i really enjoyed Saturday - a lovely day out and a great rehearsal. There was almost a bit of trauma at the start, because as we boarded the train at Piccadilly, the conductor announced that Birmingham New Street was currently closed due to a power failure, and the train would be unable to call there. We were considering all sorts of alternative plans, but luckily they managed to get some emergency power from somewhere, and the station reopened just in time. It was very eerie, though - only the emergency lighting was on, so it was very dark (most of the station is below street level), and there was no other power AT ALL, other than to the train tracks etc. So none of the departure boards were on, and all the shops were shut, and there was general chaos. I'm a bit baffled about why the staff didn't at least put up a flipchart or something that had the platform number for each train, because unsurprisingly that's what the majority of queries seemed to be about! The chaos was still going on when we went back to the station after the rehearsal, but we avoided the enquiry queue by looking up the platform number on my phone :-)
Birmingham city centre is very lovely, and I'm always surprised to realise how well I know it (well, bits of it, at least). I was disappointed, though, to find that my favourite feature - the Floozie in the Jacuzzi - was switched off. [EDIT: Purely by chance, a much better photo of her - with water flowing - just appeared on the front page of the BBC News website!] Apparently it's only switched on for special occasions these days - very sad! It's always been flowing when I've seen it before. And then I found that another favourite, the Statue of Industry, was covered up by building works. (I hope it's still there underneath!) But we popped into Symphony Hall and were relieved to see that Norman Perryman's wonderful Mahler Experience painting was still where I remembered it. (If you go in through the front door, from Centenary Square, turn immediately left and double back on yourself - the painting is just round the corner from the front door.)
The rehearsal was great fun, and our boss was on fine form, making several passing comments that showed his support for Manchester. It was all in fun, though, and the "Brummie choir" (as he delighted us by referring to them) are very good. I'm delighted it's them that's boosting the numbers for Mahler 8 - they're by far the best of all the other choirs we've sung with.
Talking of boosting the numbers... In case you missed it, have a listen to today's edition of Front Row from Radio 4. It features our boss, plus a player from each of the orchestras, talking about the Mahler 8 collaboration. (The relevant bit starts at 06:12 and goes on till 15:31.) At one point, they're asked whether there WILL actually be 1000 performers, and the answer is "no": 120 in the orchestra and 350 singers. I feel a bit cheated!
I want to give you a list of orchestral "WOW!" moments to watch out for in Mahler 8, in case you've never performed it before - I'd hate for you to miss my favourite things. But let's get the latest batch of links out of the way first.
Mahler 7 was on Saturday, and (like the rest of the Mahler in Manchester series) the reviews are great: Guardian, Times, Telegraph, MEN, Classical Source.
There's a rather less good review of Rufus Wainwright in the Telegraph. I'm not a fan of his - at all - but I do agree with Tom Service when he says that we shouldn't knock him for having a go.
I've never heard of the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble before, but after reading this review of their Band on the Wall gig, I really wish I'd been there. Doesn't it sound fun?
I mentioned this a while ago, but I saw it again on Saturday, and now Manchester Confidential has a feature on it: the exhibition of Manchester music venues on platform 12 of Piccadilly Station. If you have a few minutes while waiting for a train, go and have a look.
Alan McGee wonders, in the Guardian, why the Osmonds are never remembered as vocal harmony experts. It's a fair question - I saw them being interviewed on a programme a while back, and they demonstrated some close-harmony vocal exercises that they used to use as a warmup. I was VERY impressed - the tuning and blend was perfect, and it was not easy stuff.
Stephen Hough has some good advice about how to practise hard stuff: don't start at the beginning; don't feel that you have to practise the whole piece on any given day; and don't stop immediately if you make a mistake.
This isn't funny, really, but I have to admit it made me laugh quite a lot: foreign accent syndrome. "She just got fed up of people explaining to her how the buses worked" is my favourite bit :-)
I often get people sending me Facebook invites, but I still don't plan to accept any of them (nothing personal, I just don't like the way Facebook operates - I mean Facebook the company, not its users). However, if you DO use Facebook, you may find these articles useful - they suggest ways of reclaiming some of your privacy after the most recent changes (Facebook's attitude to privacy has always been my main objection to it). Tips are from Lifehacker and GigaOM.
The Big Picture has some breathtaking photos commemorating Earth Day.
Probably of no interest to anyone but football fans, but it amuses me: Liverpool's Dilemma. To explain for those who don't follow as avidly as me: Currently Chelsea are top of the Premier League, and Manchester United are second, one point behind them. There are only two games left, and no other team can catch up. If Chelsea win their last two games, nothing United can do will make any difference - Chelsea will win the league. However, on Sunday afternoon, Chelsea have to play Liverpool, in Liverpool. The dilemma? Liverpool do still have things to play for - they can't win the league, but they are in with a chance of finishing 4th, which is a big deal because it would mean they'd be in the Champions' League next season. But if they beat Chelsea, they've probably handed the league title to United (both of United's last two games are fairly easy, and they're expected to win both of them). This is something they REALLY don't want to do - not only are United their greatest rivals, so they'd hate it anyway, but this year it's an even bigger deal, because if United win the league, it will be the 19th time we've done so - and Liverpool have only ever won it 18 times. So it will mean that their right to brag that they're the most successful club ever (hah!) will be over.
Needless to say I've probably cursed everything by going on about it - I'm good at that! - and Chelsea will probably win 7-0 again, as they keep doing. But I heard on a podcast today that the Liverpool/Chelsea match is, unbelievably, not sold out, and the theory being put forward was that the Liverpool fans can't bear to watch :-)
Anyway, a few Mahler 8 non-choral highlights, to finish. I know some of you like to mark these in your scores. There are loads of highlights, of course, so these are just the ones I had the biggest rings round in my score after last time....
PART 1
One that happens quite a few times, but is always fabulous, is when the oboes, clarinets and horns (not always all at the same time) are instructed to hold the bells up their instruments high in the air (Schalltrichter auf!) The first time it happens is at figure 1, bar 3, just as choir 2 come in, but I'll point out a few others.
Figure 17: great horn & trombone chords
Figure 18: piccolo solo; 1st violins divided into four parts; bar 6 has horns Schalltrichter auf.
Figure 21: 1st violins play on the fingerboard (i.e. bow further away from bridge than usual) - makes the sound more ethereal
Figure 23: bar 2, horns are "stopped" - makes them more raucous
Figure 24: deep, loud bells
3 before figure 27: significant organ pedal note
4th of 27: low clarinets, trombones and cellos combine wonderfully
2 before figure 35: nothing particularly special, just a lovely couple of bars!
Figure 38: children's choir joins in for the first time (N.B. all the soloists sing this tune as well)
Figure 40: oboes and clarinets Schalltrichter auf
Figure 42: trombones going mad on the quavers! Bar 3: stopped ("gestopft") horns (and others) make an amazing sound accompanying "hostem".
Figure 43: all 8 horns (NOT stopped) play in unison, ff (they have this motif a few times in this section)
Figure 45: 8 horns again, but more noticeable as choir 2 aren't singing
Figure 51: a high trumpet plays in unison with the children's choir (and choir 1 sops), but the score sternly instructs that the trumpet must NOT obscure the boys
Figure 55: full organ, very prominent. Bars 4 and 5: trumpets "schmetternd" (blaring)
Figure 58: the longest dominant pedal in the world starts (we're in E flat major, so this means that the timps and basses play a very long B flat). It lasts for almost 40 bars. Interestingly, it does NOT resolve to the E flat at figure 64 as you might expect (because that's one of several recapitulations).
