Andrew Fitzgibbon, Author at The Open College of the Arts

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Andrew Fitzgibbon

It's all about pathos

Posted: 25/10/10 08:19 | 7 Comments

Does a composer write his or her best music at a time of joy, tragedy or tranquillity? There are persuasive cases to be made for all three. Indeed we should probably add a fourth option i.e. none of the above as there are plenty of composers who seemed able to turn out wonderful music on […]

Are you sure about that?

78rpm gramophone Prince of Denmark’s March purcell Purcell’s Trumpet Voluntary

Posted: 27/07/10 12:59 | 2 Comments

One of the vivid memories of my youth is sitting down on a chair on which my father had placed a much treasured vinyl (78 rpm) recording of Purcell’s Trumpet Voluntary. Needless to say, it was smashed to smithereens (a technical term). The key question was whether I would be able to sweep up the […]

A new OCA Course in music on the way!

carla rees history of music Music music course music history

Posted: 21/07/10 02:15 | 5 Comments

Good news for current and potential music students at the OCA! We have commissioned Carla Rees to write a new Level 1 Music course. Gareth’s recent interview with Carla gives some fascinating background on her interests, including her pioneering work on the 21st century flute repertoire and developments with the instrument itself (alto and bass […]

Now where did I leave my glasses?

Alec Templeton Bach Delius fugue George Malcolm George Shearing

Posted: 03/06/10 09:49 | 6 Comments

My reputation as a cool dude when playing jazz (pause for ironic jeers) has taken a bit of a hammering recently as I’ve had to start wearing middle distance glasses in order to see the charts. My optician tells me I’ll soon be needing multifocal lenses. Which brings me to Random Fact Number 742… In […]

Things Can Only Get Better

beethoven D:Ream general election Labour

Posted: 20/04/10 07:40 | 2 Comments

The announcement of the UK General Election for May 6th brought to mind the song Things Can Only Get Better, written by Peter Cunnah. It was originally released by D:Ream in 1993 but achieved wide prominence when used as the Labour Party’s campaign theme in the 1997 General Election. It perhaps has a somewhat ironic […]

From Burgess and Maclean to Elgar and Standford

composers Music standford

Posted: 28/01/10 09:49 | 1 Comments

I was listening to the Today programme on Radio 4 whilst driving into work last week and there was an item about an exhibition in Cambridge entitled Under Covers: Documenting Spies. Cambridge has been something of a breeding ground for spies, of course – and not always for the same side! The interviewee commented that […]