Steven Isserlis

OTD in 1971, Igor Stravinsky died - a man who truly changed music. Some of his later music puzzles me, I must confess - but when I dare say that to some composer friends, I am reviled as a blasphemer. Well, he was one of the major figures in music history, without doubt...

Oy vey - worst yet! And I just had a haircut! Train staff-member to me just now: 'I'll take your rubbish, sir'. (Looks at me.) 'I do apologise - I should have said Madam.' (Looks at me again.) 'You ARE a lady, aren't you?' (I stare at him.) He (head in hands now): 'Oh shit'.

It seems to me that music history is full of pairs of composers, one of whom has (VERY broadly speaking) built on/away from tradition, and the other (also VERY broadly speaking) consummated it - eg Handel/Bach; Haydn/Mozart; Mendelssohn/Schumann; Wagner/Brahms; Debussy/Faure; etc

Hmm...we musicians are a bit like politicians in that we cherry-pick our evidence to fit our purposes. Eg: I dismiss many of Czerny's metronome marks for Beethoven cello sonatas as unfeasibly fast;but pounce on his slow mark for opening of no 4, and proclaim it as gospel truth...

The wonderful Hans Gal died at the age of 97 otd in 1987. I feel lucky to have known him; I loved hearing him talk about the premiere of the Bruckner symphony he'd attended, the Mahler performances of Mozart operas he remembered, etc. Great that his own music is being revived!

Alas, our beloved Brahms died on this day in 1897... On the other hand, Doris Day was born on this day in 1922. You lose some, you win some...

When a musician makes a point by slowing down into a harmonic surprise ((or showing off in some other way that they've noticed it), it's like a comic laughing at the joke before a punchline, or a gift-giver unwrapping the present before handing it over: it ruins the whole effect.

The wisdom/poetry of Claude Debussy: Works of art make rules; rules do not make works of art. Music is the arithmetic of sounds as optics is the geometry of light Listen to no one's advice except that of the wind in the trees. That can recount the whole history of mankind...

'Like everyone, I love the famous early works of Gabriel Faure; but for a complex mind like mine, the late works, with their constantly shifting tonalities and endless rhythmic subtleties, are even more satisfying. Really great!' Donald Trump, essay: 'Influences' 1985

“The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline but rather the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity.” ― Glenn Gould

Tell me @KLM - are you trying hard to win the Worst Airline in the World competition? I'd say you ave a VERY good chance. I made a booking 4 days ago, and was told to confirm 72 hours later. I just called - and was told that it had been cancelled! And then I was cut off...

OTD in 1732 was born Joseph Haydn, one of the most loveable figures in the history of music. What a wonderful man 'Papa' Haydn was - and what a composer! Inexhaustible imagination, originality and joy (and sometimes tragedy, of course) - a precious gift to our little planet.

Someone left some cold lamb in my fridge. Profound question: why is it that we have beef sandwiches, ham sandwiches, chicken sandwiches - but (other than in kebabs) never lamb sandwiches? A spiritual mystery with which to go to sleep...

A question for the many musically knowledgable tweeters: I'm SURE that I once saw a picture of Shostakovich, Prokofiev and Kabalevsky all sitting together, K staring, perhaps rather enviously, at the other 2. But I can't find it! Does anyone know it/have a copy, by any chance?

(On Sibelius' 5th symphony) "What would it have been like, I wondered, to be at the first performance?... The answer: one would have felt proud, proud that one of us could put together such sounds, proud that out of nothing we human beings can make such stuff." JM Coetzee

“Music is, for me, like a beautiful mosaic which God has put together. He takes all the pieces in his hand, throws them into the world, and we have to recreate the picture from the pieces.” ― Jean Sibelius

William Walton would have been a mere 116 today. Prematurely unfashionable at a fairly early point in his career, I think his music deserves to be heard for more often than it is. And (of course) I love and adore his cello concerto - one of the greatest ever written, I'd say.