Figure 64: another recapitulation, as I just mentioned, and another Schalltrichter auf moment for the oboes and clarinets.
Figure 65, bar 3: good bit for horns
Figure 67, coinciding with choir 1: mega organ chord
Bar before 79: Schalltrichter auf for oboes/clarinets
Figure 84: ANOTHER recapitulation, and this time the orchestra stops playing for a short time (the organ is still there though)
Figure 91: offstage brass have their first big moment
PART 2
I love the bit from figure 3 to figure 5 - nothing fancy, just gorgeous music
Figure 12: horns "gestopft"
Figure 19: horns playing 8-part chords (previously they've always been doubled)
Bar before 20: yum.
Just after 20: 1st violins playing only on G string
3 before 21: horns gestopft AND Schalltrichter auf
29 to 30: all quiet and lovely.
Figure 89: tenor soloist is "suddenly prominent"; he's been singing for a while, but the score says "he should under no circumstances be conspicuous until now"
Figure 98: nice piccolo bit
Figure 106/107: this whole section is lovely. This is where the score says the Mater Gloriosa "appears in the sky" (which meant, last time we did it, the gallery, although she actually appeared a bit later) and the music is very ethereal to match this idea. It even includes a harmonium. (The Mater Gloriosa is the 3rd soprano soloist, and she's the only soloist who doesn't sing in part 1 - this is the first time she appears.)
2 before 112: harps ("as numerous as possible") instructed to play "thunderously"
3 before 122: good trombone chords below a low bit for the alto soloist
Figure 127: celesta, harps, woodwind, trills all over the place - nice effect
Figure 131: strings all playing "sul ponticello" (on the bridge)
Figure 148: mandolin solo!
Figure 159: children's choir goes into 2 parts
Figure 161: brass trills
Figure 171: gorgeous quiet section (celesta, percussion rolls etc.)
Figure 174: this is my favourite bar in the whole piece - pianissimo top B flat from the Mater Gloriosa.
Figure 186, bar 3: my score just says "trumpet WOW!" (there are trumpets in F as well as the usual B flat ones in Mahler 8 - trumpets in F are smaller and play much higher)
Figure 195 - 196: trumpet again
Figure 196: glockenspiel solo and timp roll
Figure 197: great harp/celesta bit
Figure 199: piccolo solo
Figure 210: trombones join tenors, and play the bits in between too
2 before 211: horns & trumpets join the trombones
Figure 218: as the singers sing their last note, the organ, gong and offstage brass come crashing in, marked fff. All the bass instruments start a long held E flat that continues until the end of the piece. Everything gets louder and louder.
Figure 220, bar 21: The end :-)
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Like a big boy!
(Instruction to the altos at figure 52 in part 1 of Mahler 8. I forgot to mention it last week but I was very amused to rediscover it this week!)
I had a really, really bad day yesterday. It was just one bad thing after another. I'd been looking forward to it for ages - we had a Pleiades rehearsal planned, arranged two months ago. One of the six singers cancelled a week ago, which was disappointing but not the end of the world, as we only have three songs that are in six parts - most of the rest are in five parts. But then another singer cancelled just as I was about to leave the house for the rehearsal, and that meant we had to cancel the rehearsal entirely (I find it's a huge waste of time to rehearse one-to-a-part things when one of the parts is missing).
After that, the day just got worse and worse. I had a cheque which needed to be paid into the bank yesterday, and I'd been planning to pop in on the way to the station, but by the time I'd contacted all the other singers to let them know the rehearsal was cancelled, the bank had shut. Since I was in a thoroughly bad mood by then anyway, I opened the post (it's NEVER anything good, so I only open it if I'm already fed up) to find: a bank statement, informing me that the next batch of bank charges (caused mainly by the DWP not paying me my benefit on time recently) will be £78. (Jobseeker's Allowance - my only current income - is £65.45 a week.) Also, a letter from Manchester City Council, informing me that they don't want me for a recent job I applied for - I was particularly hopeful about this job, because there were SEVEN POSITIONS available, and I thought I'd be perfect, but apparently not. Still, getting an actual rejection is a step up from no response at all - that's the first time in a year I've heard anything from an application.
I hoped I might be distracted by Twitter, but I had to turn it off because everyone was talking about the leaders' debate, and my interest in politics remains zero. Then I decided I'd better eat something, and realised, as I cooked fish fingers, that they were the last thing left in the house that had any protein in them (unless you count cat food...) and I don't know when I'll be able to get any more food. (I do still have a BIT of food in the house - a few days' worth - but nothing that would constitute a balanced diet.)
Never mind, I thought, I know what'll cheer me up - I'll watch High Noon! I'd recorded it a few days earlier and hadn't watched it yet. So I settled down to watch it... and discovered that it WASN'T THE 1952 VERSION. It was, in fact, a 2009 TV movie called High Noon. *boggle* (And no, it wasn't just me assuming it was the proper version - the Radio Times said it was (and even had it as a featured film of the day), and the Sky+ info button said it was the 1952 version. But it wasn't.)
The irony of it not being the proper version, after all the fuss I made about the SONG not being the proper version, is not lost on me. And today, when I'm in a slightly better mood, I'm actually quite amused by it. But last night I could have MURDERED ITV3. They didn't even apologise!
Anyway, today hasn't been too bad so far, and tomorrow will be exciting because we're all off to Birmingham to rehearse Mahler 8. Alison and I are going by train, because we like to have a chance to wander round places when we have a day out - and also it's much quicker, because the choir coaches never pick up anywhere near us. And we like travelling by train!
Actually, I have some info about our Mahler 8 gigs in Birmingham in September. I only found out a few weeks ago that the conductor will be Andris Nelsons, but I'd assumed that the rest of the personnel is the same. So I was very surprised to discover that the orchestra will be the CBSO rather than the combined might of Manchester's finest. Asking around, it seems that it wasn't just me who didn't know this! Anyway, the concerts are now on the Symphony Hall website, and tickets go on sale on either 3rd June or 7th June, depending on which page of their website is correct.
Talking of Mahler, you'll be aware by now that the rumours were correct and the 2010 Proms season does indeed start (on 16th July) with Mahler 8. The prom to watch out for, though, is on 6th August, a repeat of the programme they're playing in Manchester the day before. And there are of course comments all over the place about the Proms listings, notably from Intermezzo and Classical Iconoclast.
Oh, and this is interesting: Roger Wright's expenses as Proms boss. Includes £1,900 on hospitality "to thank members of the BBC Symphony Chorus for their dedication and hard work after a busy season". *boggle*
Two more cost-related things: Intermezzo brings us news that you now have to pay to audition for the LSO, and the Telegraph looks at the cost to orchestras of volcano-related travel disruption. (Although I must admit I'm getting very fed up of stories such as this one about Liverpool going to Madrid overland, which keep going on about what an uncomfortable journey it must be. As someone who went from Manchester to Valencia by train (which looks about the same distance to me), I want to shout at them "IT WASN'T UNCOMFORTABLE AT ALL!" And I wasn't even in first class. And they flew the last bit anyway! Wimps.)
More volcano photos from the Big Picture are up, by the way, and they're even better than last week's. And Manchester Confidential has some lovely photos of a clear blue vapour-trail-less Manchester sky, taken from the roof of the Shudehill Interchange car park, which it recommends as a great place for free views of the city.
