Alphabet associations - I

[Anna]

Oh, I knew the F but too busy with other things to be able to post and had a lovely G (which I had prepared earlier) which would have hit the spot for some, and now we have the tantalising thought of the man in the Pork Pie hat being in the same pleasurable stupor amongst the low countries' fleshpots as he is in Leadenhall Market and unable to make up his mind!

Originally Posted by rubbernecker

And wasn't it much the same story in those now infamous low countries fleshpots ?

Precisely analogous, Mr Rubberlicker!

[Angle]

Stumped again but can get two connections for Goethe and two connections for Elīna Garanča. Could it be either? It's the Rock bit which bothers.

[Angle]

A pity rubberneckers isn't around.

[Anna]

sorry Angle, I'm not very educated, I still don't understand your sybilance reference

That makes two of us mercia!

[Angle]

I have :


Elīna Garanča was born in Riga, attended the Latvian Academy of Music and later worked at the Frankfurt Opera

She sang in St Michael's Cave, Gibraltar 4 May 2011 with her husband conducting the European Sinfonietta. St Michael's Cave seems to be a concert hall high in the Rock.


This may be another case of a mistaken tree. Only rubbers can say, I think.


Ah, Mercia. I am sorry: I have just remembered that you don't like anagrams so I think I should spare you the pain of further explanation of "refuse etc". Peace of mind is a welcome thing.

[Angle]

I'm only a novice. I can hardly keep up with some of the puzzles here and some leave me floundering.

Still , we enjoy it

Now for a rest before rubbers gets back.

What's the betting he has another G in mind.

[rubbernecker]

I have :


Elīna Garanča was born in Riga, attended the Latvian Academy of Music and later worked at the Frankfurt Opera

She sang in St Michael's Cave, Gibraltar 4 May 2011 with her husband conducting the European Sinfonietta. St Michael's Cave seems to be a concert hall high in the Rock.


This may be another case of a mistaken tree. Only rubbers can say, I think.


Ah, Mercia. I am sorry: I have just remembered that you don't like anagrams so I think I should spare you the pain of further explanation of "refuse etc". Peace of mind is a welcome thing.

A quick look in during theatre interval. Almost correct. Her husband is from Gibraltar. Your H ...

EDIT: Having now returned home, and having the luxury of a keyboard and broadband rather than a brief and furtive stab on the BlackBerry, I can confirm that the answer was indeed the comely Elīna Garanča. I can also amplify my congratulations to Angle and explain that the third clue relates to her husband, the conductor Karel Mark Chichon, who was born on the Rock of Gibraltar.

Earlier today I managed to unearth a YouTube video (which I now can't find) of her dressed in skintight rubber which had me briefly excited until it became apparent she was merely indulging her passion for scuba diving

[Angle]

I forgot about "by association", rubbernecker.

I imagine that by now the early birds will have gone to bed so here is something for the waking hours;

What four letters beginning with H link:

a work for which the words were written by a resting actor?
a work which was inspired by the death of the composer’s son but which was not performed publicly for twelve years?
a work which appeared ultimately in four versions by its composer: as a song, an orchestral work, in a quartet and as a piano reduction?

[rubbernecker]

I forgot about "by association", rubbernecker.

I imagine that by now the early birds will have gone to bed so here is something for the waking hours;

What four letters beginning with H link:

a work for which the words were written by a resting actor?
a work which was inspired by the death of the composer’s son but which was not performed publicly for twelve years?
a work which appeared ultimately in four versions by its composer: as a song, an orchestral work, in a quartet and as a piano reduction?

Well, the second has to be Hymnus Paradisi by Howells so I guess we are looking at Hymn... Mrs R is about to divorce me unless I go to bed now, so I'll leave it for others to finish.

[mercia]

the words to Strauss's Olympische Hymne were written by unemployed Berlin actor Robert Lubahn (1903 - 1974).

[Angle]

' morning, Mercia.

Keep going, the last one is probably the best known of the three.

[Angle]

I rarely wake up except naturally, Mercia, but the night before last the D, or was it the C, puzzle kept me awake for ages. I just could not dismiss it. Iagree, not relaxing, but quite compulsive, challenging and interesting.

I am afraid it is not VW. It is not English. A clue: the work is far better known as the tune of a national anthem.

I didn't hear Breakfast today - I listened instead to a lack-lustre reading of an account of the eruption of Vesuvius in 1867. (At least, I think it was then.) I don't think I shall hear much of Classical Collection either. Without Sarah Walker, I would enjoy it but the flatness of her voice really gets me down.

[rubbernecker]

I rarely wake up except naturally, Mercia, but the night before last the D, or was it the C, puzzle kept me awake for ages. I just could not dismiss it. Iagree, not relaxing, but quite compulsive, challenging and interesting.

I am afraid it is not VW. It is not English. A clue: the work is far better known as the tune of a national anthem.

I didn't hear Breakfast today - I listened instead to a lack-lustre reading of an account of the eruption of Vesuvius in 1867. (At least, I think it was then.) I don't think I shall hear much of Classical Collection either. Without Sarah Walker, I would enjoy it but the flatness of her voice really gets me down.

Finlandia (the hymn section) was the national anthem of Biafra, and the whole piece was arranged for piano by Sibelius but I don't know about a quartet arrangement.

Quite agree with you about Sarah Walker, Angle! (or should that be Sarah Wulker)

[Angle]

Not Finland. Southish from there. Actually, I think it became the national anthem in 1922 but in the modern version the words have been changed. It is also well-known in English churches under another guise.

[rubbernecker]

Not Finland. Southish from there. Actually, I think it became the national anthem in 1922 but in the modern version the words have been changed. It is also well-known in English churches under another guise.

Thaxted?

Are you sure Mercia's answer above isn't correct? ie. Haydn
EDIT: In the English hymnal the Haydn tune has the words 'Glorious things of thee are spoken'