Spice

I wasn't feeling so good first thing this morning – a bit of a dodgy stomach, maybe even a touch of gastritis. That sounds quite impressive, exotic in its own way, rather than coming down with a more commonplace bout of run-of-the-mill  indigestion. A better class of ailment. Perhaps it was the result of last night's takeaway. With my son visiting, I thought I would treat him to a curry from a highly reputable Indian restaurant. And it was indeed very appetising. And with no apparent adverse effects on my son. But it may be that, with my advancing years, I have unfortunately become more sensitive to the potent spices of the East. I am all right now, you'll be glad to hear, although I have been feeling listless today and have not had much of an appetite, which is unusual for me. A few morsels of bread and hot tea is basically all I've had to eat, as well as a few other bits and pieces out of the fridge, including the remnants of the curry. I will fade away if I'm not careful.

As part of my convalescence I got round to watching belatedly a recording of this year's First Night of the Proms, which featured a stirring performance of Vaughan Williams's A Sea Symphony. I remember singing it with the choir last year. From the back of the choir it is not always easy to see or hear everything that is going on, especially as the soloists tend to be miles away in front of the orchestra; so it is good to have the opportunity to watch a performance from the right direction. It is such an overwhelming piece: so much of it, and seemingly so wildly unstructured: all over the place, in a nice way. And difficult to sing: a lot of notes, which don't always appear where you expect them; and the tempo changing constantly, so no two bars are taken at the same pace. Some members of the choir on the TV looked quite calm, as if it was effortless; whereas I seem to remember it took considerable mental agility to keep up with the conductor, not to mention physical effort to make oneself heard. And I do like to put some emotion into my performance. Though I'm not sure the audience would agree: they might have preferred less.