Back from having given a solo concert for the British Clavichord Society at the Art Workers' Guild in London. I'm very pleased. The concert went well, and I enjoyed myself more than I have in ages onstage. My new approach to practising and performing is gradually working better and better for me. For the most part, I think I played pretty well. There were one or two lapses of concentration near the end of the concert, but mostly I think I have good reason to be pleased. It was a nice audience, and the atmosphere in the room was good.

Feeling desperately sad as I do about this war, just five minutes before the concert, I suddenly decided I wanted to say something in the concert. So I mentioned that the lute was brought to Europe from the Middle East in medieval times; here it was cultivated and naturalised, and the lute is therefore the quintessential east-meets-west instrument. As such, it seems to me to be a powerful symbol in these times of east-west polarization, especially as the lute also represents wholeness, divinity, the healing and uniting power of harmony.

I believe, following the principle that darkness cannot drive out darkness, that every musical act has the potential to introduce a tiny chink of light, and that therefore music has greater importance now than ever. Is it a coincidence that this culture of pre-emptive strikes is the same culture that undervalues the arts?