9 Dec 2009

The letters of Beatrice Hill Tinsley: 1979-1980

From The Stars are Comforting, 7:00 pm on 9 December 2009

Eleven-year-old daughter Terry comes to live with Beatrice, concerts, hospital, teaching, trip to Texas, visits from sister and father, trips to Maryland, Washington.

“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.”

Coronet A Star Formation Neighbor
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