henselpushers

Well today I did a 16.2 mile hike with 2400 ft of ascent in order to gauge my fitness for the WHW, which, again, I have no solid plans to do

I’m in that mood where I begin detailed planning of my purely imaginary west highland way trek

Polling musicians:

Which are the best sheet music publishers, and what makes them the best?

Interested in both your personal opinions and what you were told in school or as a working musician.

‘Almost unheard of’: experts find more music by English composer Henry Purcell Printed score and keyboard manuscript by Purcell, who died in 1695, unearthed in Worcestershire and Norfolk

GOOD NEWS !
"A team of musicologists has unearthed the printed score of a previously unknown Purcell song, as well as the original manuscript for various keyboard compositions."
#baroque #music
www.theguardian.com/music/2025/o...

I know I’m not the only one who experiences this, and I can imagine the reasons for it. But it feels kinda embarrassing for the version of me that is dedicated to diligent practice.

Why can I play piano better after a two week vacation—still jet lagged and sleep deprived—than when I’ve been practicing every day for months?

YouTube video by Matthew Lipman Matthew Lipman and Jeremy Denk | Clarke Viola Sonata

We’re listening tonight to the tremendous Viola Sonata by Rebecca Clarke. It’s very English, but there are hints of Debussy here and there. If you ever doubted the viola could occupy the spotlight, you need to hear this.

youtu.be/d-M4UznmeCA?...

Oooh great!

Well it’s at a private residence, and it’s being actively used, so I’ll let it slide!

Painting of an open room with many paintings in the wall, big windows on the left wall, a desk, some chairs, a piano and the music stand in the corner

Pictured in this 19th c. painting of her music room by Helfft (behind piano)

A beautiful carved wood triangular music stand with some sheet music on it

It’s Fanny’s music stand!!

Another item on mantissa’s daily agenda is called “tap the raptors” and it’s where she does this every evening after her dinner:

A tabby cat looks into an open dishwasher

Dishwasher Sunday!
Videos will resume next week when I’m back in town.

The most beautiful blue!

Their little hops

You know what birds are great…magpies.

Hensel*

Goofy

Two 18th-19th century trumpets in display behind glass

Skinny loopy horn

Brass instruments, some with several bells

Amazing. PS I saw some wild brass instruments at the musical instrument museum in Brussels:

I’m not familiar!

Meme of a guy smiling, kneeling at a fresh grave

Chopin’s tomb with lots of flowers and candles

I was going to be an asshole and recreate the funeral meme at Chopin and Berlioz’s graves but there were many people there having Moments, so I jut took a picture instead

Sax faced many brushes with death. As a child, he once fell from a height of three floors, hit his head on a stone and was believed dead. At the age of three, he drank a bowl full of acidic water, mistaking it for milk, 61 and later swallowed a pin. He received serious burns from a gunpowder explosion and once fell onto a hot cast-iron frying pan, burning his side. Several times he avoided accidental poisoning and asphyxiation from sleeping in a room where varnished furniture was drying. Another time young Sax was struck on the head by a cobblestone and fell into a river, almost dying. 7] His mother once said that "he's a child condemned to misfortune; he won't live". His neighbors called him "little Sax, the ghost". 17]

Got to tell my mom about the accident-prone young Sax:

Gravestone of Anton Reicha, with a face, a woman, and a cherub

Gravestone of the Desfossez family with a stone cross on top

Gravestone of Nadia and Lili Boulanger with some flowers

Brass plaque of a saxophone on the side of a stone memorial for Adolphe Sax

My favorite tourist activity: visiting the cemeteries! Went to Père-Lachaise and Montmarte in one day

A tabby stretched long on the floor. Her belly is spotted and lit with warm light, and her back is dark in dim magenta light

Look at this magnificent beast

“Can you send a picture of the cat with the dishwasher? It’s for the internet.”

Tabby cat sitting next to an open dishwasher, looking at the camera

Tabby cat sitting next to an open dishwasher, looking in the dishwasher

I’m out of town but I’m getting regular cat updates and Mantissa and her dishwasher are doing great.

AWN Responds to the Tylenol & Austism Announcement - Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network (AWN) The Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network condemns today’s White House announcement about autism. The Autistic Women & Nonbinary Network (AWN) is a national nonprofit dedicated to disability justice, gen...

AWN Responds to the Tylenol & Autism Announcement

HenselPushers

My mother took Tylenol during pregnancy, and now you can access free PDFs of Fanny Hensel’s complete solo piano and chamber works: