Spiegel im Spiegel for Cello and Piano (Arvo Pärt)

Happy 90th Birthday to Arvo Part.

I just realised that today marks the 90th birthday of Arvo Part who was born  in Paide, Estonia on September 11th 1935. He is possibly the most popular living composer of classical music in the world, so I thought I would dust off this little piece I wrote a few years ago.

.................The small Baltic republic of Estonia only has a population of 1,329,460 people, but they can be justly proud, because one of that small number is arguably the greatest living composer in the world today. His name is Arvo Part who was born in Paide, a small city in Estonia in 1935. I had not heard of him until a few weeks ago. My awareness of his music came about through my growing interest in minimalist or ambient music. I see my discovery of Arvo Part’s music as a progression from other work I like such as Terry Riley, Virginia Astley, Tony Scott, the piano improvisations of Keith Jarrett and other such music. I like to think that I have an eclectic taste in music and do not think there is any genre of music that I would refuse to listen to. However, there are times when I do not want to listen to songs, I just want to listen attentively without having to think. Minimalist type music is perfect for a meditative state of mindfulness.

Reading about music online, the name of Arvo Part kept being recommended as an example of minimalist music. I decided to order a CD but had no idea what the best recordings of his compositions were, so settled on a double CD called The Very Best Of Arvo Part. It is a 2010 compilation of nearly 160 minutes of music by various artists, orchestras, and choirs. I thought I knew nothing about this music, but some of it sounded quite familiar. That is probably because film makers have often used his music in soundtracks. I do not really feel equipped to discuss this music in depth because I do not know enough about classical music and the techniques involved in composition. When I hear about terms like counterpoint, polyphony, tonality, or dissonance, I must look them up to see what they mean, and even then, I don’t understand it. I just like the music.

I gleaned from the sleeve notes that Arvo Part developed a radical new approach to music that he called Tintinnabuli meaning little bells. Many of his early pieces in this new style, including Tabula rasa (1977) and Spiegel im Spiegel (1978), have become some of his best-known compositions. Both of those compositions are included in this collection. Tabula Rasa is 28 minutes long and is exquisite. In Part’s music you can savour every note, harmony, and silence between the notes. I think all great musicians understand the importance of leaving spaces in their work.

Arvo Part suffered under Soviet rule. The censors banned his work from being performed. He was branded as ‘a traitor to the fatherland’. His reputation grew in the west however and the authorities finally granted him an exit visa in 1980 and he resided in Berlin where he stayed until 2010 before returning permanently to Estonia. Along with John Williams he is now the most performed composer in the world. There may be better recordings of his work, but as an introduction to Arvo Part I am very happy with this collection. It features music by such people as The Choir Of Kings College Cambridge, The Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, The Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir and many others. I was particularly taken by the violin playing of Tamsin Little and the piano of Martin Roscoe. This is very spiritual music. Arvo Part is a member of the Russian Orthodox Church, but you do not have to be religious to be moved by this music. By spiritual I mean in the sense of transcendence. To quote Van Morrison you could say this music really is ‘hymns to the silence’. I am extremely pleased to have discovered this wonderful music.

Seeing Yusef / Cat Stevens, at Bristol Beacon 8/9/2025.

I have been a Cat Stevens fan since the 1960s, but it was in the early to mid-1970s that he became one of my favourite singer-songwriters with such albums as Mona Bone Jakon, Tea For The Tiller Man, Teaser & The Firecat and Catch Bull At Four. I have always liked music with a spiritual content and Cat’s songs certainly had that in abundance. My interest waned after that, and Cat Stevens withdrew from making music and changed his name to Yusef (which translates as Joseph). In recent years though he has re-emerged from the moon shadows and started performing again under the name Yusef / Cat Stevens. I finally got to see him play live when he gave a magnificent performance at Glastonbury two years ago in the Sunday afternoon legends spot. This year it was announced that he had written his autobiography On The Road To Find Out and was performing a tour to promote the book. One of the dates was at Bristol Beacon, so I snapped up two tickets in the pre-sale for myself and a friend. On the night my friend sadly couldn’t go due to illness, so I gave her ticket to another friend who lives in Bristol. Before the show began I was pleased to meet up with three other mates who I know from Van Morrison gigs. When we took our seats, I was slightly annoyed to find that the start time had been put back by half an hour, from 7.30 to 8.00 because I was hoping to catch the 10.25 train home. More about that later.

