Paris-Moscow
"All life is figure and ground." "But a wandering to find home." This immortal exchange takes place in Beckett's Murphy, where it neatly...
The University of Life
An occasional blog to encourage those who are considering retirement that the water is fine, and to reassure those who have already retired that it was worth it. To begin, start by clicking the book on the right.
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knowles.1
- May 5
- 3 min
May: Debussy
The Preludes of Claude Debussy (1910) have always been just out of my reach. Exquisite recordings by Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli don't...
63 views0 comments
knowles.1
- Mar 21
- 4 min
April: Call My Agent
Some of you know that for the past six months I've been writing a spy novel. I'm happy to say that it's now finished, and has been sent...
95 views0 comments
knowles.1
- Feb 23
- 7 min
March: Memorial
This is a long introduction to an original piece of music. To skip to the music, go to the end of the blog post. My love affair with...
124 views0 comments
knowles.1
- Feb 1
- 5 min
February: School without Tears
The book starts with a simple dedication: For the Pickley Wizards: Deborah, Rebecca, Jose, Sebbie, Catherine, Nicky, Isobel, Graham,...
84 views1 comment
knowles.1
- Jan 6
- 5 min
January 2021: His Last Wail
"Precious, precious, precious!" Gollum cried. "My Precious! O my Precious!" And with that, even as his eyes were lifted up to gloat...
130 views1 comment
knowles.1
- Dec 1, 2020
- 7 min
December: Top Ten Treehouse Books
Someone sent me the New York Times list of the top 100 books of 2020 and I thought I was being punked. I'd never heard of any of them,...
292 views0 comments
knowles.1
- Nov 6, 2020
- 4 min
November: America's Guy Fawkes
"Remember, remember, the fifth of November / "Gunpowder, treason, and plot." Growing up in a small village outside of Oxford, the...
239 views0 comments
knowles.1
- Sep 23, 2020
- 26 min
October: The Ruth Stone
It was the evening of Friday September 18. Jen and I had found perhaps the best glaze for lamb chops of all time: bourbon, brown...
414 views3 comments
knowles.1
- Sep 1, 2020
- 10 min
September: Starry Night
At the end of Ulysses, Stephen and Bloom go outside to take a leak. This is the moment in "Ithaca" of homecoming, when the personal,...
65 views1 comment
knowles.1
- Jul 31, 2020
- 6 min
August: The Sex Issue
It's about time, some of you must be saying. When is he going to admit that playing music is the only satisfactory substitute for sex? ...
163 views0 comments
knowles.1
- Jun 30, 2020
- 7 min
July: The Queen Stage
[No, this isn't a blog post about the Bostock decision, though the Supreme Court trifecta forbidding employment discrimination against...
80 views0 comments
knowles.1
- Jun 1, 2020
- 9 min
June: Goldengrove
It's June, and the A-flat/G# Sequence in Book 1 of The Well-Tempered Klavier is up. I'm recording four pieces each month - last month...
75 views0 comments
knowles.1
- May 1, 2020
- 3 min
May: Barley Break
The G Sequence in Book 1 of The Well-Tempered Klavier is up. I'm planning to record the 4 in each set (Major Prelude & Fugue, Minor...
97 views0 comments
knowles.1
- Apr 14, 2020
- 3 min
April: A Day at the Races
One of the many blessings of this quarantine season is the discovery of virtual musicianship - the sight of 69 members of the Royal...
64 views0 comments
knowles.1
- Mar 23, 2020
- 6 min
Out on a Limb
On Sunday, The Observer ran a story on a Finnish man who had to cut his tree down. He dressed his two brothers in images of celebration...
207 views1 comment
knowles.1
- Mar 17, 2020
- 4 min
Escape from Helsinki
Update: A week after these events, the author left Finland himself, and is happily at home with his quarantined spouse. It all starts...
142 views0 comments
knowles.1
- Feb 3, 2020
- 1 min
2020: A Bach Odyssey
First half finished! For links to the music recorded in February 2020, click on the image above. The recordings are now available as a...
92 views0 comments
knowles.1
- Jan 31, 2020
- 4 min
The Well-Tempered February
Update: For the music and commentaries to this project, go here: "The Well-Tempered February" You'll find a recording of each piece and...
138 views1 comment
knowles.1
- Jan 19, 2020
- 4 min
Top Ten Reasons to Live in Finland
TOP TEN REASONS TO LIVE IN FINLAND 10. They Color Code Everything When you pay for a bus pass they ask you to choose between an entire...
331 views2 comments