It occurred to me last night that I haven't got round to posting mp3s of the Sea Symphony. So, here you are:
1st movement
2nd movement
3rd movement
4th movement
We read through the hard bit at the end of the 4th movement last night. Very entertaining! Turns out most of the choir can count to 2, and 3, and 4... but not so many of them can still do it when the time signature changes repeatedly :-) Still, it was a lot better than I suspect most other choirs would have managed on their first attempt. My personal tip to anyone who struggles with music like this, which is fast with constantly changing time signatures: what I find helps me most is tapping the downbeat of every bar with my finger on the page. I think this works because it gives you a physical connection to how long each bar is. Apart from that, the most important thing to remember is to sing ON THE BEAT. It doesn't matter, when sight-reading, if the notes or rhythm are slightly wrong, but if you don't sing on the beat you've got no chance, plus you are making it more difficult for everyone else. (See my sight-reading tips for a fuller explanation of this.)
I'm really enjoying doing Mahler 2 in such detail, and when we got our top G restored to us last week, it put me in a good mood for several days! (Not that I'd enjoy singing top Gs all the time, you understand, but when we do get such an important one, it's a big deal, and we want to keep it!) I'm really looking forward to the concert.
And a few final links:
A fascinating (and lengthy) interview with Angela Hewitt about Bach.
Another post from David Griggs-Janower about the state of choral music (I mentioned part 1 of this a few posts ago, I think).
And, were any of the rest of you members of the Puffin Club when they were little? I was, for years, and I LOVED it, but I'd totally forgotten about it until I read that Puffin Post is coming back!
EDIT: I almost forgot to say - I had a lovely day out on Saturday, singing with the Needwood Singers in Aysgarth Church in North Yorkshire. A nice drive up there with Claire Croft (her mum is the conductor, which is how I ended up singing with them), a fun afternoon of sight-reading, a HUGE amount of free food provided for the choir between rehearsal and concert, a good walk around Aysgarth Falls, and then a concert that went pretty well. I think my favourite item on the programme was Vaughan Williams' Turtle Dove, which I don't remember ever singing before.
And, finally finally, quite a few people have told me that they missed my radio programme but would have been interested to hear it, so (assuming they weren't just being polite!) I've put the mp3 online (and added a link to the sidebar). It's just under 15 minutes long.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Is it just me that can't open bags of pasta properly?
They all have this "easy-seal" thingy, but that's not a lot of use when I can never open the bag without the contents going all over the place... the easy-seal thingy can't seal it after that :-)
Thank you to all the people who have told me they enjoyed my radio programme last week. If you didn't hear it but you'd like to, you've probably missed your chance with "Listen Again" (unless you read this within a couple of hours of me writing it), but the BBC did send me a copy so I can put it online at some point if need be. To those who *did* hear it, please can I clarify that it was recorded in July this year, at which point I had had a temp job for 10 months. When I was interviewed I did discuss the temping experience at length, so I was a little horrified to discover that they'd edited the conversation to give the impression that I had been unemployed ever since I quit teaching. (If you listen carefully, I didn't say that, but I realise it gives the impression I did!)
The flood of job offers that the producer thought I'd get as a result of the programme hasn't materialised (although there have been the usual emails from total strangers...) but he belatedly realised he'd also cut out the discussions about what I can actually do, and that I'm in Manchester. But maybe something will turn up eventually. (Ironically I did get turned down for a BBC job - it was for the education department of the BBC Phil - a few days before my programme was broadcast. As usual, no interview and no feedback as to why, but at least I got an answer, which is rare!)
Anyway, choir news: We started back last week with a read through Mahler 2. My attempts to get a head start on the memorising (because I'll be away the week before the concert) were derailed by the number of alterations to the parts - I wish I'd known about them earlier! Oh well. I'll amend my single-part PDFs when I have a minute - and when the alterations are written in stone (I'm still hoping there'll be a change of heart about giving ONE OF THE BEST ALTO MOMENTS EVER to the 2nd sops...)
I've updated my online choir schedule in light of recently-announced venue changes, so the handful of choir members that are still reading this may wish to check it out (email me if you've lost the link). Also, I've added the football fixtures till Christmas, and you may wish to note that Man Utd are at home both tomorrow (17th September) and next Tuesday (23rd September). I am distraught to have had to give my seat to my brother for both matches (if I wasn't going to miss a rehearsal the week before the concert, I would certainly have gone to Old Trafford tomorrow - Berbatov's home debut, and the return of Ronaldo!) (Note: I did check the Man City fixtures too, but none of them clash with choir commitments.)
