1979-1980
“Last night we had another lively evening of piano quartets. Since the excellent pianist has joined us, I’ve been practising a bit and the improvement in technique is very rewarding. Work is also keeping me as busy as possible, specially with students, but I never mind spending time if they really want to learn astronomy or exchange ideas.”
While perhaps not quite as well known as its star-formation cousin Orion, the Corona Australis region (containing, at its heart, the Coronet cluster) is one of the nearest and most active regions of ongoing star formation. At only about 420 light-years away, the Coronet is over three times closer than the Orion nebula is to Earth. The Coronet contains a loose cluster of a few dozen young stars with a wide range of masses and at various stages of evolution, giving astronomers an opportunity to observe embryonic stars simultaneously in several wavelengths. www.nasaimages.org
Music details
BRAHMS Piano Quartet No 1Op 25 VIRGIN 5 19310
DEBUSSY Sonata for flute, viola, harp, 2nd mvt RCA RD 87173
RAVEL Le Tombeau de Couperin DG 471 614
BACH Mass in B minor, Laudamus Te DHM 0542 77380
SCHUMANN Piano Quartet, 2nd mvt, 3rd mvt D & G MDG 903 1414
RACHMANINOV Prelude Op 23/8 MIRARE MIR 004
BACH Gavotte BWV808 VIRGIN 3 32626
BACH Prelude BWV850 VIRGIN 3 32626
COPLAND Grandfather’s story, from Red Pony RCA 09026 61699
BACH Gigue BWV807 VIRGIN 3 32626
BACH Invention BWV784 VIRGIN 3 32626
BRAHMS Piano Quartet No 3 Op 60 VIRGIN 5 19310