Monday 9 December 2002

I spent an anxious day yesterday watching the news reports of the huge fire in Edinburgh, as it all happened in the block next to St Cecilia's Hall, complete with Russell Collection.  The people and instruments all survived unscathed - there was a concert going on Saturday night, and as the 18th century frontage is all bricked up, the fire crews assumed the place was empty and didn't bother to evacuate it, so the audience staggered out just as the electricity failed, into a street full of smoke, police and fire appliances!  Paradoxically I spent the afternoon burning garden rubbish in the brazier I bought that morning, musing that all those Taskin harpsichords from the Paris Conservatoire that were chopped up for firewood in the cold winter of 1791 can't have burned for very long.  What a waste.

I've been working on the arrangements for January and February - the Scots Musical Museum and Robert Bremner for the Concerto Caledonia record, and Fred Frith and Hungarian tunes for the one with David G (and both McGillivrays guesting).  It's all starting to take shape, and Katherine is going to bring her viola d'amore ... 

Today I went into to the RSAMD to give a lecture (more of an illustrated ramble really) about James Oswald, to students on the traditional music course.  I spent the morning digging through various bits of research, and by the end of it had opinions on all sorts of things I hadn't before - a useful exercise.  Had an interesting chat there with free-reed expert Stuart Eydmann about the use of harmoniums in Scottish folk music.  Time for a more general revival I think - you can hear me pumping my harmonium stuff on 'The Caledonian Flute' CD, now available to buy from Chris's website at www.chrisnorman.com .