adage, “absence makes the heart grow fonder.”  But, unfortunately, neither has been true in my case.  Absence from the good ol’ US of A has not made me any fonder of it (and most of my friends will tell you, I was none too fond when I left), and I’m afraid it does not look very good from 3,000 miles away; in fact, it looks pretty pathetic.

Part of this, of course, is a purely personal phenomenon…from the outside, one has the opportunity to get a bit of perspective, and reading about one’s homeland in the news makes one realize just how confused and senseless it is these days.  But to a greater extent, it is because I am surrounded by so many non-Americans, who have a rather less rosy view of America than that which we tend to paint for ourselves.  This is particularly true of Dr. Northcott, who is doing his best to live up to the billing of “the thinking man’s Michael Moore.”  So far, not a single class period has passed, either in Theology and the Global Economy, or in Christian Ethics, that he has not managed to find a way to segue into a rant of some kind about the US government.  It’s become a sort of standing joke among my classmates; and we have something of a bet going to see if we’ll make it all term without him missing a rant.  My favorite quote so far was when he said, “You know, in some ways it was better when Bush and Cheney were in charge, because at least then you knew what you were dealing with–I mean, these guys were outright mendacious.  Now that Obama’s in charge, you might actually get tricked into thinking that there’s some hope for the US government.”

And that has been perhaps the most remarkable change of perspective; suddenly being surrounded by conservative Christians to whom it seems self-evident that Obama is, relatively speaking, a good thing.  We Americans got a hard time when Obama got the Nobel Peace Prize, and the favorite jab was that, well, it makes sense, because it’s all relative; when the world sees that there’s an American president who has managed to go 9 months without invading or bombing somewhere, they exclaim, “Oh look, a peacemaker!”  I have a good friend here who is a conservative Christian and yet prominently displays in his flat  a signed letter from Obama that he received when he enthusiastically wrote to him during his campaign.  I just don’t think we realize quite how hated the imperialistic policies of Bush and Cheney made us, all around the world.

But all this has made me realize how lucky I was to choose to come study here, because, especially for someone studying political and economic theology, the educational benefits of simply being here, outside the US, make this better than even the very best education I could get at a US program.  Having to look at my home country, and all of her assumptions about politics, economics, justice, church, etc., through a whole new set of binoculars has been as much an education as anything I’ve gotten from the syllabus.

The spirit of Karl Barth seems to have also taken up residence here, no doubt largely due to the powerful influence of the late great T.F. Torrance, whose mighty shadow still lies over this institution.  This is an odd change from my former theological environment, where Barth was generally either frowned upon or celebrated in the dark corners as super-cool by wannabe theological rebels like myself.

When it comes to the living, however, surely the greatest shadow is cast by no other than Oliver O’Donovan, who, though he is on sabbatical, still seems to find his way into conversations and class discussions everywhere.  Our Christian Ethics class has been a particularly humorous example of this.  The teacher this semester, Professor Northcott (my temporary supervisor) finds himself in an awkward position, having once upon a time taught this class before O’Donovan arrived three years ago, but now taking it up again after O’Donovan has placed his unmistakable stamp upon it.  Northcott seems to feel as if he has a little O’Donovan angel (or demon?) standing on his shoulder throughout the class, and he will frequently find himself apologizing to it or arguing with it or seeking to justify himself before it.  ”Well, I’m not sure what Oliver would say…well yes, actually I suppose he would disagree with this…I know he would say such-and-such…and yes, I’m sure there’s something to that, but really, I feel that it’s better to put it this way” or “I don’t know why that’s on the syllabus…I didn’t make it–Oliver did.  If I had made it…well, no…perhaps Oliver was right…I suppose that does make sense.”