The Guardian has a list of the top 50 arts-related Twitter feeds. Not sure I'd agree with all of these, but it's a good starting point if you're new to Twitter.
Have you seen this advert? Terry Venables singing If I Can Dream. Apparently he had singing lessons specially. What I want to know is whether the other various famous people in the choir were actually singing...
Oh, and while we're on the World Cup, the football fans among you may be interested in a free online World Cup Virtual Sticker Album. Let me know if you sign up - we could do swapsies :-)
Last mention of football for now.... in fact, you should watch this even if you're not a football fan. It's less than a minute long, and it's hilarious. This German goalie also happens to be his team's penalty taker, and in a match between Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke in 2004, he scored a penalty, and while he was celebrating.... well, watch.
This is quite the opposite - not funny at all, in fact one of the most awful stories I've ever heard. Local government officials in California separated an elderly gay couple and sold all their possessions.
The MEN has a feature about the lovely Professor Brian Cox.
It's St George's Day today, but the Guardian thinks we need a new national saint, and it has one in mind.
And, if you want to relax, here's a website that just plays the sound of rain.
I had a really, really bad day yesterday. It was just one bad thing after another. I'd been looking forward to it for ages - we had a Pleiades rehearsal planned, arranged two months ago. One of the six singers cancelled a week ago, which was disappointing but not the end of the world, as we only have three songs that are in six parts - most of the rest are in five parts. But then another singer cancelled just as I was about to leave the house for the rehearsal, and that meant we had to cancel the rehearsal entirely (I find it's a huge waste of time to rehearse one-to-a-part things when one of the parts is missing).
After that, the day just got worse and worse. I had a cheque which needed to be paid into the bank yesterday, and I'd been planning to pop in on the way to the station, but by the time I'd contacted all the other singers to let them know the rehearsal was cancelled, the bank had shut. Since I was in a thoroughly bad mood by then anyway, I opened the post (it's NEVER anything good, so I only open it if I'm already fed up) to find: a bank statement, informing me that the next batch of bank charges (caused mainly by the DWP not paying me my benefit on time recently) will be £78. (Jobseeker's Allowance - my only current income - is £65.45 a week.) Also, a letter from Manchester City Council, informing me that they don't want me for a recent job I applied for - I was particularly hopeful about this job, because there were SEVEN POSITIONS available, and I thought I'd be perfect, but apparently not. Still, getting an actual rejection is a step up from no response at all - that's the first time in a year I've heard anything from an application.
I hoped I might be distracted by Twitter, but I had to turn it off because everyone was talking about the leaders' debate, and my interest in politics remains zero. Then I decided I'd better eat something, and realised, as I cooked fish fingers, that they were the last thing left in the house that had any protein in them (unless you count cat food...) and I don't know when I'll be able to get any more food. (I do still have a BIT of food in the house - a few days' worth - but nothing that would constitute a balanced diet.)
Never mind, I thought, I know what'll cheer me up - I'll watch High Noon! I'd recorded it a few days earlier and hadn't watched it yet. So I settled down to watch it... and discovered that it WASN'T THE 1952 VERSION. It was, in fact, a 2009 TV movie called High Noon. *boggle* (And no, it wasn't just me assuming it was the proper version - the Radio Times said it was (and even had it as a featured film of the day), and the Sky+ info button said it was the 1952 version. But it wasn't.)
The irony of it not being the proper version, after all the fuss I made about the SONG not being the proper version, is not lost on me. And today, when I'm in a slightly better mood, I'm actually quite amused by it. But last night I could have MURDERED ITV3. They didn't even apologise!
Anyway, today hasn't been too bad so far, and tomorrow will be exciting because we're all off to Birmingham to rehearse Mahler 8. Alison and I are going by train, because we like to have a chance to wander round places when we have a day out - and also it's much quicker, because the choir coaches never pick up anywhere near us. And we like travelling by train!
Actually, I have some info about our Mahler 8 gigs in Birmingham in September. I only found out a few weeks ago that the conductor will be Andris Nelsons, but I'd assumed that the rest of the personnel is the same. So I was very surprised to discover that the orchestra will be the CBSO rather than the combined might of Manchester's finest. Asking around, it seems that it wasn't just me who didn't know this! Anyway, the concerts are now on the Symphony Hall website, and tickets go on sale on either 3rd June or 7th June, depending on which page of their website is correct.
Talking of Mahler, you'll be aware by now that the rumours were correct and the 2010 Proms season does indeed start (on 16th July) with Mahler 8. The prom to watch out for, though, is on 6th August, a repeat of the programme they're playing in Manchester the day before. And there are of course comments all over the place about the Proms listings, notably from Intermezzo and Classical Iconoclast.
Oh, and this is interesting: Roger Wright's expenses as Proms boss. Includes £1,900 on hospitality "to thank members of the BBC Symphony Chorus for their dedication and hard work after a busy season". *boggle*
Two more cost-related things: Intermezzo brings us news that you now have to pay to audition for the LSO, and the Telegraph looks at the cost to orchestras of volcano-related travel disruption. (Although I must admit I'm getting very fed up of stories such as this one about Liverpool going to Madrid overland, which keep going on about what an uncomfortable journey it must be. As someone who went from Manchester to Valencia by train (which looks about the same distance to me), I want to shout at them "IT WASN'T UNCOMFORTABLE AT ALL!" And I wasn't even in first class. And they flew the last bit anyway! Wimps.)
More volcano photos from the Big Picture are up, by the way, and they're even better than last week's. And Manchester Confidential has some lovely photos of a clear blue vapour-trail-less Manchester sky, taken from the roof of the Shudehill Interchange car park, which it recommends as a great place for free views of the city.
The Guardian has a list of the top 50 arts-related Twitter feeds. Not sure I'd agree with all of these, but it's a good starting point if you're new to Twitter.
Have you seen this advert? Terry Venables singing If I Can Dream. Apparently he had singing lessons specially. What I want to know is whether the other various famous people in the choir were actually singing...
Oh, and while we're on the World Cup, the football fans among you may be interested in a free online World Cup Virtual Sticker Album. Let me know if you sign up - we could do swapsies :-)
Last mention of football for now.... in fact, you should watch this even if you're not a football fan. It's less than a minute long, and it's hilarious. This German goalie also happens to be his team's penalty taker, and in a match between Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke in 2004, he scored a penalty, and while he was celebrating.... well, watch.
This is quite the opposite - not funny at all, in fact one of the most awful stories I've ever heard. Local government officials in California separated an elderly gay couple and sold all their possessions.
The MEN has a feature about the lovely Professor Brian Cox.
It's St George's Day today, but the Guardian thinks we need a new national saint, and it has one in mind.
And, if you want to relax, here's a website that just plays the sound of rain.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Do not forsake me, oh my darling
High Noon is on TV tomorrow (well, actually the early hours of Monday morning - 0045 on Monday 19th April, ITV3), and ever since I noticed this I've had the theme tune on the brain. It's always been one of my favourite songs, and I know it so well that I could write it out from memory - in fact, I just did (I was only going to write out the first line, in order to illustrate a point I'm about to make, but I got carried away!) I love the film as well, but not as much as I love the song.
