It seems as if the weeks are getting busier as we head into November. In truth, it has been such a busy week that I can't really recall any significant cultural highlights at all. As all the news channels kept themselves busy with news about yet another allegation of sexual abuse by the late Jimmy Savile, I thought I would listen to some John Cage before bed. Cage is perhaps unknown outside of the classical music world and even those into classical music find him to be a little too avant garde for bedtime listening. Yet, if bed represents a completely relaxed state of mind with silence and unconscious thoughts, Cage's mini masterpiece entitled 4'33" is the perfect silence. It is that! It is a performance lasting 4 minutes and 33 seconds where the orchestra remains totally silent. The audience feels the colours of the music in a truly visual sense.
In the middle of October an old friend of mine, Neil Watson, a man almost singularly responsible for introducing me to jazz sourced two tickets to a John Cage concert with dance accompaniment. No silence in this concert but some very moving and sparse notes that felt almost melodic for Cage. The post concert talk included a peek of the specially prepared piano and ended with the words from one of the organisers, 'We live in an age where contemplation and silence is much needed..'.
This week's Twitter highlights had been some wonderful interactions with many in the legal community:
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