When the Old Man Died, 19th April

 

And he had a tin ear...

You’d think by the photo above that he was never young, but a scurrilous lecture by Prof. Mark Pallen shows what he got up to when he was a beardless youth.  That was given at Mark’s ‘Darwin Day 2020’ event; I got to give a talk at this year’s event on the subject ‘Darwin, DNAand Music’. More revelations about what Darwin got up to as a youth can be seen in this excellent skit by Prof. Pavel Borodin’s wonderful students at the Centre for Cytology and Genetics, University of Novosibirsk. Wow, Charlie was young once! And get a load of the marvellous intro song by Suzi Quatro, written around the 100^th anniversary of him popping his clogs, I can almost hear him humming along.

Yes, all good things come to an end and 19^th April 1882 was the end of that particular 3 Billion year-old twig of the Tree of Life (his beautiful image of all our connection). On 10^th March I posted an extract from ‘Three Soliloquies’, an arc of extracts from his life and travels starting with ‘The Gloriesof the Vegetation of the Tropics’, from ‘Voyage of the Beagle’. That was the young Darwin. The third section is ‘A Man Looks Forwards and Backwards’ (with a slight edit-out for musical reasons) and you can listen to an extract here. I’d love to get this recorded as it’s ready-to-go and ‘approved’ by a professional singer and classical guitarist, but at present is only in rendition form. I’m on the look-out for concert promoters who fancy a bit of serious baritone/guitar combo. So in the meantime, you can be amongst the first to sing it, if you follow the words below, from ‘Autobiography’

Extract of baritone / c. guitar aria, David F. Gahan

"A man (on the other hand) looks forwards and backwards, and compares his various feelings, desires and recollections. He then finds, in accordance with the verdict of all the wisest men that the highest satisfaction is derived from following (certain impulses, namely) the social instincts..." 

This is an older Darwin, reflecting on life and what really matters. We leave him ascending the holy mountain - not of Sion, but of Science.

Picture credits:

Darwin College publicity for ‘The Darwins & Music’

Music extract copyright David. F. Gahan

Happy Easter, Librarian!

 

Mysterious Message, left by the perpetrator

A remorseful thief repented last Easter (2022) and made amends. Whatever selfish urges which prompted them to plunder Cambridge University Library, appropriating for personal pleasure part of our common historical patrimony, was expiated in an act of remorse and restitution. Wow! - one doesn’t usually get to use words like those in a blog dedicated to science. But my guess is that the perpetrator was probably steeped in such language – it was Cambridge after all, and the Easter message is a bit tell-tale.

And a great joy it was to anyone interested in the culture and history of science! (To hard scientists, it’s the idea, not the original physical manifestation in ink and paper, that’s the thing.) The story is well told here and the joy that all-manner-of-things-were-wellis communicated in a video interview by Chief Librarian Dr Jessica Gardner. The timing was also a marvel, being in the final year of the Darwin Correspondence Project, a titanic effort to put 15,000 items of correspondence on line (I used it today!).

And such was that joy that, with a little persuading and ideation with a young historian of science academic at Darwin College, Edwin Rose, that the idea of a celebratory concert was born, including my string quartet on Darwinian themes. CUL via the Darwin Correspondence Project stumped a little money which gave rise to the concert which began this blog. It is sanely difficult to get new music programmed /performed from an unusual source. Sanely? Yes, because of the vast back-catalogue, and perfectly proper (albeit mean) funding/support structures for contemporary professional composers. So, usually, no chance to get music like this performed.

The concert, superbly programmed by Francis Knights, took place on 29^th October 2022. It was a great chance to visit the exhibition of DCP at the Library – wonderful, touching examples of the correspondence, including with the fine minds in the British Public at the time such as the Stonemason’s letter (your time will be richly rewarded by clicking on this). The exhibition is now moving to the New York Public Libraries and runs through the summer.

So it is with thanks to the Repentant Thief, CUL and DCP, and Darwin College for the opportunity to visit the exhibition and to have a funded performance of Eyenigma Variations. See Darwiniana tab for photos, quotes and links to the music. I will post more music next time, related to Darwin’s examinations of coral reefs!

And Happy Easter to you; we come from many traditions and all are to be valued, examined, and celebrated.