I often find upperclassmen expressing a sort of condescending sympathy that we don’t have O’Donovan this semester, but really, I find all that annoying.  I prefer to spend this semester whetting my appetite on the delightful starters that are on offer, and then feast on O’Donovan as the main course next semester.  I think that if I had the benefit of O’Donovan from the get-go, I would not have taken advantage of the opportunity to get to know the other great folks around here and their perspectives, chief among whom of course is Michael Northcott, and the teacher of my Ethics and Theology and the Global Economy classes.

Northcott is something of an eco-hippie, with flowing grey locks, scraggly beard, and a curiously misguided dress sense.  He manages to combine an air of tragic resignation with a buoyant sense of humor and love of fun, which is perhaps what any Christian ethicist in our sad day and age must do.  A representative exclamation, of the sort that he makes several times a class: “This room is the oilman’s dream come true!  We are simultaneously running the heating and cooling systems in this room, both using fossil fuels!”  I thought that Northcott’s ecological obsession would turn me off, but, quite the contrary, it usually proves to be fairly well-balanced, Biblically-grounded, and situated in the midst of fascinating reflections about the proper relationships between economics, the land, and the people of God.  I’m turning greener by the day.  A review on the cover of one of Northcott’s books proclaims him “The thinking man’s Michael Moore,” but that should assuredly be taken as a compliment to Michael Moore, not an insult to Michael Northcott.  Northcott’s teaching style is endlessly amusing, as he is anything but a systematic thinker, and he tends to ramble along overgrown, unexplored mental pathways, tying together (or rather, lazily interwining) a selection of random strands of thought, moving from Henry VIII to Augustine to Margaret Thatcher to purgatory in a dizzying, ever-twisting path that often strays off from the class discussion into a ten-minute monologue.  And these monologues happen several times every class, usually contradicting themselves as he first vents his ire at the individual under discussion (today Barth), then seeks to defend him from unfair criticism, then laments his errors again, and lastly applauds his wisdom.

It is apparent to me that I picked the right name for my son, given my impending destination.  Whereas in the States, Soren’s name seemed to be greeted by a certain amount of mystification, or at best, a sort of rolling of the eyes–”Oh yeah, that Kierkegaard”–here, it has brought him instant celebrity.  Literally every time someone at New College asks his name, they respond, “Soren?!  As in Kierkegaard?  Awesome!!” or words to that effect.  Sometimes, the response is considerably more dramatic, as in today, when, following the Communion service (at which my friend Robert, who was presiding, blessed Soren by name when he was distributing the elements to each of us), we were accosted in the foyer by the resident Philosophy professor and Kierkegaard fanatic, Simon Podmore.  ”I’d heard the rumor around the school that someone had named their son Soren, and then I heard his name in the service today!  Is it really true?  Did you name him after Kierkegaard?  Tell me the story!  We need to get together for coffee!”

And of course, all the womenfolk are constantly doting on Soren.  I’m beginning to think a steady supply of cute children may be a more successful path to fame and popularity than a steady supply of brilliant books!

The cemetery as it appeared on Sept. 12, 2009

Joseph Fielding Dickens   July 24, 1907 – Jan. 31, 1908

Flora Dickins, Wife of J. T. McKnight

Dec. 3, 1875 – Sept. 5, 1918

Infant son of J. T. & Flora McKnight    Born & died 1913

Plemley McKnight, Daughter of J. T. & Flora McKnight

Aug. 20, 1908 – July 9, 1909

Dora Northcott   May 10, 1847 – Jan. 13, 1930

Nancy C. Todd, Wife of James A. Todd

Oct. 3, 1859 – May 7, 1880

Mentioned in the Rutherford County Cemetery Book but not seen is the following.  The inscription is probably on the other side of the stone of Flora McKnight, his wife.  The stone is on the ground and too heavy to move.

James T. McKnight, Jr., Son of A. L. & J. M. McKnight

Dec. 14, 1916 – Jan. 12, 1919

Others mentioned in the cemetery book but not seen are:

J. R. McKnight   Sept. 1, 1842 – June 30, 1923

Mary McKnight   April 16, 1844 – Nov. 23, 1923