Category: Music

  • Snowshill Manor

    For those who are concerned that they own too many things, here is someone who took this passion for collecting to colourful and wondrous extremes! Charles Wade, a trained architect turned artist and illustrator bought Snowshill Manor, after returning from the First World War, to house his ever-expanding collection. Over the years until he died…

  • The Spotify playlist

    Each week a curated list of audio is made on Spotify to go along with the blog entries. The playlist includes old and new music in lots of different genres, and each piece is chosen to reflect something on the blog. To listen click on the player above or search for “Music to read a…

  • Samba!

    Brazil is known for its vibrant cultures and the samba is amongst the most well-known; Samba de Roda, a festival event from Bahia, is recognised as a unique art form in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list. Samba derives from the colonial period in Brazil’s history. At its foundation are the traditions and cultures of enslaved…

  • The extraordinary music from Malaita

    Disclaimer: Please be aware that some of the links in this article may show images of human remains, currently in museum collections. The people of the Southern part of Malaita, the largest land in the Solomon Islands, are called the ‘Are’are. Until an ethnomusicologist called Hugo Zemp from le Musée de l’Homme in Paris recorded…

  • Mass in Blue

    This weekend we went a concert in Ōtautahi Christchurch of Mass in Blue by Will Todd. The piece is a jazz version of the Latin Mass and was performed by the Christchurch City Choir with guest soprano and jazz trio. It is fantastic fun and has lots of energy and rhythm. If you have not…

  • This week’s Spotify playlist

    Each week a playlist is curated to go along with the blog. The pieces on the playlist refer to articles on the blog, sometimes obviously and sometimes more obliquely. To listen, click on the player above. If you have a paid subscription to Spotify you will hear all the pieces uninterrupted. Free subscriptions will have…

  • This week’s Spotify playlist

    Each week a playlist of audio is curated to go alongside the blog. The audio in the playlist reflects the blog articles, sometimes obviously and sometimes obliquely. You can listen to the playlist on the player above or by searching Spotify for “Music to read a blog by”. Paid subscribers will be able to hear…

  • All about poi

    You might be familiar with the Māori art of “poi“, the dextrous dance movements that use balls on cord. According to some, poi was once used by men to strengthen their wrists for battle but nowadays it is used to demonstrate skill. These poi are made from plastic covering an inner core of foam or…

  • UngKlang

    Over the past ten days Tāmaki Makaurau/ Auckland has been hosting the World Choir Games. These, the 13th Games, bring together the largest number of choirs and nations in the world – 250 groups representing 42 countries. The event is both for competitive and non-competitive performance. On Friday the Cathedral in Wellington, St John’s, played…

  • Playlist for the Week – 21st July 2024

    Each week a curation of audio from Spotify goes alongside the blog. Each of the pieces is chosen to reflect something in the blog, sometimes obviously and sometimes less so. Paying subscribers to Spotify will hear all the tracks, those with a free subscription will hear them with advertising breaks. Anyone else will hear extracts…