I must say that the stage set and lighting for this performance was magnificent and theatrical. There was a small table on the stage with a teapot and cup just like the cover of Tea For The Tillerman. The entire show had a changing backdrop of Cat’s own artwork, old photographs, rare videos, and scenes from his life. He was accompanied by just two other musicians on guitars, keyboards and various other instruments. The show began with Cat walking on from stage left, playing his acoustic guitar and singing Miles From Nowhere. Then he sat by the little table and began to sing songs and recount his life story which began above his Greek Cypriot parents Moulin Rouge restaurant in London’s West End. He attended a nearby catholic primary school which was run by nuns. This led to a little snippet of Days Of The Old School Yard. 

He originally wanted to be an artist or cartoonist. You can see he was talented in art from the album covers which he created. Then he heard The Beatles and Stones and that was it. He persuaded his father to buy him a guitar. Mike Hurst of The Springfields (Dusty Springfield’s group) heard his songs and got him a deal with Deram records and Cat had early hits with I Love My Dog and Matthew & Son which was only kept off the top of the charts by The Monkees. He was in a dark place emotionally however which led to such songs as Trouble and A Bad Night. Disaster struck and Cat was in hospital for 18 months with TB. When he recovered eventually, everything including his music had changed. He was writing a musical based on the Russian revolution and one of the songs from it was Father & Son. Chris Blackwell of Island records offered him a contract which led to his most successful period as a singer-songwriter, but Cat was on a spiritual quest. He used to frequent a bookshop called The Bodhi Tree where he discovered a book called Zen Flesh, Zen Bones which influenced the Catch Bull At Four album which went straight to number one on the Billboard charts.

A turning point in his life was when Cat almost drowned while swimming in the sea off California. He made a deal with god that if his life was saved he would work for him. I think the last song before the interval was one of my favourites The Wind. After the interval Cat sang another wonderful song Lilywhite and then recounted how his brother gave him a copy of The Koran after visiting Jerusalem. This led to him eventually visiting the mosque in Regents Park, becoming a Muslim, being introduced to the Hard Headed Woman he was seeking, getting married and having children. He lost interest in music and dedicated his life to family, creating schools, and humanitarian charity fundraising. It was the horrors of the Bosnian war that brought him back to playing music and writing songs, also his son encouraging him to pick up the guitar again. I must say that I didn’t know anything about his music of recent years, but one song The Little Ones about the children of Bosnia was particularly moving. 

However, I was getting fearful of missing my train and had to leave. I found out this morning that I missed hearing Peace Train, If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out, and the encore which was Wild World. I grabbed a taxi outside and headed for Temple Meads Station where I found I had just missed my train. I realised that I could have seen the end of the show after all. I caught the next train at 11.06. At Bath I had to get off the train due to engineering works and catch a replacement bus service. After I finally got off the bus I still had a twenty-minute walk home. I got through my front door at 1.00am exhausted, but still happy that I had witnessed a brilliant concert by the legend that is Yusef / Cat Stevens and will certainly be buying his book when it is published on October 2nd 

I might have made some mistakes and this list might be in the wrong order, some of these songs were just snippets, but I think the concert setlist was Miles From Nowhere, Days Of The Old School yard, I Love My Dog, The First Cut Is the Deepest, Trouble, Father and Son, Sitting, Joseph, The Wind, Lilywhite, On the Road to Find Out, Hard Headed Woman, Bitterblue, Moonshadow, Cat In The Dog Trap, Oh Very Young, The Little Ones, How Good It Feels, Peace Train, If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out, Wild World.

