The Executive Summary is ‘jolly and short’. The total track time for all four movements is 27’6″ (just under half an hour). Most of the last minute of the last track is the ending! By comparison, the 9th symphony has 5 movements and lasts for 69’26″ (nearly an hour and 10 minutes).

It’s almost like Beethoven dashed off the 8th so he could spend some serious time with the 9th

Not so much manufacturing tunes, or even self-assembling songs, but songs which build from a small beginning to a huge finish. To a greater or lesser extent they all start softly and keep building and building to some kind of climactic resolution.

Here are some examples. The links go to the Amazon MP3 store, where most of the tracks can be had for 89p each. Bargain!

‘Biding my time’ by Pink Floyd on Relics.

Probably the best example in the list. It starts off as a very sedate and genteel arrangement with just a guitar and a voice, but it soon starts adding instruments and volume until by the end it’s a stonking great big tune with almost a whole orchestra joining in. I love it! Biding My Time (1996 Digital Remaster)

‘One of these days’ by Pink Floyd on Meddle.

An excellent tune to play loud, although be warned, it does build in volume The distorted voice in the middle actually says ‘One of these days I’m going to cut you into little pieces’. So that’s nice. One Of These Days (1992 Digital Remaster)

‘On the run’ by Pink Floyd on The Dark Side of the Moon.

Can you see a pattern here? Pink Floyd feature rather prominently on this list. As Nick Mason said, “We discovered that rather than starting loud and staying the same volume all the way through like everyone else, we could be radical and start softly and build up to get a much more interesting track.” Or something like that, anyway – it’s probably in his autobiography somewhere if you’re keen. The Dark Side of the Moon is my all-time favourite album. Everything about it is fabulous, including the legendary album cover. On The Run

‘This is tomorrow’ by Bryan Ferry and Roxy Music on the Ultimate Collection.

This is my favourite track on this album, although having said that, the entire album is pretty megalicious and also includes Avalon, Angel Eyes, Dance Away and Tokyo Joe. There’s only one naff track which is ‘Help me’. Yes, I even like ‘He’ll have to go’, despite the fact that Bryan sings part of it an octave higher than it should be. This Is Tomorrow

‘Sympathy for the Devil’ by The Rolling Stones on Hot Rocks 1964-1971 (disc 2).

My favourite Rolling Stones track. It may be more famous for the backing track, which basically consists of the phrase ‘woo-woo’ sung over and over. Another excellent album (especially disc 2 which is so good all the way through that it’s almost always in the multi-changer in the car). Sympathy For The Devil

‘You can’t always get what you want’ by The Rolling Stones on Hot Rocks 1964-1971 (disc 2).

More classic Stonage from the same disc. It starts with what sounds like an acapello male-voice choir and builds from there to in to a huge tune, complete with choir. You Can’t Always Get What You Want

‘The Beat Goes On’ by Buddy Rich.

Just an excellent tune from start to finish. The Beat Goes On (Live)

‘Marcia Funebre’

The second movement of Beethoven’s third symphony, about 7 minutes in (it depends on the tempo used – on one recording I have, the good stuff starts at about 7 minutes, but on another it’s at about 7 minutes and 20 seconds). Symphony No.3 in E flat, Op.55 -”Eroica” – 2. Marcia funebre (Adagio assai)

The exception which proves the rule is the ‘Theme from Shaft’ (Theme From Shaft),
which starts small and builds very well, but which completely fails to arrive at any satisfactory resolution. It just sort of fizzles out rather lamely at the end. Of course, what it should do is end up having a spectacular finish.

I’m sure there are many others which I’ve forgotten or don’t know about. What are your favourite Building Songs?

In a previous life and a previous generation, this group was known as the Penguin Café Orchestra.

Whereas the PCO was led by Simon Jeffes, the newly reconstituted PC are led by Simon’s son Arthur. Simon passed away at a tragically early age in 1997.

The music was excellent, and it was absolutely fascinating to see. It turns out that I had no idea what a harmonium looked like!

The Penguin Café’s music style is described in the Programme as ‘unclassifiable’. Possibly their most popular piece is called ‘Telephone and Rubber Band’, which features repeating overlaid ringing and engaged tones that Simon Jeffes heard when he got a crossed line sometime in the 1970s. Simon recorded the tones and wrote the musical accompaniment. It was used extensively in recent T-Mobile adverts on TV.

Having missed the Proms completely last year, it was fabulous to be in the Royal Albert Hall once again.

A thoroughly enjoyable concert, it was very well summed up by the lady sitting next to me as ‘bringing back memories of my youth’. You can’t say fairer than that

Everything about the show was completely fabulous! I haven’t had such a good time for ages

Of course I loved the outrageous costumes, the fantastic footwear and the marvellous men, but for me, the star of the show was the bus. When the three main characters paint the bus, it becomes pink by virtue of a huge matrix of pink LEDs (Little Electric Doobreys) lighting up as the brushes pass over the surface. And this is just one of the amazing things which happen to the bus

The show follows the story of the film fairly closely, which is quite an impressive feat given that the film is essentially a road-movie.

If you get the chance, go and see this show. It’s fun, the outfits are incredible, and the songs are predominantly well-known disco classics. Chaps, get in touch with your feminine side and strut your funky stuff – and if you forget your feather boa you can get one in the foyer!

I haven’t just topped up my Fabulousness Quotient for the year, I’ve got enough in stock for the next ten years

This year we didn’t go to any at all, which I’m starting to feel was a grave error.

I finally got around to watching a recording of The Last Night on the telly and it’s made me realise that I’ve really missed not going this year.

Remind me not to be so short-sighted next year please

It was excellent! I went with Michael and Ricky, and we had a box to ourselves. Boxes are definitely the best way to see a concert

The programme was:-

• Vaughan Williams: Symphony 8 in D minor
• Turnage: Mambo, Blues and Tarantella – Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (world première)
• Ligeti: Atmosphères
• Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

I really enjoyed the whole evening. Michael was impressed with the Stravinsky – it also featured in the Proms this year, played by the New York Philharmonic, but I’m told they didn’t make a very good job of it.