However, it transpires that it's POSSIBLE I don't know the song as well as I thought I did, and this has been bugging me for days. I have the song in iTunes - I can't remember where I got it from - and when I listened to it, it was WRONG... i.e. not how I remember it. The version in my head starts like this:
but the recording I have starts like this:
If the print is too small, the main difference is that he puts gaps in the tune where I don't think there are any, and the intro has a different chord in it. There are other differences as well, later, but it's the fact that there are ANY differences that's a problem. Not to worry, I thought, I'm going to my mum's house tomorrow, and she has a Frankie Laine Greatest Hits CD. I'll just copy it from that.
But when we listened to mum's CD, we were both horrified to find that THAT was the wrong version too. (In fact, it seems likely that that's where I got it from in the first place, so I suppose it makes SOME sense.) My mum was able to sing the whole thing to me from memory, and her version matched the one in my head. And we wanted to hear Frankie Laine singing THAT version! Luckily at this point Mum remembered that she also had a Frankie Laine LP on vinyl. She found it, and after a bit of struggling, we got her record player working (it hadn't been used in years). Guess what - THAT was the wrong version as well! Argh!
I told mum at this point that I was sure I'd be able to find the PROPER version on YouTube. Well, I didn't - there were many versions, all of them wrong (they weren't even all wrong in the same way - some had EXTRA wrong bits!) - and at this point I found a new horrifying fact. It seems that, contrary to what I'd always thought, Frankie Laine didn't even sing the version that's actually in the film - it was Tex Ritter. Frankie Laine was just the one who had the most successful cover version!
Well, I didn't know WHAT to think. Maybe I am losing my mind. But I haven't given up yet. Here is where I'm up to in my quest to find a recording of the version in my head: I tried Spotify and iTunes when I got home, but all the versions on there are the wrong one. I searched through all my CDs and tapes to see if I had a recording (I knew I did, I just couldn't remember where). Finally I found it - on a 7" vinyl single. I am absolutely convinced that this is the correct version - as soon as I found it, I remembered playing it repeatedly - but I don't currently have any way to play vinyl! Argh!
Oh well. Eventually I will get a chance to play it (next time I go to my mum's house, if not before), and I'm hoping I will be vindicated. In the meantime, do watch the film. I'm hesitant to link you to one of the many wrong versions of the song, but if you want to hear one of them, here you are. And it goes without saying that if anyone has a recording which matches my first line (above), please send it!
Other than High Noon, this week I have been mostly singing Mahler 8. We had two rehearsals, and we got lots done - we've done every note of the piece at least twice this week, and many of them a lot more than that. Even better, we did a couple of nonstop runs of long sections, so that the people who didn't previously know the piece are hopefully starting to see how it all fits together. Actually my only complaint about either of the rehearsals is that at one point on Wednesday we rehearsed the bit on which the 2nd altos (well, all the ladies, but it's not quite as painful for the others) have a very long top G#. We can do this quite convincingly and confidently, but it HURTS. (It probably hurts the listeners even more, but I can't be the judge of that!) So it was NOT a good thing when we repeated those few bars SIX TIMES in fairly quick succession. I can't even remember what the issue was that necessitated the repetition, but I had a banging headache by the sixth time, and it lasted until early the next morning. Ouch. (I like to think that we did that note so confidently that no-one could tell it was hurting us - but it was, and it does, and it will!)
Next weekend we're off to Birmingham for the piano rehearsal, which will be fun - not just because it's a day out, but because it'll be the first chance to hear all the choirs together. Exciting! And the weekend after is the concert. I heard that the open rehearsal on 1st May, which has not (as far as I'm aware) been advertised publicly at all, is almost sold out, which is impressive... if you know anyone who's planning to turn up to that on the day, I'd recommend to them that they get a ticket!
Our Mahler 2 gig was of course on Radio 3 this week, and it's still on iPlayer until Monday night. But you can download it to keep as separate tracks from my mp3 page, and I'll leave it there for the foreseeable future. I'm glad to see that quite a few people have already downloaded it. I really enjoyed listening to it - I think I will delete my commercially-produced recording from iTunes, our live version is better! And I was surprised how much I enjoyed Crossing the Alps, too. It sounds really good. (Oh, and these commenters on the Radio 3 message board thought so too. Thanks to Graham and Martin for pointing that out to me.)
Classical Iconoclast has a nice post about the Mahler in Manchester series as a whole.
Talking of Radio 3, you'll remember that they recently announced that they'd be introducing a weekly chart; well, it's now up and running, and if you want to keep an eye on what's on it, here's a page for you to bookmark.
Hands up who else is amused that the last night of our proms isn't the last night, even though they're calling it that?
Tom Service talked to the "cultural gurus" of the three main UK political parties and got commitments from them regarding what music projects they will support if they win the election.
Also from the Guardian, news that ENO has invited some famous film directors to direct some of their operas next season. More details here - Terry Gilliam is doing Faust! Mindboggling.
Chris Rowbury wants to know whether you'd rather be over-rehearsed or under-prepared. I can't quite decide which way to lean, so I haven't commented on his post yet, but I think I'll probably end up agreeing with Chris that under-prepared is often better... but it depends so very much on the particular group of singers involved. Not every group is good enough to get away with being under-prepared, but if you have a group that IS good enough, it can be quite exciting, I think.
Via Intermezzo, here's a parrot singing the Queen of the Night aria. Well, bits of it. Who thinks this is real? I can't decide.
Manchester Central Library is in the process of moving all its books into underground salt mines. We knew this was going to happen, but it still seems very weird now that it actually is!
Manchester Cathedral is starting a new venture: gala dinners in the nave.
I was going to tell you about a free talk by Brian Cox at the university this Thursday, but the tickets were snapped up before I got the chance. However, he says there'll be another one in June - follow him on Twitter if you want to be sure to find out about it in time.
I'm fascinated by the whole volcanic ash thing. The Big Picture has some fabulous photos of the culprit, and it seems that people in Knutsford think the whole thing is great.
Currently, from sunset until about 9.30 pm every night, you can see Venus and Mercury low in the western sky, quite close together. Venus is on the left and much brighter than Mercury. If you're not sure what to look for, here's a photo of them taken from Paris a few days ago. Venus is very frequently visible, but it's rare to be able to see Mercury, so do try. (Venus actually doesn't set till about 10.30 pm, because it's a bit higher up than Mercury. You can also see both Mars and Saturn all night, but they're nowhere near as bright as Venus. And if you're up early, you may be able to see Jupiter very low (and VERY bright) in the east from about 5.15 am, but the sun rises not long after that so the sky may be too light.)
I can't quite believe this: a hotel in Bolton sent a fairly new employee out to prune a tree. He leaned the ladder against a branch, sawed that branch off the tree while on the ladder, fell and hurt himself, and SUED THE HOTEL. And, while I don't think he's actually won yet, the hotel has been fined! Unbelievable.
This really amused me: an alternative pain scale.
And finally - what a wonderful day for football today has been! United beat City. Rochdale got promoted. Leeds lost. Chelsea lost, AND John Terry got sent off. All wonderful things. But my favourite thing is this photo of Gary Neville kissing Paul Scholes. Aren't they lovely?
However, it transpires that it's POSSIBLE I don't know the song as well as I thought I did, and this has been bugging me for days. I have the song in iTunes - I can't remember where I got it from - and when I listened to it, it was WRONG... i.e. not how I remember it. The version in my head starts like this:
but the recording I have starts like this:
If the print is too small, the main difference is that he puts gaps in the tune where I don't think there are any, and the intro has a different chord in it. There are other differences as well, later, but it's the fact that there are ANY differences that's a problem. Not to worry, I thought, I'm going to my mum's house tomorrow, and she has a Frankie Laine Greatest Hits CD. I'll just copy it from that.