What else? Well, Maestro finished, and I did watch all of it without particularly enjoying it. Also I wanted Goldie to win (well, Alex James really, but he was voted out far too early). Various articles have appeared following the final, including another Spectator article by Alex James, a discussion about why there aren't many female conductors, and a summing-up from the Guardian. (Oh, and wasn't Bryn Terfel great at the Last Night of the Proms? Even though it didn't feel like a proper Last Night without the proper Sea Songs....)
Other musical stuff in the news: let's see. Everyone seems to be raving about Messiaen's St Francis of Assisi, but unless I'm remembering a different piece, I'm fairly sure we sang it a few years ago and it's the only time I've ever actually fallen asleep IN THE CONCERT, I was so bored. Clearly I have no taste!
Vernon Handley died last week, and there are many obituaries, notably from The Guardian, On an Overgrown Path and Tom Service.
There's yet ANOTHER choir programme coming to TV, but this one's a drama: The Choir. I heard they were still looking for actors for some of the parts.... you might be lucky!
The Royal Opera House put on an opera for Sun readers, but its ex-chief was traumatised when he worked there. The Monkey opera is to get its very own theatre. Here's a lovely story about a choir of fishermen. BBC World News (for reasons I don't entirely understand) is asking you to choose between Beethoven and Mozart (and other easier choices). The Manchester Evening News points out some of the solo classical performances in Manchester this season. And From the Front of the Choir has some debate about the debate on the Last Choir Standing website!
The Manchester Commute Challenge is today. Wonder who'll win this time? I suspect the performance of the train will depend on whether or not the cable thieves have been at work - I was about to say I got home late last night because of them, but actually I was slightly early... because when I got to the station, the previous train hadn't arrived yet, and when it did eventually turn up, it left only slightly before my regular train should have, so I got home a few minutes early (although without a seat, obviously!)
And finally, some fun stuff. Tip of my Tongue claims to be able to come up with words you can't remember, although I haven't had much luck with it so far. Mind you, that's probably because I can usually remember either the whole of the word or none of it :-)
More Cowbell looks as if it will be fun to play with (I haven't actually tried it yet). (The phrase "more cowbell" isn't that well-known in the UK... yet!)
This Split Words game is much harder than it sounds, and I wasted quite a while on it the other day (I got nowhere on the highest levels, but level 4 isn't too bad, depending on the topic...)
And finally finally, this video of a cat attacking a printer made me cry with laughter. YMMV :-)
Thank you to all the people who have told me they enjoyed my radio programme last week. If you didn't hear it but you'd like to, you've probably missed your chance with "Listen Again" (unless you read this within a couple of hours of me writing it), but the BBC did send me a copy so I can put it online at some point if need be. To those who *did* hear it, please can I clarify that it was recorded in July this year, at which point I had had a temp job for 10 months. When I was interviewed I did discuss the temping experience at length, so I was a little horrified to discover that they'd edited the conversation to give the impression that I had been unemployed ever since I quit teaching. (If you listen carefully, I didn't say that, but I realise it gives the impression I did!)
The flood of job offers that the producer thought I'd get as a result of the programme hasn't materialised (although there have been the usual emails from total strangers...) but he belatedly realised he'd also cut out the discussions about what I can actually do, and that I'm in Manchester. But maybe something will turn up eventually. (Ironically I did get turned down for a BBC job - it was for the education department of the BBC Phil - a few days before my programme was broadcast. As usual, no interview and no feedback as to why, but at least I got an answer, which is rare!)
Anyway, choir news: We started back last week with a read through Mahler 2. My attempts to get a head start on the memorising (because I'll be away the week before the concert) were derailed by the number of alterations to the parts - I wish I'd known about them earlier! Oh well. I'll amend my single-part PDFs when I have a minute - and when the alterations are written in stone (I'm still hoping there'll be a change of heart about giving ONE OF THE BEST ALTO MOMENTS EVER to the 2nd sops...)
I've updated my online choir schedule in light of recently-announced venue changes, so the handful of choir members that are still reading this may wish to check it out (email me if you've lost the link). Also, I've added the football fixtures till Christmas, and you may wish to note that Man Utd are at home both tomorrow (17th September) and next Tuesday (23rd September). I am distraught to have had to give my seat to my brother for both matches (if I wasn't going to miss a rehearsal the week before the concert, I would certainly have gone to Old Trafford tomorrow - Berbatov's home debut, and the return of Ronaldo!) (Note: I did check the Man City fixtures too, but none of them clash with choir commitments.)
