Classical Convert

Leaves

After a dainty little daisy of a month, due to low credit card spending, this one is a sunflower, a whale; a really heavy thing. This is totally and utterly to do with the expense added a few hours ago of a trip back to the UK, to visit family, friends and anyone else who might manage to insert themselves into my clustered itinerary. This time g is coming too, for fun, frolics and, errr, visiting (f and v basically have the same phonemic sound, so despite appearances that’s squinty alliteration). Scarily, it’s about 5 weeks distant from t equals right now, right this second.

It’s been ages since I was in London last, really. I can’t remember all the essentials of what to do. We’re also shoving off to Holland for a few days, but that’s a little less overwhelming. maybe. Until I realistically start thinking about it.

ANYWAY… something musical, something musical… what’s been happening in my all-encompassing little world of classical music today? Well, more Mahler, really. I keep forgetting to move the Gielen version of the 6th symphony onto my MP3 player, so I’m stuck with the more uptempo but less intense Bernstein version. Not that it’s bad or anything, but the slower pacing of the former fits my taste better.

Well horror of horrors, there I am innocently strolling into lab an hour after the appropriate time… and I almost find myself enjoying that romantic theme in the first movement. Almost. Of all my previous classical experiences, the getting into Mahler’s 6th business is most reminiscent of the same process for Saint-Saëns’ Symphony No. 3. Both sounded far too Romanticy on initial listens, and both subtly slid themselves under my skin when I wasn’t really looking.

But, BEDTIME! I have another 9:00 meeting with my supervisor tomorrow morning, even though we spoke for two hours in the corridor this morning. She’s vocally insatiable.