Mithras Trio

 That was a MAGNIFICENT concert!

The trio is composed of Thomas Mathias on violin, Ben Tarlton on cello and Dominic Degavino on piano, and they are brilliant musicians.  The trio was founded in 2017, but Thomas and Ben only joined the line up this year, so they haven't been playing together for very long.  You'd never know, though, because they seemed perfectly matched.

They started with Mozart - the Piano Trio in B flat from 1786, which is beautiful.

Then they played a piece from a composer I was unfamiliar with.  George Enescu was Romanian, and he wrote his Piano Trio in A Minor in 1916.  However, it remained unfinished until after his death in 1955, when it was found among his papers and edited by the pianist Hilda Jerea.

The musicians said that it was a difficult piece to play for all three instruments, and they'd enjoyed the challenge of getting to grips with it.  They also spent the afternoon in one of the local schools, working with the children and introducing them to the music.

After the interval (with amazing cake as usual - I had the Spanish orange cake) they played the longest piece, Brahms' Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major.  This is an unusual piece because Brahms first wrote it in 1854, when he was twenty one, and came back to it in 1889 to revise it.

The applause was rapturous.  Everyone I spoke to afterwards agreed that we'd been listening to something very special. 

In the interval I met a couple who are new to Hay, as they were admiring the church organ.  So I was able to tell them the story of how it came to be in the church, thanks to Father Richard.   

Return of Hay on Fire

 There are plans to hold Hay on Fire again in 2027.  

I was there at the very first Hay on Fire, when the procession went through the town and ended up on the riverbank where the canoes are now.  There was a fire labyrinth, and people out on the river playing with fire.  I was involved in the charity bucket collections - including the very, very wet year when we had to pour the buckets into a sieve over a sink to get the coins out (we didn't get any notes that year - they would have disintegrated!).  That was the year the theme was Midsummer Nights Dream, and there were some very soggy fairies about!

I also remember the vicar at the time (before Father Richard) believing that Hay on Fire was Satanic, and ringing the church bells to drive away the Devil!

Later the fireworks moved to the Warren, where the fireworks - and the cars with flamethrowers - were kept well away from the audience.  I remember the Mayor of Timbuktu, with wellies under his robes, going down the track to watch when he came to visit Hay.

And then it stopped happening - I think there were problems with getting insurance, amongst other things.

Now a new group wants to revive Hay on Fire, for the fiftieth anniversary of Hay Independence, and they're holding a fund raiser on Saturday night at the Globe to start raising the money to put it on again next year.  It'll be mostly in the garden of the Globe, because there will be fire juggling from Pyro Cymru!  They will be encouraging people to have a go, from people who are already performers to complete beginners.  And Goffee, the creator of the original Hay on Fire, will be there to give them his blessing.

Entry is free. 

 

Flu Jab

 I had my first flu jab yesterday afternoon (I should have had one last year, but I didn't get round to organising it).  I was impressed at how smoothly it all went, from the lady in the hi-viz vest standing outside the waiting room, the short queue, and the friendly nurses.

It only took about twenty minutes from me leaving work to walk round to the surgery to me getting back to the bookshop, so very quick and efficient - and well worth having. 

Friends of the River Wye at Westminster

Friends of the River Wye have been in Westminster to lobby MPs to vote against the government's proposed Poultry Growth Strategy.  There has been no local community engagement by DEFRA and the big chicken factory farm owners, and here's a map of the chicken units that already exist in the Wye catchment area:

 Campaigners are arguing that this is already too many chickens, and the River Wye is already negatively affected by the pollution from these farms.

 

Digging for Cusop

 Tim Hoverd, the archaeologist who was in charge of the Cusop Castle Dig this summer, will be giving the interim report on the findings next week, Wednesday 28th October at 7.30pm.  Donations of £2 are requested on the door.

The venue is Clyro Village Hall, which is larger that Cusop Village Hall.  The dig committee wants there to be enough room for everyone who is interested - 112 volunteers took part in the dig!  They won't all be able to be there, but there are plenty of other people locally who are interested, too.

Mithras Trio - More Hay Music

 The next Hay Music concert will be performed by the Mithras Trio.  They play piano, violin and cello, and will be performing works by Mozart, Enescu and Brahms at St Mary's Church on Friday 23rd October at 7pm.  Tickets are £20, and £10 for under 25s, and as usual there will be a bar.

 

An American Werewolf at Hay Castle

 For Hallowe'en, Hay Castle are putting on the film American Werewolf in London, in the Great Hall at 8pm on Friday October 30th (bring a cushion!).  Tickets are £15.

Although I've known about the film for years, and knew that some of it was filmed in this area (the Slaughtered Lamb pub is a house in Crickadarn, for instance), I've never seen the film itself.

So that's what I'm doing for Hallowe'en.