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Great classical music inspired by the British countryside

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

The British countryside has inspired many of the great classical composers. Jeremy Pound from BBC Music Magazine selects his five favourite pieces that evoke the atmosphere of nature and landscape

By Fergus Collins

Music has a unique power to convey emotion and atmosphere. It can summon the imagination, stir the soul and evoke memories. For centuries, great composers have walked in the countryside to find creative stimulation and many have been inspired to capture and evoke the mood and the feel of the places they encountered. Birdsong, wind in the trees, a river running – all these have been the source of many wonderful compositions. And music also has the power to transport us, the listeners, to sweeping downland, meadows of wildflowers or a storm in a woodland.

In a recent BBC Countryfile Magazine podcast – the Plodcast – Jeremy Pound of BBC Music Magazine took Plodcast host Fergus Collins for a walk in the Cotswolds to talk about which composers’ works were the most evocative of the British countryside. The Cotswold Hills and the nearby Malvern Hills were, it seems, particularly fertile landscapes for composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams and Edward Elgar. You can listen to this podcast episode here. 

You can also listen the Spotify playlist for this podcast episode.

Five great pieces of music inspired by the British countryside

So when you can’t get out to the countryside yourself, why not tune in to stunning music that brings the natural world into your living room? From the song of a skylark above the downlands of southern England to the ancient brooding presence of a Dorset heath, these five works – selected by Jeremy Pound of BBC Music Magazine – summon uplifting and mood-changing visions of the green outdoors. But let’s add to this list – please do tell us of your own

Ralph Vaughan Williams

The Lark Ascending

In this gorgeous work written in 1914, a solo violin represents the lark, spiralling and soaring ever upwards into the sky. It is accompanied by a subdued and almost ominous orchestral backdrop – does it represent dark clouds gathering? Much of Vaughan Williams’ work was inspired by rural folk songs and settings – another wonderful piece to enjoy is Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tullis.

Frederick Delius

On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring

Another bird, this time in the Bradford-born Delius’s short work for orchestra. In this instance, the call of the cuckoo is heard in the oboe and, later, the clarinet, while a soft, gentle melody in the strings promises sunny days ahead.

Arnold Bax

November Woods

Bax’s 1917 symphonic poem for orchestra has, as the title suggests, a wonderfully autumnal feel. A storm gathers in the first half but eventually the music subsides into a calmer mood. Few works conjure up the British weather so deftly.

Gustav Holst

Egdon Heath

Though the title of Holst’s 1927 orchestral work comes from a fictional location depicted by Thomas Hardy, the composer was initially inspired to write it by long walks in the south of England. The musical landscape here is rugged, and sometimes even foreboding.

Edward Elgar

Cello Concerto

Is an ageing Elgar looking back over recent global and personal trauma in this majestic but mournful 1919 work, or expressing the beauty of the British countryside? A bit of both, one feels – he himself associated a passage from it with the Malvern Hills.

Source: Great classical music inspired by the British countryside

‘Colder than a witch’s tit’ and other British phrases set to die out

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

A new poll has revealed a list of traditional British sayings which may become extinct despite the UK having one of the most rich and diverse languages in the world.

By Bill McLoughlin
A new poll has revealed a list of traditional British sayings which may become extinct despite the UK having one of the most rich and diverse languages in the world.

According to a study, there are 50 phrases that are in jeopardy of being lost from the English language.

Of those 2,000 people asked, 78 percent have never used the phrase “pearls before swine”.

A further 71 percent said they had never used “colder than a witch’s tit” or “nail your colours to the mast”.

In the poll, conducted by Perspectus Global, 70 percent do not wave goodbye with a “pip pip”.

A further 68 percent of Brits said they had never heard of or used the phrase “know your onions”.

Ellie Glason from Perspectus Global, said: “It’s interesting to see from our research, how language evolves and changes over the years.

“It would seem that, many of the phrases which were once commonplace in Britain, are seldom used nowadays.”

While a series of phrases may now become extinct, four out of five Brits believe the UK has the most descriptive language in the world.

The survey was based on a nationally representative sample of 2,000 adults, aged between 18 and 50.

British sayings such as “colder than a witch’s tit” and “a dog’s dinner” at risk of dying out.

BRITAIN’S ENDANGERED SAYINGS

1.       Pearls before swine 78% (never use the phrase)

2.       Nail your colours to the mast 71%

3.       Colder than a witch’s tit 71%

4.       Pip pip 70%

5.       Know your onions 68%

6.       A nod is as good as a wink 66%

7.       A stitch in time saves nine 64%

8.       Ready for the knackers yard 62%

9.       I’ve dropped a clanger 60%

10.   A fly in the ointment 59%

11.   Keen as mustard 58%

12.   A flash in the pan 57%

13.   Tickety boo 57%

14.   A load of codswallop 56%

15.   A curtain twitcher 56%

16.   Knickers in a twist 56%

17.   Dead as a doornail 55%

18.   A dog’s dinner 55%

19.   It’s chock a block 55%

20.   Storm in a teacup 55%

21.   Could not organise a p*** up in a brewery 54%

22.   Not enough room to swing a cat 54%

23.   Flogging a dead horse 54%

24.   Toe the line 54%

25.   Popped her clogs 54%

26.   Drop them a line 53%

27.   Steal my thunder 53%

28.   A few sandwiches short of a picnic 53%

29.   A legend in one’s own lifetime 52%

30.   Be there or be square 52%

31.   Fell off the back of a lorry 52%

32.   A bodge job 52%

33.   Eat humble pie 52%

34.   Having a chinwag 52%

35.   Put a sock in it 52%

36.   Mad as a Hatter 51%

37.   Spend a penny 51%

38.   Cool as a cucumber 51%

39.   It’s gone pear shaped 51%

40.   It cost a bomb 51%

41.   Raining cats and dogs 51%

42.   See a man about a dog 51%

43.   It takes the biscuit 50%

44.   He’s a good egg 50%

45.   Snug as a bug in a rug 49%

46.   Chuffed to bits 49%

47.   Have a gander 49%

48.   Selling like hot cakes 49%

49.   Pardon my French 48%

50.   A Turn up for the books 45%

Source: ‘Colder than a witch’s tit’ and other British phrases set to die out

‘The Dig’ and five other culture recommendations if you love ancient discoveries

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

If you are endlessly fascinated by ancient history, Netflix’s new movie “The Dig,” starring Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes, should pique your interest.

Jacqui Palumbo, CNN

Caches of unopened sarcophagi found in Egypt. Eight miles of Ice Age rock paintings discovered in the Amazon rainforest. An intricate Roman mosaic floor excavated in northern Italy. These are just some of the major archaeological finds of the past year.
If you are endlessly fascinated by these discoveries, Netflix’s new movie “The Dig,” a historical drama starring Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes, should pique your interest.
Based on a true story, “The Dig” retells the story of how a widow and a self-taught archaeologist unearthed an Anglo-Saxon burial ship on a private plot of land in Suffolk, UK, in 1939. The incredible find, which occurred as the specter of World War II loomed over Europe, became one of country’s most important treasures and helped dispel the notion that the British Isles were culturally and economically siloed during the Dark Ages.

Ralph Fiennes as Basil Brown, the self-taught archaelogist who uncovered Britain's greatest treasure.

Ralph Fiennes as Basil Brown, the self-taught archaelogist who uncovered Britain’s greatest treasure. Credit: Larry Horricks/Netflix
“The film is about time and the fragility of our existence,” said screenwriter Moira Buffini, who adapted the script from John Preston’s book of the same name, in a video interview. “It’s about the brevity of life and what endures — what we leave behind us.”

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