Music Matters: Music by candlelight

The music and words of two great singers will be celebrated later this year with two very special concerts that will be lit by candlelight. ‘The Music of Phil Collins and Genesis: The Candlelight Concert’ is taking place at Chichester Cathedral on Thursday, 8 October and will see singers and a band perform the many songs from Phil’s vast solo career along with his work as singer with the band Genesis. Phil really is one our musical national treasures, so it is sure to be a fabulous evening in the historic and atmospheric surroundings of Chichester Cathedral.

The following month sees a similar concert taking place at Portsmouth Cathedral featuring the music of Luther Vandross, a great American soul singer who died in 2005. His back catalogue of work is immense and contains some seriously funky songs along with some heartfelt ballads. As with the Phil Collins concert, Luther’s music will be celebrated by various singers and a band while Portsmouth Cathedral is bathed in candlelight. The concert is taking place on Friday, 20 November.

My musical gem: An iconic album cover celebrates its 57th anniversary on 8 August. It was on that day in 1969 that all four Beatles walked across the level crossing outside London’s legendary Abbey Road studios and created the shot that became the cover of their last recorded album, Abbey Road.

The picture was taken by Iain Macmillan, a freelance photographer and a friend of John Lennon and Yoko Ono. The album cover fuelled one of pop’s great conspiracy theories that Paul McCartney was no longer alive at the time and had been replaced by a lookalike. Among the so-called ‘clues’ of his demise, fans pointed out that Paul was barefoot in the picture (seen as a symbol of death in some cultures) Thankfully, Macca is very much live and continues to make outstanding music.

Listen to Duncan Barkes on Nation Easy Radio, Monday to Friday nights from 10pm. Nation Easy Radio can be heard on DAB digital radio, via the Nation Player app and on your smart speaker – just say “Play Nation Easy Radio.”