January 31st
Today I’ve been finishing off January with printing and invoices and lists and emails ready for a new start. I also gathered produce from the garden to make some bortsch, which was scrumptious. Across the river from us is The Running Fox​, and because of this The Bridge Singers​ is learning this song, Reynold The Fox, for our concert “Bridges, Rivers and Other Village Friends” coming up in April or May.

January 30th
We went to Berwick-Upon-Tweed today, intending to do the Lowry Trail. Although revelling in the sight of the wonderful Tweed bridges and this church (the only one built during the time of Oliver Cromwell’s “reign”) we were defeated by the snow, or rather by the driving, freezing wind upon which the snow raged at us. However, nice windows in the church, and it’s Thomas Tallis’ birthday – one of my favourites. Here ‘s Rock Festival Choir singing O Nata Lux back in the day. I also learned today that Charles Dickens was once in Berwick, which will be useful for later. Lowry will also have to wait for later.

January 29th
Today I have been a lazy plop. However, due to some substantial marketing efforts, this song has been listened to over 50 times this week, including over 40 today. It’s my setting of “A Red Red Rose” by Robert Burns, and is available in three parts for SSA or TTB if you’d like to sing it. This is the first half of it with a lovely picture from Frances of my happy Dad with a piece of Auntie Vera’s birthday cake on Thursday.

January 28th
Today we’ve driven through some gnarly traffic to Worksop and back to see Great Auntie Vera on her 90th birthday. Here she is opening some sweeties from Michael and that’s George, Mum and me posing in the background. Photo by Frances. After that we went to Lionheart Harmony and were very jolly as ever. This is Jamie singing my “I’d Like A Zebra For My Birthday, If You Please” round. She did not get a zebra for her birthday, but has very happy with all her flowers, books, sweeties and visitors.

January 27th
It’s been a choiry day with composing, arranging, researching and recording. Also I sorted out a library-book-renewal snarl at Morpeth Library – oh how I and the librarians laughed at the amusing quirks of their computer system. I went out to record nature again this afternoon, but the mighty wind interfered terribly with that, so here instead is yesterday’s sunset with Charles Grey atop his column in Newcastle and Great Auntie Vera on verses 1 and 3 of my trafficky song “I Wanna Car”. She’s from Gateshead, you know, which is nearby, and also will be 90 tomorrow. We’ll all be there to celebrate – with cake and anecdotes, no doubt.

January 26th
I’ve been reading some more local history today, and also went to Newcastle in the late afternoon to pick up some music and to meet Jamie from his Peterborough train. The sunset was rather dramatic and as I was looking for a nature photo to take for Jeni​, I nabbed a couple of good ones of the sky. However, as I emerged from Fenwick’s into the gloaming I spotted for the first time ever this illuminated green wall at Marks & Spencer on Northumberland Street. There was a busker drummer too, near their doorway, with home made hitty things, so for once it’s a simultaneous picture/sound combo (with wind).

January 25th
Today I have learned a new song: Brig O’ Dye, words by Robert Burns, tune is Ruffian’s Rant. We sang it at The Bridge Singers tonight by way of a happy birthday to the poet. We also sang more of our jovial Reynard The Fox song, came to grips with more of Anerio, and started a bit of Simon & Garfunkel. Absolutely love this choir directing mularky with these oh so very happy, lovely people. I also learnt a few new Scottish words and how to pronounce Menzies if you’re Scottish, and had a very lovely chat with a long-lost relative – the first chat in 38 or so years. Hurrah for Burns Night!. It’s also the three sycamores from up the street – love ’em too. Here’s the Burns:
In comin by the brig o Dye,
At Darlet we a blink did tarry;
As day was dawin in the sky,
We drank a health to bonie Mary.
Theniel Menzies’ bonie Mary,
Theniel Menzies’ bonie Mary,
Charlie Grigor tint his plaidie,
Kissin Theniel’s bonie Mary.