But when we listened to mum's CD, we were both horrified to find that THAT was the wrong version too. (In fact, it seems likely that that's where I got it from in the first place, so I suppose it makes SOME sense.) My mum was able to sing the whole thing to me from memory, and her version matched the one in my head. And we wanted to hear Frankie Laine singing THAT version! Luckily at this point Mum remembered that she also had a Frankie Laine LP on vinyl. She found it, and after a bit of struggling, we got her record player working (it hadn't been used in years). Guess what - THAT was the wrong version as well! Argh!
I told mum at this point that I was sure I'd be able to find the PROPER version on YouTube. Well, I didn't - there were many versions, all of them wrong (they weren't even all wrong in the same way - some had EXTRA wrong bits!) - and at this point I found a new horrifying fact. It seems that, contrary to what I'd always thought, Frankie Laine didn't even sing the version that's actually in the film - it was Tex Ritter. Frankie Laine was just the one who had the most successful cover version!
Well, I didn't know WHAT to think. Maybe I am losing my mind. But I haven't given up yet. Here is where I'm up to in my quest to find a recording of the version in my head: I tried Spotify and iTunes when I got home, but all the versions on there are the wrong one. I searched through all my CDs and tapes to see if I had a recording (I knew I did, I just couldn't remember where). Finally I found it - on a 7" vinyl single. I am absolutely convinced that this is the correct version - as soon as I found it, I remembered playing it repeatedly - but I don't currently have any way to play vinyl! Argh!
Oh well. Eventually I will get a chance to play it (next time I go to my mum's house, if not before), and I'm hoping I will be vindicated. In the meantime, do watch the film. I'm hesitant to link you to one of the many wrong versions of the song, but if you want to hear one of them, here you are. And it goes without saying that if anyone has a recording which matches my first line (above), please send it!
Other than High Noon, this week I have been mostly singing Mahler 8. We had two rehearsals, and we got lots done - we've done every note of the piece at least twice this week, and many of them a lot more than that. Even better, we did a couple of nonstop runs of long sections, so that the people who didn't previously know the piece are hopefully starting to see how it all fits together. Actually my only complaint about either of the rehearsals is that at one point on Wednesday we rehearsed the bit on which the 2nd altos (well, all the ladies, but it's not quite as painful for the others) have a very long top G#. We can do this quite convincingly and confidently, but it HURTS. (It probably hurts the listeners even more, but I can't be the judge of that!) So it was NOT a good thing when we repeated those few bars SIX TIMES in fairly quick succession. I can't even remember what the issue was that necessitated the repetition, but I had a banging headache by the sixth time, and it lasted until early the next morning. Ouch. (I like to think that we did that note so confidently that no-one could tell it was hurting us - but it was, and it does, and it will!)
Next weekend we're off to Birmingham for the piano rehearsal, which will be fun - not just because it's a day out, but because it'll be the first chance to hear all the choirs together. Exciting! And the weekend after is the concert. I heard that the open rehearsal on 1st May, which has not (as far as I'm aware) been advertised publicly at all, is almost sold out, which is impressive... if you know anyone who's planning to turn up to that on the day, I'd recommend to them that they get a ticket!
Our Mahler 2 gig was of course on Radio 3 this week, and it's still on iPlayer until Monday night. But you can download it to keep as separate tracks from my mp3 page, and I'll leave it there for the foreseeable future. I'm glad to see that quite a few people have already downloaded it. I really enjoyed listening to it - I think I will delete my commercially-produced recording from iTunes, our live version is better! And I was surprised how much I enjoyed Crossing the Alps, too. It sounds really good. (Oh, and these commenters on the Radio 3 message board thought so too. Thanks to Graham and Martin for pointing that out to me.)
Classical Iconoclast has a nice post about the Mahler in Manchester series as a whole.
Talking of Radio 3, you'll remember that they recently announced that they'd be introducing a weekly chart; well, it's now up and running, and if you want to keep an eye on what's on it, here's a page for you to bookmark.
Hands up who else is amused that the last night of our proms isn't the last night, even though they're calling it that?
Tom Service talked to the "cultural gurus" of the three main UK political parties and got commitments from them regarding what music projects they will support if they win the election.
Also from the Guardian, news that ENO has invited some famous film directors to direct some of their operas next season. More details here - Terry Gilliam is doing Faust! Mindboggling.
Chris Rowbury wants to know whether you'd rather be over-rehearsed or under-prepared. I can't quite decide which way to lean, so I haven't commented on his post yet, but I think I'll probably end up agreeing with Chris that under-prepared is often better... but it depends so very much on the particular group of singers involved. Not every group is good enough to get away with being under-prepared, but if you have a group that IS good enough, it can be quite exciting, I think.
Via Intermezzo, here's a parrot singing the Queen of the Night aria. Well, bits of it. Who thinks this is real? I can't decide.
Manchester Central Library is in the process of moving all its books into underground salt mines. We knew this was going to happen, but it still seems very weird now that it actually is!
Manchester Cathedral is starting a new venture: gala dinners in the nave.
I was going to tell you about a free talk by Brian Cox at the university this Thursday, but the tickets were snapped up before I got the chance. However, he says there'll be another one in June - follow him on Twitter if you want to be sure to find out about it in time.
I'm fascinated by the whole volcanic ash thing. The Big Picture has some fabulous photos of the culprit, and it seems that people in Knutsford think the whole thing is great.
Currently, from sunset until about 9.30 pm every night, you can see Venus and Mercury low in the western sky, quite close together. Venus is on the left and much brighter than Mercury. If you're not sure what to look for, here's a photo of them taken from Paris a few days ago. Venus is very frequently visible, but it's rare to be able to see Mercury, so do try. (Venus actually doesn't set till about 10.30 pm, because it's a bit higher up than Mercury. You can also see both Mars and Saturn all night, but they're nowhere near as bright as Venus. And if you're up early, you may be able to see Jupiter very low (and VERY bright) in the east from about 5.15 am, but the sun rises not long after that so the sky may be too light.)
I can't quite believe this: a hotel in Bolton sent a fairly new employee out to prune a tree. He leaned the ladder against a branch, sawed that branch off the tree while on the ladder, fell and hurt himself, and SUED THE HOTEL. And, while I don't think he's actually won yet, the hotel has been fined! Unbelievable.
This really amused me: an alternative pain scale.
And finally - what a wonderful day for football today has been! United beat City. Rochdale got promoted. Leeds lost. Chelsea lost, AND John Terry got sent off. All wonderful things. But my favourite thing is this photo of Gary Neville kissing Paul Scholes. Aren't they lovely?
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Mahler 2 broadcast mp3s
Proper post to follow, but I just wanted to pop by and tell you that there are now helpful, downloadable mp3s of Monday's Radio 3 broadcast on my mp3 page. Thanks to Mr Dr Liz for supplying the mega-huge two-and-a-quarter-hour file from which I created the separate tracks.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
I see you shiver with antici.............................pation
I listened to Mahler 8 all the way through yesterday, while on a six-bus journey. I was pleased to find how much of it I know from memory - always useful. Needless to say I got annoyed all over again about choir 1 getting all the good bits, but mainly I was very excited about the whole thing - I'd totally forgotten some of the amazing orchestral bits (e.g. what the brass are doing in the "hostem repellas" section - that's all about driving away the enemy, but I can't decide whether the brass are the enemy and we're trying to drive them away, or the enemy is elsewhere and the brass are helping us! No doubt it will become clear...)
