psmv6: Viols

The end of March saw a visit to the Wigmore Hall to hear some Dowland from Phantasm on the viols and Elizabeth Kenny on the lute. A line-up which we had heard before, back in 2017, as noticed at reference 1.

Taking their score up to that of Fretwork, the other viol consort which I have heard of and which we have heard twice, most recently just three years ago, as noticed at reference 2.

This concert was part of the Dowland 400th anniversary weekend, which attracted a slightly different crowd than our usual concerts, some of whom at least were good for the whole weekend. Not something we have ever been terribly good at, although we did once, when we were very young, go to two Shakespeare plays in one day. And, slightly more recently, we did hear the Goldberg variations twice in one sitting, once on a harpsichord and then again on a piano. Same executant. Finding notice of same is left as an exercise for the reader.

Trains to Waterloo were off for the second Sunday running, so off to Victoria via the Eclipse car park.

For the first time that I can remember, there were no cars parked on Meadway, resident or otherwise. And while we still had a hole in West Hill, there was no queue on either side.

On the tube to Oxford Circus, I was sat next to a pretty grey whippet which seemed to be terribly interested in my duffel coat - interested in a very friendly way. I thought perhaps that once the weather turns a bit warmer, a wash is indicated. I am not keen of dry cleaning this sort of thing - my belief being that it destroys the look, feel and hang of a fabric - and I am pretty sure that last time BH did a bath job on it. Hopefully she will be good for a repeat.

Passed the people snapped above. A rather odd shop which I thought, correctly as it turned out, used to be further up Regent Street. On the other side of the road and much nearer the church at the top. They must be doing well enough to have moved nearer the centre of things. Or maybe rents are falling in the rather wobbly scene of bricks and mortar retail. See reference 16 for a short notice from a couple of years ago.

On to ABO for toast, tea and coffee. A fair number of passing joggers, maybe half a dozen, all bar one - no pun intended - although I dare say Freud would not believe that) ladies. I have also noticed that ladies are more apt to dress up for jogging than gentlemen. Would Freud have said that both sides are doing what they think that the other side want? Did he have jogging in city streets in his day? We did have a German gymnasium at Kings Cross at about the relevant time, a place I have visited a couple of times now.

For a bit of background, see reference 3, where I learn that:

Sugar-baking was the largest occupation for Germans of East London in the mid-19th century. The work was extremely hot and dangerous. Due to the heat, workers were provided with unlimited amounts of beer. Few of them survived into old-age and many were admitted to the German hospital with lungs encrusted with melted sugar. The local refining industry suffered from foreign competition at the end of the 19th century, leading to a rapid decline. More modern refineries were also opened by Abraham Lyle and Henry Tate further east at Silvertown, where raw materials could be unloaded directly from ships.

The hall was pretty full, albeit, as already noticed, not quite the usual Sunday morning crowd. We were in the middle of row I which did us very well. And I rather liked the rather quieter approach to life; quiet unlike all the dramatics which were to come in the centuries that followed. And everybody got a turn; something which sometimes seems to be missing from some of the string quarters that we hear.

Out to the Cock & Lion to think about lunch, to find that it had been taken over by new people, although they had kept Sunday roasts - which we had had once before. We thought we would give the roast another go: beef for him, chicken for her. This last involving no more than swapping the beef for chicken and adding a small brick of bread sauce. Or it might of been stuffing. The same power gravy served for both of us. And the little saucepans contained a lukewarm take on cauliflower cheese, presumably thought to be a proper accompaniment to the roast beef of Olde Englande.

Most of the food had been prepared some time previously, either kept warm or reheated in a microwave. The slab of beef was on the chewy side. But the kale and the watercress added a touch of green freshness, the Yorkshires were fresh and light and it all added up to a substantial meal.

I told the new landlord about the clocks of old and he actually seemed quite interested in reinstating them. While I was quite surprised to find at reference 8 that they were still there only seven years ago: I would have guessed much longer. Neither Bing nor Google were any help on the clue 'cock lion clocks wigmore street'. While Gemini is much more positive on the clue 'Do you know anything about the clocks that used to be above the bar of the Cock & Lion in Wigmore Street. Clocks which were once set to the time in various parts of the world', but I needed to correct him on a couple of points and I dare say his story could have been made up by blending my input into his general knowledge about this class of central London public house. Will I find the energy to dig deeper?

On exit we failed to work out whether this was a shop selling fancy new goods or fancy nearly-new goods. On the eastern side of Wimpole Street. The sign in front of the yellow coat talks of one apartment to let and another for sale. Maybe I will check up later. Shortly after that, we spotted another Waymo car, as previously noticed.

And shortly after that, we came across a building under refurbishment, refurbishment which looked to include reinstatement of some serious but decorative stone work on the facades, rather Art Deco in appearance.

Seemingly one of the dead department stores.

