From Wester Ross to Nova Scotia

Well, the Proclaimers were great. Anyone who knows their music but hasn't seen them live, do try to get a ticket next time they come; anyone who doesn't know their music should buy their greatest hits CD immediately. (At which point you'll realise you actually DO know quite a few of their songs really well!)

Anyway, I missed choir due to seeing them, and felt slightly twitchy about this all night. But I have been very helpfully kept informed of Jamieisms etc. by three separate people - Liz L (as promised), Dr Liz, and Alison, who also scribbled down all the markings for me. Silly me, thinking there wouldn't be many changes! Anyway, because I'm in a hurry I'm just going to copy and paste what they wrote (with slight edits) - don't think they'll mind.... Thank you, ladies, for doing this!

Alison:

Quote of the evening was "Sing laaaaaht (light) - otherwise you end up like Wallace smelling some Stinking Bishop!"

Dr Liz:

Was on the look out for quotes. Didn't get many.

Started with "Behold the Lamb of God", worked through to "Let us break
thier bonds".

Interval is going to be after "Let all the Angels of God". Ooh! that's
new and a nice D major end.

Cutting the King of Chlorine. (i.e. "Lift up your heads")

Directed to the altos (can't remember why, you're obviously far
quicker that I am) "and you end up looking like Wallace smelling
stinking bishop". (jamieism, obviously!)

At one point he told the tenors to have more gay abandon, which they
then produced!


Liz L:

It seems that whilst everyone knows Messiah backwards, singing it forwards all together is slightly more tricky!!!!!

Anyway, a couple of good Jamie-isms tonight:

"There were people visibly moved.... jumped out of their seats" (reviewing the 2nd Movement of The Bells)

"It's like the feeling you get just before you go skinny-dipping" (encouraging the sopranos to 'go for it')

"You need to fit with the altos.... ... ... for once!" (to sops on bottom of page 92)

Encouraging the altos to make that "lovely alto fizz" accompanied by little fizzy handmovements (well it made me smile!)

{You need to be] "like ever-ready batteries rather than duracell... or whichever one has the rabbit" (encouraging us all not to give up & sing to the end of the phrase)

"It's like Wallace smelling some 'stinking bishop'" (which apparently makes more sense if you've seen the Wallace & Gromit film)

"It sounds a bit like someone clambering up a rock-face........ twice!"

The last (and personally my 2nd favourite of the evening) :
"at least I do it loudly in front of you all" (after making a mistake)

My favourite wasn't necessarily a Jamie-ism, but it was funny!

A few of us were stood outside the rehearsal room in the break and Jamie invited us to join the rehearsal again by saying (accompanied by 'Gangsta rap' hand movements and a thick Mancunian accent)

"come on... let's sing some tunes... some tunes from da Messiah"

(maybe you just had to be there!!!!!!!!!!!)

......................................................................................................

Well, I haven't seen the Wallace and Gromit film either, so could someone please explain to me what on earth that quote is all about?!?

"Lift up your heads" seems on odd one to miss out. I'll be interested to hear the reasons why. I'm not too distraught over it, though. Not like the year we did Messiah with Nicholas McGegan (I'm pretty sure it was him, anyway) and he cut the CHOIR for large parts. (i.e. we only joined in for a few bars in "For unto us" etc.; the soloists sang the rest.) I did an OU course a few years after that, that explained why he probably wanted to do it that way. But at the time, no-one explained the reasons to the choir, and in fact they didn't even TELL us until we met the conductor at the piano rehearsal, a few days before the concert. I'm sure I wasn't the only person who spent the whole concert feeling grumpy and betrayed.

Oh, and a pet peeve I feel the need to share, because this annoys me almost as much as people saying "Gerontius" with a J at the start. The name of the piece is Messiah. Not The Messiah. (Look at your copy if you don't believe me!) I mention this just in case there were people who didn't know - I live to educate :p

Anyway, two final things. Firstly, I took 16 kids to see the new Harry Potter film yesterday, and it's GREAT. Definitely the best of the four so far. And also, I have a new favourite word: kadigan. Read and be enlightened :-)