Ben's Collectors Records - Ben & the Kids

Up to Date 2008

Oh dear, Oh dear! What has gone wrong? It seems that both Lydia and Christian have joined the throngs of football supporters. No doubt the influence of friends played a major role in nurturing this interest.

But, hold on a moment! Chelsea supporters? Only a small amount of searching was needed to identify the real culprit behind this move.

Who do we know is a Chelsea supporter? Who do we know is an ardent football fan?

Yup! you guessed right - DAD ..... of course. And who is Christian's favorite player - Frank Lampard.

Both Christian and Lydia are serious fans, have been to several games and, what's more, both actually play football.

What would you do to create interest during the half-time break? Yes, that's right, have a 'funny face for the camera' competition. This is something even Dad can join in with ..... the problem is that he may even win the competition.

Dad may be doing well but it is obvious that Christian is the clear winner here while Lydia prefers to remain her ladylike self.

Fortunately, after the general mayhem and hub-hub of football, serenity returns to the Darnton family as both Lydia and Christian relax and enjoy the countryside and fresh air.

But, what is contained within the fenced enclosure? That's a secret.

Report for 2006 & 2007

Lydia has inherited much of her mother's charm and natural beauty and has a much softer approach to life than her younger brother. She prefers the the more 'girlie' things in life but also enjoys playing with her brother while keeping an eye on him to keep him on the straight and narrow.

Christian, named after his great grandfather of course, is already showing a strong interest in music. Has he inherited the music gene from his great grandfather? See below.

It is probably too early to predict his musical abilities and interests accurately so let's just encourage him for the moment by saying "play it again son"!

Whatever the future holds for young Christian one thing seems to be sure. He certainly seems to have inherited his dad's love for anything fast on four wheels. You can see the look of absolute pleasure and satisfaction on his face and envisage him terrifying all and sundry as he charges past at speeds exceeding 5 mph.

Is that an Italian Quad Bike?

..... And the Famous Ancestors

Did you know that Ben has a famous ancestor ...... a famous musical ancestor of course - what else? Ben's grandfather is Philip Christian Darnton a composer of classical music and the author of the well known book 'You and Music'.

Christian Darnton (1905 - 1981) was a composer of symphonic pieces, a requiem, piano concerti and opera. He was also an accomplished pianist and soloist. But, having said this he was also something of an enigma and, at times, also something of an outrageous character. Nonetheless, for him to be even mentioned in the same sentence as composers such as Britten, Lutyens and Stravinsky speaks volumes for his achievements.

Andrew Plant, the pianist and musicologist, describes Christian Darnton as "one of the more shadowy figures in the British musical renaissance". Andrew Plant also provides an insight to the more outrageous elements of Christian Darnton's character by reference to some incidental music he wrote in around 1944 for a puppet play (Polyphemus) which contained "a fugue for three owls".

Well! How about that? So who has inherited the outrageous personality ..... you don't need three guesses, do you? But what about the musical genes ..... perhaps the signs of inheritance are already starting to show - maybe!