🔔 Bells across the Meadows 10月末

2022年10月29日

"When I was a child....."....so starts a much - used grammatical device in my Japanese textbook. It encourages the student to follow it with phrases like ".......I could ride a bicycle" (..子供の時じてんしゃに乗れた) or, ".........I was not allowed to drink alchohol..." etc etc. Well, when I was a child, I would sometimes sit on the piano stool at home and stab at the piano keys. It was one of those piano stools which you could lift the lid, and inside there was a storage space for sheet music. The trouble was, was that my mother used to stuff all her music in here, with the result that the lid could hardly close. One tatty piece of music survived all this, and she would sometimes haul it out and explain...."well you know it starts with these bells......" This was none other than Albert Ketelbey's "Bells across the meadows". An unashamably sentimental hit composed in 1921. Here is the front cover.....母の「ティータイムミュージック」

Well, bells are all very well, but where I live I get a doubly whammy on a Sunday morning - one session from the Catholics, then one from the Lutherans.....It can be a damn nuisance if you are just listening to some quiet section in a Bruckner symphony. However, this morning, the sound tempted me to lean out of the window......日曜日の朝の鐘

Luckily I didn't fall out of the window, otherwise I would not have been able to enjoy a Spitzbuben with my coffee. What, you don't know what a Spitzbuben is? Well, it is an Austrian speciality biscuit currently being marketed by the Aldi supermarket chain. The one I ate seem to be crying out "....He, they got more apricot filling than I did!......unfair!😯!

Now around my little town of Langen the farmers fields are green....with hope. The winter wheat has been sown and is already sprouting.........新しい麦がまかれました

A local oak tree has been trying to take off for some time now....この木は飛びたい

.....whilst the acacia アカシア bushes are still putting on a flare of colour......

....and I have pressed the wrong button on my camera, resulting in this odd picture.......maybe this is art.......? これはアートですか？😅

...or maybe this is art......"....still life, still music......"?

This little guy wanted live music though. But however hard he tried, he just couldn't switch on the organ on my e-piano.....🐞 テントウムシはオルガンを演奏したい!

Back to the workshop, where it is always nice to put new hair on a bow, and then give it some extra "bite" with fresh rosin. 新しい弓の毛......🎻

Players often neglect their bows, and begin to wonder why playing is becoming such hard work. With new hair to their bow, their eyes light up with the improved sound....😊弓は楽器として重要です..

Sunset over Langen 日没。 ランゲン

👉.......I will not be in the "Towers" for most of November, so there will be a pause in blog posts. （ブログの投稿はお休みします）I'm not someone who brings their laptop with them on holiday. However, in the meantime you may like to look me up on Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/nigelruddock/

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終わり