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3 June 2025: Shall we dance?
One of the memorable aspects of Nietzsche’s legacy is his emphasis upon the revelry, song and dance associated with the Greek god Dionysus. Even the Viennese ‘Waltz King’ Johann Strauss II recognised that in his ‘Wine, Women and Song’! Delius, whose body in later life was racked with pain, paralysis and syphilis, acknowledged the central…
28 May 2025 – Even More Feelings about ‘The Will’ with Heart-warming Experiences’
I was delighted to receive from one of you an encouraging message about my ‘Will’ reflections. You wrote: ‘……….. that ‘Will’ would not seem to be about power over something, but what enables us to enter into this relational experience with the field of mind (god), and experience the universe, world, life unfolding in a…
22 May 2025 – More Feelings pursued further
I have received a few replies following my last Diary Entry – thank you! Please keep them coming in! One of you wrote saying that I should ‘not be shy about writing longer entries’, and another expressed particular affection for ‘The Lark Ascending’ by Ralph Vaughan Williams. So today I shall try to bring these…
17 May 2025 – An Attempt to identify and share some Feelings
My last Diary entry suggested a new departure – so here goes! I want to share with you some of my inner feelings, resonances and emotions, in the remaining pages of my Diary. And today I am beginning with a performance of ‘A Mass of Life’ in which I took part recently. [You all will…
15 May 2025 – AN IMPORTANT REQUEST and A CHANGE OF DIRECTION
Yesterday a close friend made a fabulous suggestion! Now that I have reached the present day in my Diary, why don’t I try to reflect upon specific pieces of music encountered in the past 210 years, and then share insights about how it feels for me in my body and frame – with all the…
10 May 2025 – Time to reflect on my resounding life since 1810, before ‘Bodying Forth’
Since 1810, I know that the sounds and echoes of an amazing array of famous people have reached me, reverberated in me, and become injected into my sonic frame, over these 215 years. In order to prepare for a bodily exploration of Delius’s ‘A Mass of Life’, I need to carefully consider the ways these…
Another Musical Intermezzo – ‘Lift up your legs!’
With all this talk of the Body and its importance, I want to invite you to think with me about a particular musical composition – ‘A Mass of Life’ by Frederick Delius. You will recall I am very familiar with this extraordinary work, and that, at the beginning of the 20th Century, I met it…
2023 Another life-changing Lesson – Use your whole body!
It was not long before Harvey’s teacher noticed how his body was full of nervous tension, while he played his new instrument. A few years of total abstinence from playing, his memories of ‘failure’ in the past, his preference to regard himself as ‘second fiddle’, his sense of insecurity while playing fast and high-pitched notes,…
2023 Back to school!
One of the first things Harvey did with his newly-bequeathed violin was to go ‘back to school’. He asked a local professional violinist if she would give him monthly lessons, so that he could begin to relearn his technical abilities after all these past years of neglect. His teacher was interested to hear that Harvey…
2018-2020 Sold for a Price and into ‘Lockdown’ – what ever next?
After a long and tortuous period of time, I was eventually sold – along with my precious Tubbs bow and my ‘Certificate of Authenticity’ from W E Hill – to a member of a famous London orchestra for an astronomical figure. A deal had been reached with great difficulty, with at one stage Harvey even…