What else? Well, Maestro finished, and I did watch all of it without particularly enjoying it. Also I wanted Goldie to win (well, Alex James really, but he was voted out far too early). Various articles have appeared following the final, including another Spectator article by Alex James, a discussion about why there aren't many female conductors, and a summing-up from the Guardian. (Oh, and wasn't Bryn Terfel great at the Last Night of the Proms? Even though it didn't feel like a proper Last Night without the proper Sea Songs....)
Other musical stuff in the news: let's see. Everyone seems to be raving about Messiaen's St Francis of Assisi, but unless I'm remembering a different piece, I'm fairly sure we sang it a few years ago and it's the only time I've ever actually fallen asleep IN THE CONCERT, I was so bored. Clearly I have no taste!
Vernon Handley died last week, and there are many obituaries, notably from The Guardian, On an Overgrown Path and Tom Service.
There's yet ANOTHER choir programme coming to TV, but this one's a drama: The Choir. I heard they were still looking for actors for some of the parts.... you might be lucky!
The Royal Opera House put on an opera for Sun readers, but its ex-chief was traumatised when he worked there. The Monkey opera is to get its very own theatre. Here's a lovely story about a choir of fishermen. BBC World News (for reasons I don't entirely understand) is asking you to choose between Beethoven and Mozart (and other easier choices). The Manchester Evening News points out some of the solo classical performances in Manchester this season. And From the Front of the Choir has some debate about the debate on the Last Choir Standing website!
The Manchester Commute Challenge is today. Wonder who'll win this time? I suspect the performance of the train will depend on whether or not the cable thieves have been at work - I was about to say I got home late last night because of them, but actually I was slightly early... because when I got to the station, the previous train hadn't arrived yet, and when it did eventually turn up, it left only slightly before my regular train should have, so I got home a few minutes early (although without a seat, obviously!)
And finally, some fun stuff. Tip of my Tongue claims to be able to come up with words you can't remember, although I haven't had much luck with it so far. Mind you, that's probably because I can usually remember either the whole of the word or none of it :-)
More Cowbell looks as if it will be fun to play with (I haven't actually tried it yet). (The phrase "more cowbell" isn't that well-known in the UK... yet!)
This Split Words game is much harder than it sounds, and I wasted quite a while on it the other day (I got nowhere on the highest levels, but level 4 isn't too bad, depending on the topic...)
And finally finally, this video of a cat attacking a printer made me cry with laughter. YMMV :-)
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Other listings magazines are available...
I'm in the Radio Times again :-) (Next week's edition, with a very purple cover - in newsagents etc. today.) It's a good deal better than last time I was mentioned by name in the Radio Times, when I was described as a sad case. However, the making of that programme was not a pleasant experience, so I should've known they weren't going to put a positive slant on anything. This time, it was thoroughly pleasant, so hopefully the result will be more positive. However, I'm a bit scared, because this is the first time there's been a programme in which I was the main person....
This is the interview I told you about in July, and it's being broadcast next Tuesday (9th September) at 9.30am on Radio 4 (and of course on iPlayer for the following week). The series actually started today, and I've just listened to the first episode, and now I'm a bit scared - the guy that today's show was about sounded pretty impressive and well-rounded, and although I know it's extremely stupid of me to be worried about how I'll compare to him, I am!
So, any other news? Well, of course for the past 24 hours all the news has been football-related, but anyone who's interested in that will already know all of it, so I won't go on about it here. Non-football news: well, Last Choir Standing finished on Saturday, and of the ones that were left, I think Only Men Aloud were worthy winners, although I don't think they were the best in the series, as I've said before. (If you haven't seen any of the series, that link takes you to a page that has a video of their winning performance. And even if you disapprove of the fact that a choir competition placed so much emphasis on choreography, listen to their multi-part close harmonies. They sing complex arrangements, and they do it well.)
Other stuff: Martin has pointed out that there is apparently now a release date for the best CD ever made. Can't find confirmation of this anywhere else, and online shopping sites are notorious for inventing release dates for forthcoming items, but it's still exciting!
A few more random links, in no particular order:
A fascinating Spectator interview with Daniel Barenboim.