I had an idea last night involving Mahler 8 Bingo. This idea amused me a lot, and I may have to put it into action, if only because I love the thought of someone trying to concentrate in a rehearsal while itching to jump up and shout "HOUSE!" Leave it with me :-)
Other than this, I haven't done anything music-related since my last post. We didn't rehearse this week, although we have two rehearsals next week to make up for this. I've spent most of the time distracting myself from being broke - I'm very good at that! (Just as well - it's been worse than usual recently due to the DWP not paying me, because they're currently my only source of income. So food has been a major issue. They've paid me now, but it's not been the most pleasant of weeks.)
Anyway, I have a load of links, so I thought I'd post them even though there was nothing else to say.
Via Intermezzo, a fascinating interview with Sir Colin Davis.
You probably heard about last week's disruption of a string quartet concert at the Wigmore Hall. The Jerusalem Quartet (whose concert it was) have something to say on the matter, as does Norman Lebrecht, with a lovely Telegraph article about how the concert hall is a sanctuary.
Talking of concert halls, have you seen the one they're building in Hamburg? It has OCEAN WAVES on its roof!
Tom Service writes sympathetically about Leonard Slatkin's recent much-publicised withdrawal from La Traviata at the New York Met.
Again, you'll have seen this, but since it's not often that a choir-related story makes the front page of the BBC News website, I figured it was worth repeating: the guy who's sung with the same choir for SEVENTY YEARS.
Our own orchestra is giving free tickets to people in deprived areas of Manchester - although, as one of the commenters points out, not the MOST deprived areas... I wonder why?
I hadn't realised there was a danger of this year's Whit Friday brass band contests not going ahead until 4 Bars Rest told me that Oldham Council has saved the day. (The contests this year are on 28th May - put it in your diary and keep the evening free, if you've never been before!)
Also from 4 Bars Rest, news that the Fairey Brass Band (one of the best in the world) will be performing after the Mahler 7 concert on 24th April. So if you're going to that concert, don't leave without hearing them.
This is fun: a music video set in an empty school, in which the composer (a 17-year-old boy) plays everything himself, using various things as instruments (e.g. piano, marimba, locker door).
Chris Rowbury writes about the process of learning songs by ear. Of course we can't usually do this in our choir due to the short time we have in which to learn complex stuff, but most of the points he makes are still valid for a choir that DOES use sheet music. (I'd love to be able to tell him he's wrong when he says that singers who have the music in front of them never look at the conductor, but sadly he's not ENTIRELY wrong! I think our choir probably has more counter-examples than most, though.)
I mentioned recently that I wasn't particularly impressed with The Sixteen, so I was only SLIGHTLY surprised to find that the Guardian only awarded them one star for a recent concert of theirs. The Telegraph hated it too.
This is very clever: via Jason Heath's Double Bass Blog, Wii-controlled percussion.
This year's Proms lineup is announced on 22nd April. Tom Service describes what he hopes will be in it, while Intermezzo has a lot more info, including quite a few rumours. Looks as if the opening concert might be Mahler 8 - but sadly not our version!
On An Overgrown Path has an intriguing post about why Latvia produces more than its fair share of outstanding musicians.
If you know anyone who attended the Oscars for Orchestra concert in Manchester a couple of weeks ago, see if their photo is on the Red Carpet page.
Tom Service brings news that Radio 3 is introducing classical chart hits to its programming. Rupert Christiansen, in the Telegraph, writes about why this is a very bad idea.
Here's a nice story from A Cappella News: a choir that was formed to help unemployed people in Leipzig. It mentions one guy who was on his way to jump under a train (literally) and changed his mind as a result of seeing a choir recruitment poster. *boggle*
Seth Godin's blog often has potentially life-changing insights, but I particularly like this one: how to be one in a million.
I absolutely hate politics and ignore it wherever possible (it bores me rigid), so it's entirely possible that everyone apart from me already knew this, but just in case it's news to you too: from BBC News, who actually runs the country while all the MPs are off campaigning? I hadn't realised that they actually stopped being MPs shortly after an election is called - I assumed they continued until the day of the election, and then either continued or left afterwards. The actual process, now that I know what it is, makes a lot more sense when I think about it!
Anyone who uses Twitter, however much they hate politics, will probably have seen all the stuff about the Digital Economy Bill. Until this hit the news, I didn't know there was a Minister for Digital Britain. Now that I *do* know that, I'm unimpressed to find that he doesn't even know the meaning of basic terms such as "IP address". (Even my Silver Surfers, who have only been using computers for a few weeks, know that it stands for "Internet Protocol".)
Manchester Confidential raves about the new Legoland Discovery Centre at the Trafford Centre. Sounds like fun!
From the category of "random trivia that will blow your mind", here's a fascinating fact about pie :-)
I had an idea last night involving Mahler 8 Bingo. This idea amused me a lot, and I may have to put it into action, if only because I love the thought of someone trying to concentrate in a rehearsal while itching to jump up and shout "HOUSE!" Leave it with me :-)
Other than this, I haven't done anything music-related since my last post. We didn't rehearse this week, although we have two rehearsals next week to make up for this. I've spent most of the time distracting myself from being broke - I'm very good at that! (Just as well - it's been worse than usual recently due to the DWP not paying me, because they're currently my only source of income. So food has been a major issue. They've paid me now, but it's not been the most pleasant of weeks.)
Anyway, I have a load of links, so I thought I'd post them even though there was nothing else to say.
Via Intermezzo, a fascinating interview with Sir Colin Davis.
You probably heard about last week's disruption of a string quartet concert at the Wigmore Hall. The Jerusalem Quartet (whose concert it was) have something to say on the matter, as does Norman Lebrecht, with a lovely Telegraph article about how the concert hall is a sanctuary.
Talking of concert halls, have you seen the one they're building in Hamburg? It has OCEAN WAVES on its roof!
Tom Service writes sympathetically about Leonard Slatkin's recent much-publicised withdrawal from La Traviata at the New York Met.
Again, you'll have seen this, but since it's not often that a choir-related story makes the front page of the BBC News website, I figured it was worth repeating: the guy who's sung with the same choir for SEVENTY YEARS.
Our own orchestra is giving free tickets to people in deprived areas of Manchester - although, as one of the commenters points out, not the MOST deprived areas... I wonder why?
I hadn't realised there was a danger of this year's Whit Friday brass band contests not going ahead until 4 Bars Rest told me that Oldham Council has saved the day. (The contests this year are on 28th May - put it in your diary and keep the evening free, if you've never been before!)
Also from 4 Bars Rest, news that the Fairey Brass Band (one of the best in the world) will be performing after the Mahler 7 concert on 24th April. So if you're going to that concert, don't leave without hearing them.
This is fun: a music video set in an empty school, in which the composer (a 17-year-old boy) plays everything himself, using various things as instruments (e.g. piano, marimba, locker door).
Chris Rowbury writes about the process of learning songs by ear. Of course we can't usually do this in our choir due to the short time we have in which to learn complex stuff, but most of the points he makes are still valid for a choir that DOES use sheet music. (I'd love to be able to tell him he's wrong when he says that singers who have the music in front of them never look at the conductor, but sadly he's not ENTIRELY wrong! I think our choir probably has more counter-examples than most, though.)
