Over the years I've found myself relying on two music-themed blogs to both get me thinking and increase my awareness of what's out there that I've never heard of but am very likely to find simpatico. Richard Williams's blog the bluemoment.com is a treasure trove of info related to the kind of rock/blues/jazz and what-not that rings my bell, and loudly so. So I was a bit disappointed at Mr Williams's announcement of a hiatus after 760 posts, but then that's a lot to look back on. (Incidentally, this is the 5000th post here at this Far Place. Just saying.) Mind you he has a book to write, which is a pretty good excuse for taking a break.
At least I've still got the wonderful On An Overgrown Path to rely on for expanding my horizons. I loved a recent post relating to RVW, and found it reassuring that good old Pliable rates Vaughan Williams so highly. It was fascinating to take note of the brief but spot-on list he provides of key works that really demand regular programming and radio play: Very few other composers can offer the Classic FM appeal of The Lark Ascending and Tallis Fantasia, the abrasiveness of the Sixth Symphony, the filmic allure of Sinfonia Antartica, the mysticism of A Pilgrim's Progress, and the serenity of the Bunyan-inspired Fifth Symphony.
I would add to that the tuneful London Symphony and the gloriously melancholic/bucolic Third Symphony, the magisterial Job, A Masque for Dancing (more great tunes) and Flos Campi, for which I've run out of suitable adjectives, except to say when I heard it in the concert hall it blew my tiny mind. Which is a reminder to give one of those pieces a spin right now.
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