January 24th
Jeni​ wants nature, so I went out into the garden this evening to record what nature had to offer. This is the view of our street from behind the pampas grass which has never before in all our 12 years here produced any seed heads, but this year has three. Result! Meanwhile, you can hear in varying amounts the river, distant traffic, clay pigeon shooting, birdlife, wind in the pampas leaves, a vehicle heading up the hill. Inside today, I have finished my Reynold The Fox arrangement, written up last week’s workshops in the portfolio section of my website, and done a load of cleaning and sorting.

January 23rd
Today I have been making learning tracks for The Bridge Singers. Here’s the bass track for Down By The Old Mill Stream. This lady is Madame Bovis as immortalised in the stained glass window in her family’s monument at the cemetery in Montmartre. Perhaps immortalised is the wrong word as you can see that she has been damaged and I guess one day may not be there at all.

January 22nd
Today’s been a wrap-puff-pastry-round-Auntie-Enid’s-cream-horn-moulds, chat-with-choir-friends-old-and-new, hear-fascinating-local-history-stories-to-research-further sort of day. In one of my “old friends” chats I discovered that Anne is learning this with one of her choirs – Boo To My Ration Book, a song about WW2 rationing and the dearth of bananas in Britain at the time. It’s a partner song for the popular shortage-of-eggs-in-WW2 song, Hey Little Hen. This is a street light I recently found rather attractive.

January 21st
Today I have delivered some workshops for jovial and up-for-it primary school teachers at the Hepworth in Wakefield. These are the out-takes from the three groups’ excellent world premieres. Also, I went there on the train from Worksop through the most spectacular sunrise – this is the scene at Meadowhall Interchange – three lots of lighting as you see. Also, this evening a five-person Lionheart Harmony rehearsal full of jollity as usual. Also, this morning, I got to go in Michael​’s new car. Such a merry day.

January 20th
Today I’ve mostly been train travelling again – south for workshops in Wakefield tomorrow morning. In other news I had a message from someone I don’t know who’d heard my piece Autumn Sea this morning in a workshop and enjoyed it. This is a picture from the Pompidou Centre – it’s Autour d’un Point by František Kupka. My favourite thing in the gallery being gazed at for a very long time by an unknown man on a bench, and being walked past by “my beautiful Australian” as he was described by an friendly Frenchman earlier in the day.

January 19th
Today I have been making learning tracks for eager The Bridge Singers . This is the tricky tenor part for Anerio’s Factum Est Silentium – it’s the rhythm that causes the issues as so often. The photo is Liberty on the Arc de Triomphe – she has a dragon on her head, and this song deals with a dragon. Also I’ve been organising my trip for Thursday’s Creative Carousel at The Hepworth Wakefield – sounds like a whole load of whoopity-whoooh fun, eh? It will be too – six creative practitioners (me, Sarah, Matt, Laura, Gillian and Jo) all on hand delivering action-packed, insightful and inspiring workshops to eager primary school teachers. Such wonderful opportunities for schools are on offer at the gallery with us lot. Have a look and come along! http://www.hepworthwakefield.org/learning/teachers/

January 18th
Today we started off in Paris, walked down to the Gare du Nord for an early train back to London. Jamie was working there today so I headed north on a couple of trains and a bus, and prepared myself for the evening’s Bridge Singers jollity. We tackled the time signature foibles of Reynold The Fox with great alacrity, our gusto has not diminished, and our blending is becoming Java-like, even though poor old Anerio is proving troublesome. However, we gained another new member and all seemed chirpy at the end, and I know that Felice will ultimately be scrumptious. Then I fetched Jamie from his train and apart from the lack of provisions in the fridge department all is sort of back to normal. Here is a Paris collage of spare recordings: an organist we happened upon in a church near Notre Dame, us waiting for the quarter to two chimes in the wind, a man in a museum, some dawn chorus in the jungle. It’s also the sunset on our first evening last Thursday – one minute from our apartment this was the view.

