:: Sturm & Drang ::

For those of you not acquainted with 18th Century German literary movements this is what Sturm und Drang means. The effect of this movement on literature in German-speaking countries was profound, but I know more about its influence on Mozart and his contemporaries. Fitting then, that this afternoon's incipient thunderstorms should coinicide with my attempts to draw up designs for a harpsichord/fortepiano that I'm helping to make for June's production of Amadeus. If you're desperate to extend your knowledge of Sturm und Drang, then look here for more links. For those of you who who couldn't give a monkey's, here's the rest of my post - and No More German...

The design for a fortepiano has turned out to be more complicated than I hoped. The process has partly been hampered by a need to scale down from the behemoth harpsichord I measured for the purpose (2.35m long). Another problem is that Fortepianos are less well documented on the web. The one depicted in that link, for example, is nearly 50 years later than the one we need. The elegant keyboard below is more similar (the date is perfect), although it's a harpsichord:

So, it's just me and a ruler and some flexible MDF.

Never mind the power tools, here's the bollox:

  • University authorities in the US have discovered a new way to cut down on students' living costs... I love the comment about it not being "unusual to see someone who's fallen asleep" - may be they're studying late 18th century German literature.
  • London's Art World has been rocked by a new installation at the National Portrait Gallery. This sleeping Becks proves that even the minted can fall asleep in the wrong place at the wrong time.
  • Demonstrating that his finger's never too far from the pulse (2 and a half years ain't too bad), David Bowie has endorsed bootleg versions of his songs. As if there haven't already been hundreds of takes on "Let's Dance" already...

And finally... watch out for boozed-up kids, coming soon to a street corner near you. Unless they're there already. Right... I'm off to dodge the thunderbolts.