I mentioned recently that I wasn't particularly impressed with The Sixteen, so I was only SLIGHTLY surprised to find that the Guardian only awarded them one star for a recent concert of theirs. The Telegraph hated it too.
This is very clever: via Jason Heath's Double Bass Blog, Wii-controlled percussion.
This year's Proms lineup is announced on 22nd April. Tom Service describes what he hopes will be in it, while Intermezzo has a lot more info, including quite a few rumours. Looks as if the opening concert might be Mahler 8 - but sadly not our version!
On An Overgrown Path has an intriguing post about why Latvia produces more than its fair share of outstanding musicians.
If you know anyone who attended the Oscars for Orchestra concert in Manchester a couple of weeks ago, see if their photo is on the Red Carpet page.
Tom Service brings news that Radio 3 is introducing classical chart hits to its programming. Rupert Christiansen, in the Telegraph, writes about why this is a very bad idea.
Here's a nice story from A Cappella News: a choir that was formed to help unemployed people in Leipzig. It mentions one guy who was on his way to jump under a train (literally) and changed his mind as a result of seeing a choir recruitment poster. *boggle*
Seth Godin's blog often has potentially life-changing insights, but I particularly like this one: how to be one in a million.
I absolutely hate politics and ignore it wherever possible (it bores me rigid), so it's entirely possible that everyone apart from me already knew this, but just in case it's news to you too: from BBC News, who actually runs the country while all the MPs are off campaigning? I hadn't realised that they actually stopped being MPs shortly after an election is called - I assumed they continued until the day of the election, and then either continued or left afterwards. The actual process, now that I know what it is, makes a lot more sense when I think about it!
Anyone who uses Twitter, however much they hate politics, will probably have seen all the stuff about the Digital Economy Bill. Until this hit the news, I didn't know there was a Minister for Digital Britain. Now that I *do* know that, I'm unimpressed to find that he doesn't even know the meaning of basic terms such as "IP address". (Even my Silver Surfers, who have only been using computers for a few weeks, know that it stands for "Internet Protocol".)
Manchester Confidential raves about the new Legoland Discovery Centre at the Trafford Centre. Sounds like fun!
From the category of "random trivia that will blow your mind", here's a fascinating fact about pie :-)
Thursday, April 01, 2010
They can only do it once a night
There was a lot of giggling at last night's rehearsal, most of it during the attempt to get the men to sing "Komm" with a suitably seductive initial consonant. I have to admit that the idea of a long k is new to me, but that certainly seemed to be what our German coach was asking for a few weeks ago, so I will continue to try. I don't think I've managed it yet - I think the sound I'm coming out with is more of a gurgle - but there's still time to improve!
There's definitely room for improvement when it comes to the spatial awareness of the 1st altos. For Mahler 8 we're sitting in a formation which we've never used before (as far as I can recall) - the men are on the conductor's left (basses on the end and then tenors), followed by altos in the middle (2nds next to the tenors, then 1sts next to the sops) and sops on the right (2nds next to the altos and 1sts on the end). (The reason for this formation is that we're one of two choirs, and the other choir will mirror our formation so that all the men from both choirs will be together in the middle.) When I arrived last night, there were no 2nd altos there yet, but quite a few 1sts... and they were all sitting to the LEFT of the halfway point (as viewed from the conductor's position). They had obviously decided that the sopranos needed more chairs than all the rest of the choir combined. (There aren't THAT many sopranos - in fact, for quite some time now, 1st alto has been the most numerous section!) And as if that wasn't bad enough, they had only left ONE seat on the front row for the 2nd altos. (We've been insisting, this year, that we always have a wedge of 2nd altos, with several on the front row. Until we put our collective foot down, the 1st altos usually took up the whole front row of the alto section, leaving all the 2nds to sit at the back. And it's not that we object to sitting at the back in general - it's just that there are three times as many 1sts as 2nds (sometimes four times as many) and we just can't be heard unless there are at least some of us at the front.)
I'm amused, by the way, that two different conductors have recently realised - only after months of working with us - that there are far more 1st altos than 2nds, and when they've said "do we need to do something about this?" we all reacted with a resounding "NO!" I found it quite telling that they didn't notice from listening to us - it was only when they asked for a show of hands that the discrepancy in numbers was obvious :-)
I *am* jealous of the 1st altos for one thing, though, and I only noticed it last night. They have the best note in the whole of Mahler 8! Right at the end (figure 217) all the singers are on a fortissimo chord - with a crescendo - very high in the voice. In the third bar of figure 217, the chord continues, louder than ever... but one part MOVES. Admittedly the two alto soloists are singing in unison with the 1st altos, so they move too... but no-one else does. That's such a good - and IMPORTANT - note that if it were up to me, I would suggest that all the 2nd altos sing 1st, just for those three bars - the B flat in the 2nd alto part is well-covered by the basses and 2nd tenors, and the altos are likely to be drowned by everyone else (look at what STB and all the soloists are doing!) unless they use all the power they have available. (And yes, if you're being picky, the 1st basses and 2nd tenors do change notes when they go into the third bar of 217 - but they only change to a note which was already in the previous chord. It's the note that the 1st altos sing that makes it a whole different chord.)
I'd get the 2nd altos to switch back to their own part for the last two notes, though, because NO-ONE else has a B flat in the last chord. Although, once you realise what the orchestra - with full organ - is doing at that point, you'll see that it will make very little difference what note the 2nd altos are singing :-)
I had an interesting journey home after the rehearsal - it took almost three hours. (I live 17 miles from the rehearsal venue.) Usually I get a lift with Alison, who lives very near where I do, but she's on holiday this week, so I was on public transport. I really don't mind using public transport, because it gives me the chance to read and/or listen to podcasts etc. - it does take a bit longer at times, but I do have time to spare at the moment! Last night, the bus back into town was bang on time, so there was no problem there - as usual, a couple of choir members stopped to offer me a lift into town, but I always say no, because my train isn't till 2228, so if I got a lift I'd have to sit on a cold bench at Victoria Station for almost an hour, whereas if I get the bus I still get there with half an hour to spare, but I have a warm bus seat until then.
Last night, there was a platform change for the 2228, so I wandered across to platform 3. The train turned up at about quarter past, and I went to get on at the rearmost door as usual (because that's where the exit is when I get off). As I got on, the driver and guard got off (at the same door), deep in conversation. I sat down and got re-engrossed in my book. A while later, the train started to move... in the wrong direction. This was a little offputting, and it was only at this point that I realised that the carriage was totally empty apart from me, which is unheard of for any of the trains on my line. I realised that the train must have split, and the other carriages formed the 2228 to Leeds, whereas the carriage I was in was heading to the depot. Great. You'd think that the guard and driver (who saw me get on) might have mentioned that, wouldn't you? Or that the new driver would check there was no-one on his train before he drove it to the depot? *sigh*
Anyway, the depot turned out to be only a few minutes away, and the driver emerged from his carriage and looked at me in bemusement. He asked how I'd got on the train, and didn't seem to believe me when I said I'd entered through the door.... I asked how I could get back to Victoria, and he said that the only way was for him to reverse the train to there. And, after a brief phone call to his controller, that's what he did. Needless to say, the 2228 had gone by then, so I had to sit on a cold bench for ages ANYWAY, because the next (and last) train wasn't till 2320. By the time I got home I was frozen, but oddly cheerful - I never mind having a prolonged amount of time in which to read, and there is no-one who cares what time I get home (or even whether I do). (This depresses me if I let myself think about it, so I distract myself by reading!)