Yusuf / Cat Stevens - Wild World (Glastonbury 2023)

Kate Nash: The Cheese & Grain, Frome, 24/7/2025.

For the last three weeks or so I think I have had a mild case of the post-Glastonbury blues. Ordinary life has seemed a bit dull and boring, and watching the news only adds to the depression. There was also the feeling that summer is slipping by, and I’m not getting out and about enough and enjoying the nice evenings. Anyway, on Monday night in my local pub I saw a What’s On guide for The Cheese & Grain in Frome. We are very fortunate to have such a great local venue because they have had lots of famous acts play there recently such as Supergrass, CMAT, The Libertines, Wunderhorse and The Selector all of whom played at Glasto. I read that Kate Nash was playing there on Thursday, so decided to get myself a ticket. I must have bought one of the last tickets available because by the time Thursday arrived it was a complete sell-out. I must admit that I knew very little about Kate Nash beforehand. She had played at Glasto on the Leftfield stage which made me think that her heart was in the right place. Also, I knew that she had made a number 1 best selling album a long time ago and the couple of songs I had heard on youtube reminded me of Lily Allen because of her London accent. Even if I wasn’t very familiar with her songs, I figured that any live music would lift me out of the doldrums. 

My main concern was that I would be the oldest person there by about 30 years.  However, when my taxi dropped me outside the hall and I surveyed the queue of people entering I was relieved to see that all age groups were represented from youngsters to oldies like me. They have a nice outdoor bar area which is perfect for a pleasant summer evening, so I got myself a pint of  cider and sat out there for a while until it was time for the support band who were called Nobody’s Dad. They are a four-piece, two male, two female, young indie rock band from Bristol who played a short, loud and entertaining set of songs. One of the songs was about a pet goldfish called Margo. The girl on guitar and vocals was particularly impressive. They were obviously very pleased and grateful to Kate Nash for giving them the opportunity to play to such a large audience. 

Nobody's Dad.

During the interval I sat outside again and enjoyed the last of the evening sunshine. One good thing about a standing gig at the Cheese & Grain is that it is quite easy to get near the front by walking up the side of the hall. However, when Kate came on stage promptly at 9.00 to huge applause from the packed hall although I had a great view of herself, I couldn’t see all the band from my side position. I can’t give you a setlist I’m afraid because I only caught the names of about four or five songs and guessed what some other songs were from the lyrics. I filmed two songs called Ray and Mouthwash (See video).

Kate also sang a new song which I think was called Rage. Other songs I hope were called Wasteman, Dickhead, Germ, Foundations and My Bile. I was very impressed with Kate as a charismatic performer. She has great stage presence and knows how to get the audience on her side. The audience were obviously a lot more knowledgeable than me and sang along to many of the songs. At one point Kate went into the audience and disappeared from sight. I bet the security staff were relieved when she finally reappeared. Before the show I had this idea that she was a kind of cockney folkie type singer, but nothing could be further from the truth. I would describe the music as loud indie pop/rock.  The subject matter of some songs seems to be about such topics as mental health, and dealing with relationships (often toxic relationships). There is a large political element to her music as well, and she went to great lengths explaining things that make her angry at the moment. 

At one point she produced a Palestinian flag and made a speech denouncing Keir Starmer and the government for classing people who are active in support of the people of Gaza as terrorists. By the audience response you could see that most of them agreed with her. Later in the show she voiced her anger at feminists who are transphobic (probably referring to the likes of J.K. Rowling). Some of the song titles and the subject matter might seem a bit depressing, but the audience obviously love Kate Nash, and she loves the audience. I enjoyed the show immensely and felt quite uplifted by it. On the way out I bought her most recent album called 9 Sad Symphonies which I have played several times now, and like it more with every play.. It is an excellent well produced album, very cinematic with lots of lush orchestral arrangements. Thank you very much Kate Nash, Nobody’s Dad and The Cheese & Grain for a most enjoyable evening in Frome.

