Serendipity

Amazon is a great place to buy CDs.  Presto Classical goes one better and sends a weekly newsletter which introduces the reader to new recordings and all sorts of events in the world of ‘classical’ music.  But.  And, of course, there is always a but.  I’ll come to it soon. 

The other day CJ and I were in Linghams a bookshop in Heswall on The Wirral  where we have morning coffee, do the crossword and where I usually buy some cards and the very occasional book.  Unfortunately Amazon is usually too competitive to be ignored in the book stakes.  However Linghams also sell a small selection of CDs. 

Not a huge range but they do have some of music which is less well known than the main classical recordings.  When CJ and I were there recently I found two CDs by composers of whom I had never heard.  I’ve been collecting CDs since they were first produced and keep reasonably abreast with the sort of music I like.  So I was quite surprised to find two CDs which looked very inviting.  I bought them. 

I was not disappointed.  Schmidt’s Symphony No 1 is redolent of Brahms and Bruckner and is in the grand scale.  Fry’s works on this CD are large symphonic works in romantic style but full of fun – it is possibly the first example of the use of a saxophone in a symphonic work.

Yes.  Serendipity is found in bookshops and music shops.