{"product_id":"hymn-and-cocktail-sticks","title":"Hymn and Cocktail Sticks","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlan Bennett writes: In 2001 the Medici Quartet commissioned the composer George Fenton to write them a piece commemorating their thirtieth anniversary. George Fenton appeared in my play \u003cem\u003eForty Years On\u003c\/em\u003e and has written music for many of my plays since, and he asked me to collaborate on the commission. \u003cem\u003eHymn\u003c\/em\u003e was the result. First performed at the Harrogate Festival in August 2001, it's a series of memoirs with music. Besides purely instrumental passages for the quartet, many of the speeches are under-scored, incorporating some of the hymns and music I remember from my childhood and youth. The text includes both words and music. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eHymn\u003c\/em\u003e is coupled with \u003cem\u003eCocktail Sticks\u003c\/em\u003e, an oratorio without music that revisits some of the themes and conversations of Alan Bennett's memoir \u003cem\u003eA Life Like Other People's\u003c\/em\u003e. A son talks to his dead father as his mother yearns for a different life. It's funny, tender and sad. \u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe pinnacle of my social life is a scrutty bit of lettuce and tomato and some tinned salmon. Mind you, I read in \u003c\/em\u003eIdeal Home\u003cem\u003e that if you mix tinned salmon with this soft cheese you can make it into one of those moussy things. Shove a bit of lemon on it and it looks really classy. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Goldsboro Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47264070598950,"sku":"hymn-and-cocktail-sticks","price":150.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0733\/4900\/5606\/files\/ea001e58-4662-4377-b9f7-4814405d7d85.jpg?v=1701091872","url":"https:\/\/goldsborobooks.pro\/products\/hymn-and-cocktail-sticks","provider":"Goldsboro Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}