Gustav Holst ( Classical composer ) 1874-1934.

Born in Cheltenham,Gustav Holst was of Swedish descent ,though both his mother and grandmother were English.They were a musical family,and as a child he was taught to play the piano and violin,but always frail with neuris in his arm and in an attempt to combat asthma, switched to trombone.

Holst was educated at Cheltenham grammer school and later at the Royal Collage of Music where he be came a close friend of Ralph Vaughan Williams and together shared a love of old English folk songs and you can hear the simplicity and economy in many of his compositions.

At the onset of World War One, Holst tried to enlist but due to poor health was rejected. He and his wife Isobel then moved to Thaxted in Essex and it is here that he wrote his best known work, the orchestral  The Planets Suite

During his lifetime Holst wrote over two hundred works including Operas,Ballets and Hymns, but in 1934 he died of complications after his always poor health.deteriorated.

Jupiter (the bringer of jollity)

http://youtu.be/Nz0b4STz1lo


Gustav Holst 1921 (photograph by Herbert Lambert)

For in depth   HTTP://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Holst

Peggy Lee (1920-2002) " Music is my lifes breath"

Peggy Lee was an American jazz singer,composer and actress in a career spanning six decades. From her beginnings as a singer with the Benny Goodman big band,she forged a sophisticated persona evolving into a multi-faceted artist and performer.She wrote music for films,acted and created conceptual record albums encompassing poetry,jazz,chamber and art songs.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)

Bach ,a descendant of a long line of musical ancestors,is to-day recognised as the greatest composer of the polyphonic period. even at an early age, Bachs diligence was amazing,working into the early hours of the morning copying manuscripts by contemporary composers .At the age of sixteen he was an accomplished organist and all his spare time was given to perfecting himself as a harpsichord player and as a composer.

His genius secured him a position with the Duke of Saxe Weimar a position he held for ten years pouring out the most beautiful music and building up a reputation as a player. He married about this time and settled in Leipsig,being appointed Cantor of the St.Thomas Church,living a quiet and uneventful life composing a mass of fine music and playing at important functions. He married twice and had altogether twenty children from the two marriages,three of his sons inheriting their fathers gift and becoming world renowned composers.The continual strain to which he subjected his eyes by writing resulted in total blindness in his closing years.

His outstanding genius was not generally appreciated during his lifetime,and it is largely owing to the devoted efforts of Mendelssohn a hundred years after Bachs death that his music has now attained universal recognition that the centuries cannot dim.

Allotments."Gardening"

A typical Allotment.

An allotment is a plot of land made available to individual,non professional people who cultivate it for there own food production.These gardeners are usually organised into an allotment association, which leases the land from an owner"usually the local council"who stipulates that the plots are are used only  for gardening The plot holders have to pay a small membership fee to the association.

In the U.K. the first allotment law,which has been modified a few times since, was first fully codified in the "Small Holding and Allotment Act 1908" Under the act a local authority is required to maintain an adequate provision of land,usually a large field, which can then be subdivided into allotment gardens for residents at a low rent. Each plot must be used by the plot holder for the production of fruit and vegetables for the consumption of the plot holder and his family.The council has a duty to provide sufficient allotments to meet demand.

The Authors allotment

In dealing with the subject, I am struck with the fact that the allotment movement has taken a recognised place in our national life. Prior to 1914 allotments were familiar landmarks up and down the country, but allotments organised for a national purpose were practically unknown. The present position is a product of the two world wars. Today, as once again we are going to face problems with the importation and shortage of foodstuffs ,allotments are  recognised as being an all time necessity.

Dave Barbour jazz guitarist

Dave Barbour was an American musician. He was a jazz guitarist,song writer and the husband of Peggy Lee for nine years. Barbour was born in May 28, 1912 in New York and started his career in 1935 with Red Norvo band in 1935. His brilliance soon found lots of work as a studio musician and he performed with Artie Shaw (1939),Glen Miller and Woody Herman (1945)

A royal introduction to Count Basie.

Count Basie gained his early musical fame as star pianist with the great Benny Moten Orchestra, one of the middle wests famous swing outfits. When Moten died in 1935, Basie went out on his own with his first band,building it around most of the ace musicians of the Moten crew. The new Basie band played in and around Kansas City and in 1937 came to the attention of Benny Goodman, who was amazed at the terrific jazz played by this unknown combination. Benny and his personal manager  the noted band-booking executive, Willard Alexander,who was always on the look out for new talent,decided to do something about Basie.

Together with swing critic John Hammond, Goodman and Alexander journeyed to the Reno Club in Kansas City. There Basies performances were sensationally outstanding. He was immediately signed by Willard Alexander,and the rest is musical history. Overnight,Count Basie became Americas swing sensation.

Count Basie rates as one of worlds outstanding composers of jazz. With Basie at the piano the orchestra soon ranked high among the nations top ten bands. Basie and his orchestra were booked into leading dance spots and theatres,where they left a trail of broken attendance and box office records.Recordings,radio and motion picture appearances-all these have tended to keep Count Basie at the top in his profession year after year.

"Never play a note unless you can improve the silence"  This well describes the piano style of the great man.

http://youtu.be/GQi4jglT0Vo


For in depth biography     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Count_Basie