An informal corner of the website, comprising a cadenza of disparate thoughts and reflections on a range of subjects.  They might be considered as the product of quiet moments in a firelit book-lined study on a misty autumn evening.

My bookplate engraved by the wonderful Simon Brett. On the right of the piano lid is Peterborough Cathedral, on the left an image of downs and the sea in moonlight, together with  references to Venice and Britten.

In his centenary year, the composer of The King’s Stamp and Night Mail would surely have been astonished but quietly gratified at these official tributes by the Establishment: a first class stamp as part of the ‘Great Britons’ series, and a 50p piece (of which apparently 18 million have been minted but they seem curiously rare in change).

Tom Phillips RA, the designer of the coin, wrote:

Our best composer yet? He may well be,

At any rate he’s well worth 50p.

The Elgar banknote ditched in Twenty Ten

left cash composerless. So welcome Ben!

I trust my Britten coin, as well as pleasing,

Might play some part in quantitative easing.

 

This page will be updated soon.