Thursday 13 December 2007

This morning I made the promised return visit to Kevin Earnshaw and the court cave at East Wemyss, this time on BBC business with John Purser and Fiona Fraser. John had brought a couple of replica Bronze Age horns with him, and they sounded great.

I had to dash across to Edinburgh for a short SCO rehearsal with Oliver Knussen afterwards, which meant a really enjoyable train ride along the Fife coast and over the Forth Bridge. For an extra two quid my bike and I had the first class accommodation to ourselves, so that I could concentrate on trying to master Mr Knussen's more complicated rhythmic material.  But I still find it impossible to cross that bridge without gazing out the window in wonder.

I'm getting better at the bike/train combo - today, a very helpful member of the station staff at Queen Street showed me the lift that connects platforms 7 and 8, and saves having to wheel a bike through the busy station concourse and up or down the stairs.

With his passing last week, I wish I had a good Stockhausen anecdote, but I haven't (apart from secondhand ones). The best I can offer is that when I was in Belfast three years ago, I walked through the hotel foyer thinking 'That guy looks really like Stockhausen' and of course it was him. Duh.