Back home, I made some inquiries and eventually found out that it was a major makeover of what had been D. H. Evans. In the snap above, the orange spot top left is the Cock & Lion. Middle left is the block that was Debenhams, the Debenhams which once had a downstairs cafeteria which we rather liked and which had impressive shimmering tiles on its facades. A piece of outdoor art which I really liked - for once. Now substantially remodelled if not demolished and rebuilt. Snapped, for example at reference 10, with the arty tiles replaced by brown slats which are probably not wooden. Maybe even worth scoring as fakes. The tiles are mentioned at reference 15. While middle right, between Chapel Place and John Lewis, is the building site in question, white to the Debenham's grey. You can read all about it at reference 9.

And there the matter rested until yesterday (Tuesday) afternoon. I knew I had done some digging but could not at first find any results. So I asked Gemini who said that I had not asked him, but then proceeded to replay the story about the Elephant redevelopment, complete with heritage and arty trimmings.

I was not so sure that I had not asked Gemini and continued poking around, eventually turning up some screenshots of the conversation, seemingly having taken place in the margins of one about Wells House in Epsom. I politely corrected Gemini, which elicited one his more more gushing replies:

'You’ve got an incredible memory for our timeline—you are absolutely right. We did discuss this, and looking back at the context of Wells House (the massive 1930s block just down the road at 150-158 Oxford Street), it makes perfect sense that we pivoted to The Elephant...'.

In which he dragged a whole new Wells House into the mix. A Wells House which certainly exists and is to be found at reference 12, but entirely the wrong one. A development which, as it happens, involves Wates as building contractor, the company for which I was working on a north London estate as a handyman at the time of my marriage, shortly after I graduated. Wates, at that time, was headquartered in south London, quite near where I was living: Wikipedia at reference 13 is rather more informative for present purposes than reference 14, but it seems that Wates s a family firm which has survived, thrived even - unlike most of the big contractors of my younger days, which have vanished inside a series of mergers and consolidations. Or just vanished.

But an example which suggests that Gemini has an uncertain grip on our past conversations. He tries, unlike, for example, his stable mate Google Images, but he is not yet very good at it. Just as well that I keep some records myself which provide another way in.

But he is very good at generating plausible sounding waffle, which, at the very least, would do very well to fuel my side of the conversation in a saloon bar or a golf club. Power me through an interview?

From where I associate to a chap from my distant past in the Department of Employment, who was keen on chess. He was on an interview board and tried a candidate out on that, a candidate who had unwittingly mentioned the game, getting a whole lot of waffle in response. He marked the interviewee down for making up what he did not know, which I thought was rather unfair. It is expecting a lot of a candidate to answer a question at interview with 'I've got no idea'. He might reasonably reason that what is wanted is for him to do just that, to make up what he does not know. To be able to waffle on the hoof, as it were. They want to see if he can do it.

Back at Oxford Circus, down unto the tube for the usual long walk at Victoria to Cardinal Place, having been misled - once again - by the poor quality signage.

Then wet, cold and windy by the time we got back to Epsom.

PS 1: the tailpiece of one of the bass viols was decorated, something I do not recall seeing in the violin family. This can be seen at reference 6.

PS 2: Gemini does pretty well on the tiles. Must quicker, I would imagine, that it would have been with old-style search.

PS 3: he also does well on the funny clothes shop in Wimpole Street mentioned above, demonstrating on the way that he has access to both Google Maps and Companies House. A long-established shop which specialises in selling odds and ends of high fashion, somewhat discounted from the regular price. A business model not unlike that of T.K. Maxx with its odds and ends of clothes - or Wetherspoons with its odds and ends of beer. At least, that is how they started out. But unlike Wetherspoons, it hides behind a shifting web of shell entities.

PS 4: I have yet to bother with the words at reference 4, even though they are in English. But I dare say I will take a look at them - I used to like using a parallel text with Schubert's 'Auf dem Wasser zu singen' (D774) - although not at a live concert. The snap above being lifted from Wikipedia.

I wonder if the early music team, who can be pedantic about using early instruments, get excited about whether to use the original text or a modern transcription? At reference 4 at least, you get the latter.

References

Reference 1: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2017/05/viols.html.

Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/04/sebastiani.html.

Reference 3: https://www.thehistoryoflondon.co.uk/the-german-community-in-london-during-the-19th-century/.

Reference 4: https://youtu.be/jkRrzAo9Wl4. Flow my tears.

Reference 5: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lachrimae,_or_Seaven_Teares.

Reference 6: https://youtu.be/zA792An8oC8. Lachrimae. A rather harsh and mushed sound on my Envy laptop, but it does serve to give the idea.

Reference 7: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/05/bennewtiz.html.

Reference 8: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2019/06/trouts.html.

Reference 9: https://studiopdp.com/blog/oxford-streets-sleeping-giant-awakens.

Reference 10: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2025/10/first-wigmore.html.

Reference 11: https://psmv6.blogspot.com/2026/03/wellingtonia-136.html.