Friday 26 February 2010

My addiction to WFMU continues - great new tweaks to their iPhone app too. Speaking of radio, you can hear my Mary Queen of Scots programme on Radio 3 on Sunday, and for a week afterwards on Listen Again. Next Thursday's episode of Skins also features me singing (not that you'd notice, I hope).

I was up at 4.45am yesterday for the journey to Boughton House and a fascinating day with Gareth Fitzpatrick exploring the Montagu Music Collection, with the Duke dropping in from time to time to see how we were getting on. There are far too many treasures to list here, and enough unique sources of Scottish material to keep scholars and musicians busy for a decade or two, but also some wonderful chance finds such as these - I wonder if they've been there for the last 200 years or so.

I now have a very large list of half-answered questions about different bits and pieces, that I'll be bothering people with by email for a while, and I also now have a better idea of what notes Kellie actually wrote in the C minor quartet that appears on Fiddler Tam.  My guesses from the very corrupt source that is the Kilvarock MS weren't far off, but the closer I get to what he wrote, the more I'm convinced that it's a very good piece. 

lunch break in the kitchen

On the way back I bumped into Raymond MacDonald who'd been in London rehearsing for a session on Jazz on 3. He'd been on the same early morning flight too, but we were both too knackered to spot each other. Apparently I get a passing mention in this month's issue of The Wire.

later
Just back from a Wee Curry Shop lunch with Bill Lloyd and Tommy Pearson, in town for the ABO conference on deckchair re-arrangement. Tommy made a very rash promise to ConCal which we'll hold him to sometime.