Peter Wesley, Mr hazelh, and Molly the bassoon

Today Mr hazelh drove us all to Doune for a concert entitled Tales from an old bassoon. It was held in the village's rural hall to celebrate the centenary of both the hall itself and the instrument. The performers were Peter Wesley on bassoon and Liivi Arder on piano. 

Mr hazelh has strong connections to this bassoon. It belonged to his grandfather Frank Read. After an operation to his lip in 1987, Frank could no longer play his instrument, so he passed it on to his pupil Peter. It is now Peter's main instrument as a member of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and a teacher at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

The performance included eight musical pieces interspersed with tales from Frank's extraordinary life. Peter narrated these, Martin Jarvis style, using written content from Frank's highly entertaining memoir. 

Peter started with the almost Dickensian beginnings of Frank's life. The second youngest of nine siblings from a costermonger family in the East End of London, Frank was orphaned aged 5, then informally adopted by a cruel alcoholic uncle who regularly beat him. Frank eventually summoned up the courage to run away from 'home' aged 10. He lived on the streets for a short while, funding his new life with three gold sovereigns stolen from his uncle's trouser pocket. When 'found' again, Frank refused to return to the care of his uncle so the authorities packed him off to an industrial school in Bristol. It was here that Frank first picked up a bassoon. Five years later, aged 15, he started his military career as a bandsman in the army.

From this point on, Frank's life took a turn for the better. Over the course of his career he was a band member in three different regiments, he survived the Second World War, played as a professional musician in all the major British orchestras with the sole exception of the Liverpool Philharmonic, and ended his life as a Chelsea pensioner. He enjoyed a long happy marriage with his one and only girlfriend. Mr hazelh is the eldest of his five grandchildren.

It is difficult to convey in a blip the brilliance of the whole performance. The musical pieces and memoir extracts were superbly selected and well balanced, with an interval for tea/coffee and cakes. Peter Wesley is also a brilliant all-round performer.

Four of the audience members also held a wee blip meet at the hall. My extra shows me with Tweedy, Livresse, and SparseRunner. Django, who had earlier allowed Mummy hazelh to stroke him, was also there at our feet. The others have written about the concert in their own journals for today: Tweedy; Livresse; SparseRunner. 

Exercise today: none.