January 17th
A Sunday morning stroll down to the Arc de Triomphe where you can hear the cars on the cobbles. This fellow is clutching another’s leg rather dramatically, I thought. Then we walked along the Champs Elysees past the obelisk in the Place de La Concorde and had a look at the pyramids outside the Louvre. Cold weather, of course, it being January, so we spent the next few hours inside the Pompidou Centre looking at 20th century art, and eating a large piece of chocolate cake, then back up the hills and steps to polish off our goats cheese and smoked salmon before an early start tomorrow.

January 16th
Today we stayed closer to home and went to see the sunrise at Sacre Coeur then had a look around inside before the rush. Then we walked down to another cemetery, this time in Montmartre. No especially friendly French men this time, just us and Berlioz, Adolphes Adam and Saxe, and the sun casting beautifully intricate shadows, then back up the hill to the Musee de Montmartre where we looked at lots of lovely stuff by Utrillo and his friends. Then we went to the Dali museum, or perhaps that was first…so many galleries! Here’s a picture from there – you see one of his limp clocks on a coat hanger and also his illustrations inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Early finish to the sight-seeing today so back for food and a read and a bit of Reynold the Fox. These sounds are more from yesterday’s brilliant Grande Galerie de l’Evolution as we strolled through the animal parade at about mid afternoon (according to the wondrous light and sound effects).

January 15th
Today we walked to the Cimetière du Père Lachaise. We sang Quem Vidistis at the tomb of Francis Poulenc which has a stained glass window, I was pleased to note. A friendly French man told us a few things about the cemetery, nice and slow so I could follow what he said. Another friendly French man excitedly urged us on to Marcel Marceau and told us all about him, this time in English. He was beside himself with excitement when he discovered that Jamie is Australian. He had a furry kangaroo in his pocket, which he showed us. It was cute. After a looksee at Oscar Wilde, we headed back towards the city and the Parc des Plantes. We went into the Grande Galerie de l’Evolution, principally to look at the fascinating scientist photographs by Robert Doisneau, but also I was rather taken with this massive wall of ever-changing lights, and stairs. You’re hearing some sounds from this place including a thunderstorm when all these lights go grey, and ending with le dodo. Then to Notre Dame and some limb-wobbling climbing of multiple steps and hills back to our place in Montmartre.

January 14th
Today, I took a taxi in the snow to Morpeth, I caught an early train to Newcastle, I then settled myself into coach C on the Flying Scotsman service to Kings Cross where I met up with Jamie who’d been working in London yesterday. We got on the Eurostar. We are in Paris! This, amazingly, is the view from our apartment (that is indeed the Sacre Coeur peeping out over top of the apartments – it’s a less-than-5-minute staircase away.) We went for a stroll in the sunset and from our lofty position in Montmartre we saw lots of things we are planning to explore. This Paris excursion was first booked for Jamie’s birthday in early September, delayed to late October, then mid-January due to passports and visas and some of us being Australian, so it is incredibly thrilling to be here for four days off. Off. Properly off.

January 13th
Here’s a thing I haven’t done for a while – out to photograph the sunrise. On this occasion I was up the road at the three sycamores. Later on, I was dealing with some administrative tasks, and sorting out more music for choir. I also found this radio programme from December on Radio New Zealand’s Concert station and extracted a few relevant clips.

January 12th
Today I’ve been dealing with some Hepworth-and-Choir-Exhilaration-Sleep-Deprivation-Lag, but have still managed to do some transcribing of Dering’s Factus Est Silentium which is a stonking piece. Also I went to Newcastle to collect some music from Windows and as I waited for my little Northern Rail train home, this stunning beast was waiting to go to London, Engine 91114 Durham Cathedral, and making some very enticing noises as the electricity was turned on and off. So it’s not just steam trains that excite the eager listener, you see.