Yet another of those articles about how choirs are good for your health.
An article about a London concert hall I'd never heard of.
Björk has some things to say about being a female producer.
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra blog is always thought-provoking, and the latest entry is no exception.
Edinburgh Royal Choral Union is 150 years old, and they are getting a civic reception as a result. Hmm, surely there can't be many other choirs that are 150 years old...
And today there was news of a Welsh choir that's not having much luck.
The Guardian had an in-depth interview with Simon Rattle on his return to Liverpool.
Report of a visit to Bayreuth.
Something that's been bugging me this week - I suddenly remembered the fabulous painting that's hanging in Symphony Hall (right near the front entrance - go in and turn left immediately, and there it is). But I realised I don't know which bit of Mahler the painting is describing, and a brief bit of googling didn't help (although that is how I found the artist's website). Does anyone know? Or is it just supposed to represent Mahler in general? I think that when I first saw the painting, I assumed it meant Mahler 8, but now I'm wondering whether it could be Mahler 2. It's probably just non-specific Mahler, though.
Finally (for the links), a good site for you to bookmark - if you frequently find yourself wondering what the music from an advert is, there are many sites that claim to tell you the answer, but Commercial Breaks and Beats is the best I've found. I was reminded of it when I found I couldn't identify the music currently being used to advertise the Nissan Qashqai, and this fabulous site helpfully tells me on the front page :-)
Anyway, finally finally, I promised to give some hints about memorising stuff, and I will, but I'll put them in a separate document and add it to the list of downloadable stuff at the top of the page. Check there again soon, if it's not yet there when you read this. EDIT: It's there now.
This is the interview I told you about in July, and it's being broadcast next Tuesday (9th September) at 9.30am on Radio 4 (and of course on iPlayer for the following week). The series actually started today, and I've just listened to the first episode, and now I'm a bit scared - the guy that today's show was about sounded pretty impressive and well-rounded, and although I know it's extremely stupid of me to be worried about how I'll compare to him, I am!
So, any other news? Well, of course for the past 24 hours all the news has been football-related, but anyone who's interested in that will already know all of it, so I won't go on about it here. Non-football news: well, Last Choir Standing finished on Saturday, and of the ones that were left, I think Only Men Aloud were worthy winners, although I don't think they were the best in the series, as I've said before. (If you haven't seen any of the series, that link takes you to a page that has a video of their winning performance. And even if you disapprove of the fact that a choir competition placed so much emphasis on choreography, listen to their multi-part close harmonies. They sing complex arrangements, and they do it well.)
Other stuff: Martin has pointed out that there is apparently now a release date for the best CD ever made. Can't find confirmation of this anywhere else, and online shopping sites are notorious for inventing release dates for forthcoming items, but it's still exciting!
A few more random links, in no particular order:
A fascinating Spectator interview with Daniel Barenboim.
Yet another of those articles about how choirs are good for your health.
An article about a London concert hall I'd never heard of.
Björk has some things to say about being a female producer.
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra blog is always thought-provoking, and the latest entry is no exception.
Edinburgh Royal Choral Union is 150 years old, and they are getting a civic reception as a result. Hmm, surely there can't be many other choirs that are 150 years old...
And today there was news of a Welsh choir that's not having much luck.
The Guardian had an in-depth interview with Simon Rattle on his return to Liverpool.
Report of a visit to Bayreuth.
Something that's been bugging me this week - I suddenly remembered the fabulous painting that's hanging in Symphony Hall (right near the front entrance - go in and turn left immediately, and there it is). But I realised I don't know which bit of Mahler the painting is describing, and a brief bit of googling didn't help (although that is how I found the artist's website). Does anyone know? Or is it just supposed to represent Mahler in general? I think that when I first saw the painting, I assumed it meant Mahler 8, but now I'm wondering whether it could be Mahler 2. It's probably just non-specific Mahler, though.
Finally (for the links), a good site for you to bookmark - if you frequently find yourself wondering what the music from an advert is, there are many sites that claim to tell you the answer, but Commercial Breaks and Beats is the best I've found. I was reminded of it when I found I couldn't identify the music currently being used to advertise the Nissan Qashqai, and this fabulous site helpfully tells me on the front page :-)
Anyway, finally finally, I promised to give some hints about memorising stuff, and I will, but I'll put them in a separate document and add it to the list of downloadable stuff at the top of the page. Check there again soon, if it's not yet there when you read this. EDIT: It's there now.
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