Peter Skellern

I am sad that Peter has passed away. I didn't know he was ill and neither did I know he had been ordained.

I have a couple of his CD albums but the song which I like best doesn't appear to be on Youtube. It is his arrangement of "Where do we go from here?". From the outset the brass writing, tone and gradually 'unfolding' of the sonority gives me goosebumps.

The words are, of course, sad in themselves and I have often found they resonate with me. Having separated from my wife (with a divorce happening in the next 12 months) the words do not quite upset me as much as they did: I do now know where we are going - our separate ways. When we still living together and there was hope (of a kind) and the lyrics seemed to hit the spot being about two people who do not know what the future holds. But it was all over for us several years ago.

Now it is over for Peter. R. I. P. old chap.

Accompaniments

Having had my piano tuned by a chap who actually knows what he is doing - thus making it playable - I was suddenly asked to accompany a Grade 8 clarinet exam in March; so I have been working on the piano parts. Mozart's Clarinet Concerto (3rd mvt.) should be OK but I am a little concerned about Finzi's "Fughetta" even though the girl is playing it slower than marked in the copy.