Words And Music

Are the full effects of Leveson and the new laws already taking effect?  A couple of days ago on John Redwood’s blog, senior Conservative Member with former government positions, he dealt with aspects of the gold market, reminding us that once it was a basic of money supply that seemed to do its job.

My comment was to the effect that in the past when Gold was King there was still manipulation of the gold markets and pricing together with high levels of speculative trading.  Those of us who have read up financial crises of the past know this all too well.

One example I cited was the attempt to corner the gold market by a family of bankers around the time of the Battle of Waterloo and referring to later what was known as The Battle of Peterloo.  The first was in 1815 and the latter 1819. 

The name of the family was struck out of the comment on the grounds that it created a risk of legal action for John Redwood and his blog.  Now, if he does not know what the Leveson actions are intended to do then nobody does. 

So does this now mean if I question Prince Rupert’s strategy in the Civil War of the 1640’s and 1650’s there is a serious risk of Murdoch’s legal lads coming after me with the writs? 

Also, there is the problem of all those history books and journals discussing the past.  Should they all now be removed from the shelves and any kind of circulation if not burned in Trafalgar Square should they contain any word that might refer to a living individual?

On another tack 2013 is the bicentenary of the birth of Richard Wagner so it was to be expected that The BBC Proms season this summer would be doing a fair chunk of his repertoire.  The Proms Guide this year has between July 22 and July 28 no less than five big ones in seven days.

The total running times of these is 19 hours and 34 minutes to which should be added four hours of intervals, not counting applause, if any.  If you are not a Wagner fan this is bad news.  If you are it is even worse, especially if you are one of the Proms Plebs in the standing Arena. 

The Proms these days is governed as much by managerial targets and the rest as any other activity but this infliction on that section of the potential audience is mad, even madder in some respects that Wagner himself.  But one of the intriguing things is who the BBC leaves out as much as who is in.

In 2006 in the year of the Mozart 250^th anniversary of his birth there was not a hint never mind the performance of any of the works of Thomas Linley, born the same year.  Admittedly he died tragically young leaving a limited repertoire but he both knew Mozart and was admired by him.

It is a commonplace that some composers get the full treatment but others who might well be given at least some recognition and some works performed around the main or supported schedules are wholly ignored, but we never know why.

As already pointed out, this is the 150^th anniversary of the birth of Leslie Stuart, born Thomas Augustine Barrett in Southport to a Co. Mayo family, see this blog before and Wikipedia ,who could well be used.  

He could be given the John Wilson orchestral treatment even if only as a couple of items in one of his Broadway or Film programmes that are unashamedly “popular” in presentation and content.

We are certainly given Gershwin, Hammerstein and Hollywood etc. but Stuart was both close to them, a respected predecessor and a major figure on Broadway and in California for a time as well as being a major figure in the West End.

I can understand him not being given the kind of overdrive that is awarded to some composers, but like Linley the absence of even a mention or putting in an item here or there in all the programming is puzzling.

One of his well known works is “The Soldiers Of The Queen”, is it this that gives the BBC a fit of the vapours?  In the circumstances they might do well to use it to replace the listed Arlen “Over The Rainbow” on The Last Night.

The picture above is The Last Night of 2005, see if you can spot us.