Yesterday (film)

Yesterday(Film)

The cinematic world of Richard Curtis (film-maker and scriptwriter) is a multiverse – of sorts. The premise of Yesterday (a Curtis-written and Danny Boyle-directed film) is a strange switch in space-time to a world identical (or at least very similar) to our own, apart from the curious fact that certain pop cultural events have never happened (Coca-Cola, Harry Potter and, importantly, the Beatles).

Tom Bowling and Frank Bowling

Tom Bowling; Frank Bowling

Tom Bowling is a song written towards the end of the C18 by Charles Dibdin. Dibdin was a succesful (but not always financially) singer, composer and popular dramatist. Tom Bowlingis his most famous, and long lasting, song. In modern times it has been given an arrangement by Benjamin Britten. It is, of course, Britten and Peter Pears that have produced the benchmark recording of the arrangement.

Sorolla and Vallotton

Sorolla and Vallotton

A couple of London exhibitions (overlapping in just the first week of July) have brought merited recognition to two largely overlooked artists (overlooked in Britain). Sorolla and Vallotton were contemporaries, living and working in the late C19 and early C20, both dying aged 60 within 2 years of one another. Sorolla was Spanish; Vallotton Swiss-French. Both enjoyed success in their lifetime, Sorolla the more conventionally (he sold well in the US).