Wednesday 30 March 2011

Ragtime

The hotel I am staying at is about a hundred yards from the Pavilion Theatre in Brighton, and I wandered past it this evening on the way out to get some food. If memory serves, a little over 20 years ago I went to a concert there to listen to Joshua Rifkin play Scott Joplin. Up until then I thought I did a decent job of playing a few Ragtime pieces myself, but I remember thinking as I listened, "OK, so there're supposed to go that fast are they!"

I came to the concert with Nan, Rew and Frances, and for reasons that I can't remember, I was the designated driver for the evening and had borrowed Mum and Dad's Montego estate. I particularly remember driving home, the cross country route, it seeming to take forever, and not particularly enjoying it. It can't have been all that long after I'd passed my test.

It also reminds me of another trip to Brighton - one of a similar vintage, and one that Nicky came along for as well. It was a choir trip, and I think we were singing a service in a Brighton church. I can't remember a single thing about that, but what I do remember is going to the seafront afterwards, and persuading Nan to come on some fairground rides with us! Fantastic.