January 11th
So much music today, but none recorded, so here’s a moment of lakeside coot watching from Clumber Park on Saturday. The coot makes an appearance at the end. Today’s music has been provided by J.S.Bach, Felice Anerio, anon, E.R. Bostwick, Tedd Taylor and Benjamin Britten – a good crop, I think you’ll agree, and all tackled with enthusiasm and laughter by The Bridge Singers​ at their first rehearsal of the year. We’ve moved into new, bigger premises and have attracted new members, and it’s all new music, which makes for seat-of-the-pants Monday night excitement from now on. This fade-in des not suit today at all really.

January 10th
Today I’ve been doing on-the-spot composing with some visiting families at The Hepworth Wakefield​. We premiered my song “Gertrude and I” in this very spot surrounded by Gertrude Hermes’ inspiring sculptures and prints, and this particular group also composed their very own waterfall music to go with the picture on the right. You can also hear 4-year-old Joe deciding not to play his triangle at that exact moment when previously he wanted to!
“Gertrude and I saw the waterfall,
Rushing and gushing to the whirlpool of splashes and jouncing fish.
She printed him angular, three colours, triangles.
I sang my step-by-step, dancing downwards song.”

January 9th
Honkscape. Clumber Park – the grass in front of the chapel. Photography by Michael Camm. Number of honkers present: approximately 200. Haven’t got all the right equipment with me, so it’s a bit quieter than real life, but I’m sure you get the idea.

January 8th
Today, I’ve been on the road. Started in snow, ended in sunshine, everywhere cold. Here’s the beginning and end of the FA Cup roundup just before 4pm from The Music Box with Michael on Trust AM Hospital Radio. The DJ in question has been working at this place almost since the photo was taken.

January 7th
Dad gave me a train with lots of banana trucks (six, to be precise). I put it on display. I seem to have several songs to choose from that would be appropriate for this picture. Here’s The Bridge Singers performing Banana Fanfare to the delight of our December audience. Also, I went to Morpeth library today and I had been eliminated from their records, when I attempted to borrow all the lovely books I found. Also, we had Lionheart Harmony this evening at our place so there was much merriment and also progress made on Gary’s beautiful song.

January 6th
After five days of fretting about water levels outside and being generally uninspired on the music front, I have positively cartwheeled into action today with a new song for my Hepworth workshops and several activities relating to Monday’s choir practice. My new song is called “Gertrude and I” and is about a few of Gertrude Hermes’ works which are currently on display at the gallery. This shows a fragment of the linocut called “Starlings”, and the piano is causing some rattling somewhere on the recording but it’ll have to do.
Gertrude and I saw the starlings,
Churning and swooshing like a whirlpool all round the winter tree.
She carved them swirling over the yellow town.
I sang my eddying murmuration song.

January 5th
This is the sun. I can’t remember the last day we saw it in real life. Certainly not today. It’s been raining a lot since the New Year. This is a picture of how I hope things will be again one day. The music is my Pigeon Hands lullaby which has received a few views over the last couple of days – a calming song I think.

January 4th
I found this stained glass window today on my walk. It has rained a lot too, and although the river has stayed at the same level for most of the day, this song about a flood on the River Wear leapt involuntarily to my mind. I’m listening to Monteverdi at the moment which is delicious.

January 3rd
Statistics, an interestingly-shaped potato and the muddy hand of Jamie.

January 2nd
The rain’s relentless. The river’s high. The bridge tree’s down. The streetlights are rushing by these other permanent trees. The Duke Of Northumberland’s ale allegedly tastes better than any other. The song’s in a variety of time signatures. There are too many words. It becomes more drunken as the verses stagger by. It needs sorting. It will be sorted.

January 1st
Well it’s a fade-in, as it turns out. This morning when I got up I was listening to a BBC Radio 3 podcast – a programme of contemporary music. The two presenters (Sara and Robert) were chatting about memorable moments from this year’s Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, when this happened…. Also, as I mentioned yesterday, I bought a new camera – nothing flash I thought, but today as I played with it I discovered that it has an artistic affect which means you can add sparkles, so here’s one of this morning’s frosty houseleeks with extra glinting. I do like sparkles and glinting.