Kate Nash in Frome. Mouthwash

My Glastonbury Adventure 2025: Part 1, 'A Tent Called Brian'.

 

Since I first went to Glastonbury 46 years ago in 1979, I think I have only missed about five festivals which was mainly due to Kim being ill. However, 2025 was the first year where I seriously considered not going. This was due to worrying about being at 73 too old for it, and not being up to all the walking, and suffering in the heat. Also, I had usually worked the morning shifts which meant I got the work out of the way by mid-day and didn’t miss any music. This year I had been put on evening shifts at the Park Stage which is on the opposite side of the valley from our camp site at Tom’s Field. With the walking involved this would have turned a 6 hours shift into 8 hours. Even worse, I would have missed seeing Neil Young. Happily for me, an angel came to my rescue which was Kate who has arranged my lift to Glasto for the last four years. Kate is a team leader on the Backstage crew at the famous Pyramid Stage and managed to get me transferred to her team, also it meant I was reunited at work with Odele my Glasto friend since 2013. So, in the end there was nothing to worry about, and Glastonbury Festival turned out to be just as magical as it ever was. This is what happened.

Heidi, Julie, Kellie, Me, Donna, Kate.

On Sunday morning I was up and about by 4.30, and my rucksack and tent were ready to go. At 7.00 I got the message that the convoy was on the way and got outside on Westbury marketplace. Soon three cars arrived driven by Kellie from Frome, Donna from the Isle Of Wight, and Russell from near Devizes. It was wonderful to see them all again after a year. I travelled with Kellie who we first met three years ago when purely by chance she camped next to us, which is often how friendships begin at Worthy Farm. Kellie is kindness personified and always brings me a chair and 8 cans of cider. She also has a wicked sense of humour. There were no traffic problems, and we soon arrived at the car park where we found Heidi and Julie. (Later in the week Heidi was to become a radio star, but I’ll tell you all about that when I get to it). We met Kate in the long queue at the recyclers cabin which had opened at 8.00, so we had wait patiently to collect our wristbands for Glastonbury and Tom’s Field. Once inside we made our way to our usual spot near the far end of Tom’s field which was already filling up. I had bought my little tent in Lidl for only £19 and was a bit concerned that it wouldn’t be up to the job, especially if it rained. 

Brian.

I called my tent Brian in tribute to the late great Brian Wilson who was my favourite ever Glasto performance exactly 20 years ago. Brian the tent proved to be well up to the job and looked after me for the next 8 days. Shortly after we got the tents up there was a couple of quite heavy rain showers, so we sat in the porch of Heidi and Julie’s huge posh tent until the rain stopped. Our little encampment was completed when Donna And Leon arrived. They are a brilliant, fun, positive couple who live only a few miles away. In Tom’s Bar it was great to meet up again with my friends of many years now Peter, Helen, Paul and Greta. There are about 30,000 workers at Glastonbury, so there are crew bars everywhere behind most of the main stages. On Sunday evening we made our traditional way to the Tow & Hitch which is the crew bar at Arcadia. You can also get food there which kept me going for the evening.

Pyramid, Sunday Evening.

After two pints I was getting tired and decided to be sensible and head back. Halfway home I stopped at the Bread & Roses Saloon and after another pint I seemed to revive, so decided to make my way home via the Acoustic Stage Crew Bar. I chatted to the barmaid who was from Dilton Marsh just outside Westbury and knew lots of people and pubs that I know including Rob Pike who always provided the marquee for this bar, so that was interesting. I also had a good chat with this guy who has helped build the Kidz Field for the last 20 years. Finally, I made my weary way home and crawled into my sleeping bag about 12.30 and fell asleep almost instantly. Little did I realise all the amazing adventures, chance encounters, great music, and excitement that was to fill the week ahead.

To Be Continued…………………………………