Yes, that IS the name of the latest CD by Red Priest . Yesterday we did a 100-mile round-trip to see them at Swaledale Festival . It was a really worthwhile journey despite lousy weather which dampened the Dales' bucolic charms, especially for poor gran who was struggling to negotiate the puddles with her bandaged leg.
This group is just spectacular. All brilliant musicians who specialize in historic performance, they take the spirit of the baroque at its most literal and, where necessary, happily reinvent and improvise. This was really evident in this tour, where a recorder-led quartet is taking on the work of Johann [geddit?] Sebastian Bach, despite the fact that Bach didn't compose for recorder. And it's absolutely marvellous stuff - familiar old warhorses like the Brandenburg Concertos, Toccata and Fugue in D min, and Badinerie take on a completely new life that's genuinely exciting while retaining a core of authenticity (the Swingle Singers it ain't!). DD is, of course, a very serious young recorder player and was lucky enough to be sitting directly in front of recorder genius, Piers Adams. She watched his technique like a hawk and every time he picked up a different instrument, I could see her mentally building her new shopping list.
But, above all, it's the spirit of fun and the interaction between the musicians that stays in your mind - sparkling talent demonstrated with the lightest of touches.
Playfulness is the word that springs to mind - the sheer pleasure of being really good at something, experimenting with and enjoying it for its own merits, rather than following tramlines towards a safe definition of standardized recognition. Pretty much an analogy for educating otherwise - no wonder we love this group!
Sunday 30 May 2010
Thursday 6 May 2010
Election day
Well, I voted. I didn't spoil my ballot paper with scribbles or "None of the above" (my default position since Iraq dispelled all my illusions). The party whose policies chime best with my own (increasingly anarchistic) views didn't field a candidate in my constituency, so I was left with a choice between the big 3 and the scary ultra-right. So I voted for the party/candidate on the ballot paper that looked likely to do least harm. Who knows, maybe millions of other disillusioned old party loyalists might have done the same?
Weirdly, I've come to the realization that I've become a single-issue voter: I really want a hung parliament because a government that has to heavily negotiate over the big things is less likely to try and mess with home education. Selfish? Probably. But ... look at the alternatives, none of them too pretty!
Dd observed the voting process and was shocked at how quickly a voter's duty is discharged. She's looking forward to staying up to watch the results - gonna be a looooooong night. All the older HE kids seem to have really discovered politics this time around. Who knows, we may have a future prime minister among them?
Weirdly, I've come to the realization that I've become a single-issue voter: I really want a hung parliament because a government that has to heavily negotiate over the big things is less likely to try and mess with home education. Selfish? Probably. But ... look at the alternatives, none of them too pretty!
Dd observed the voting process and was shocked at how quickly a voter's duty is discharged. She's looking forward to staying up to watch the results - gonna be a looooooong night. All the older HE kids seem to have really discovered politics this time around. Who knows, we may have a future prime minister among them?
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