So, some links to entertain you after I've sent you all to sleep with my train trauma! The Mahler in Manchester series can still do no wrong - it was Mahler 6 the other night, with the BBC Phil, and the reviews are great: Telegraph, MEN, Times, FT, and Guardian. Oh, and the Radio 3 broadcasts start on Monday and continue weekly: Mahler 1 (BBC Phil) is on 5th April at 7pm, which suggests that our Mahler 2 will be on 12th, and Mahler 8 on 24th May. But you know what the BBC are like for interrupting series!
It turns out the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain were at the Lowry on Sunday. I would have loved to have seen them - they were great at the Proms, and this concert sounds as if it was great fun.
I love this story (on Stephen Hough's blog) of Steven Isserlis trying to get to a concert on time. Hilarious!
Intermezzo brings news that reading about music before listening to it is not always a good thing.
The Guardian has a long, detailed, interesting article about Renee Fleming singing non-classical stuff. You can even listen to the whole album there for free.
Yet more on the thorny question of when applause is appropriate, this time from Ivan Hewett in the Telegraph.
Great post from The Chorister called Am I a bad singer? I would add one thing - if you don't identify with anything in her post, I'm willing to bet you're not as good a singer as you think you are :-)
The all-conquering Gareth Malone has been awarded the Freedom of the City of London. Wouldn't it be great (and VERY convenient) if he felt like moving to Manchester? I think someone should ask him. (Seriously.)
The Guardian's music blog discusses the enduring legacy of Kate Bush.
I've mentioned Shazam a few times - here's an article from Mashable that compares Shazam to other methods of identifying the song in your head.
Chris Rowbury wants to discuss why men won't sing.
Mark Burstow (of the Bournemouth Male Voice Choir) has an interesting post about the difficulties of singing in English.
The Radio 3 blog has the first in a series of posts about life in the BBC Symphony Chorus.
And finally, the teachers among you will like this: a poem by Taylor Mali called What Teachers Make. Very true.
There's definitely room for improvement when it comes to the spatial awareness of the 1st altos. For Mahler 8 we're sitting in a formation which we've never used before (as far as I can recall) - the men are on the conductor's left (basses on the end and then tenors), followed by altos in the middle (2nds next to the tenors, then 1sts next to the sops) and sops on the right (2nds next to the altos and 1sts on the end). (The reason for this formation is that we're one of two choirs, and the other choir will mirror our formation so that all the men from both choirs will be together in the middle.) When I arrived last night, there were no 2nd altos there yet, but quite a few 1sts... and they were all sitting to the LEFT of the halfway point (as viewed from the conductor's position). They had obviously decided that the sopranos needed more chairs than all the rest of the choir combined. (There aren't THAT many sopranos - in fact, for quite some time now, 1st alto has been the most numerous section!) And as if that wasn't bad enough, they had only left ONE seat on the front row for the 2nd altos. (We've been insisting, this year, that we always have a wedge of 2nd altos, with several on the front row. Until we put our collective foot down, the 1st altos usually took up the whole front row of the alto section, leaving all the 2nds to sit at the back. And it's not that we object to sitting at the back in general - it's just that there are three times as many 1sts as 2nds (sometimes four times as many) and we just can't be heard unless there are at least some of us at the front.)
I'm amused, by the way, that two different conductors have recently realised - only after months of working with us - that there are far more 1st altos than 2nds, and when they've said "do we need to do something about this?" we all reacted with a resounding "NO!" I found it quite telling that they didn't notice from listening to us - it was only when they asked for a show of hands that the discrepancy in numbers was obvious :-)
I *am* jealous of the 1st altos for one thing, though, and I only noticed it last night. They have the best note in the whole of Mahler 8! Right at the end (figure 217) all the singers are on a fortissimo chord - with a crescendo - very high in the voice. In the third bar of figure 217, the chord continues, louder than ever... but one part MOVES. Admittedly the two alto soloists are singing in unison with the 1st altos, so they move too... but no-one else does. That's such a good - and IMPORTANT - note that if it were up to me, I would suggest that all the 2nd altos sing 1st, just for those three bars - the B flat in the 2nd alto part is well-covered by the basses and 2nd tenors, and the altos are likely to be drowned by everyone else (look at what STB and all the soloists are doing!) unless they use all the power they have available. (And yes, if you're being picky, the 1st basses and 2nd tenors do change notes when they go into the third bar of 217 - but they only change to a note which was already in the previous chord. It's the note that the 1st altos sing that makes it a whole different chord.)
I'd get the 2nd altos to switch back to their own part for the last two notes, though, because NO-ONE else has a B flat in the last chord. Although, once you realise what the orchestra - with full organ - is doing at that point, you'll see that it will make very little difference what note the 2nd altos are singing :-)
I had an interesting journey home after the rehearsal - it took almost three hours. (I live 17 miles from the rehearsal venue.) Usually I get a lift with Alison, who lives very near where I do, but she's on holiday this week, so I was on public transport. I really don't mind using public transport, because it gives me the chance to read and/or listen to podcasts etc. - it does take a bit longer at times, but I do have time to spare at the moment! Last night, the bus back into town was bang on time, so there was no problem there - as usual, a couple of choir members stopped to offer me a lift into town, but I always say no, because my train isn't till 2228, so if I got a lift I'd have to sit on a cold bench at Victoria Station for almost an hour, whereas if I get the bus I still get there with half an hour to spare, but I have a warm bus seat until then.
Last night, there was a platform change for the 2228, so I wandered across to platform 3. The train turned up at about quarter past, and I went to get on at the rearmost door as usual (because that's where the exit is when I get off). As I got on, the driver and guard got off (at the same door), deep in conversation. I sat down and got re-engrossed in my book. A while later, the train started to move... in the wrong direction. This was a little offputting, and it was only at this point that I realised that the carriage was totally empty apart from me, which is unheard of for any of the trains on my line. I realised that the train must have split, and the other carriages formed the 2228 to Leeds, whereas the carriage I was in was heading to the depot. Great. You'd think that the guard and driver (who saw me get on) might have mentioned that, wouldn't you? Or that the new driver would check there was no-one on his train before he drove it to the depot? *sigh*
Anyway, the depot turned out to be only a few minutes away, and the driver emerged from his carriage and looked at me in bemusement. He asked how I'd got on the train, and didn't seem to believe me when I said I'd entered through the door.... I asked how I could get back to Victoria, and he said that the only way was for him to reverse the train to there. And, after a brief phone call to his controller, that's what he did. Needless to say, the 2228 had gone by then, so I had to sit on a cold bench for ages ANYWAY, because the next (and last) train wasn't till 2320. By the time I got home I was frozen, but oddly cheerful - I never mind having a prolonged amount of time in which to read, and there is no-one who cares what time I get home (or even whether I do). (This depresses me if I let myself think about it, so I distract myself by reading!)
So, some links to entertain you after I've sent you all to sleep with my train trauma! The Mahler in Manchester series can still do no wrong - it was Mahler 6 the other night, with the BBC Phil, and the reviews are great: Telegraph, MEN, Times, FT, and Guardian. Oh, and the Radio 3 broadcasts start on Monday and continue weekly: Mahler 1 (BBC Phil) is on 5th April at 7pm, which suggests that our Mahler 2 will be on 12th, and Mahler 8 on 24th May. But you know what the BBC are like for interrupting series!
It turns out the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain were at the Lowry on Sunday. I would have loved to have seen them - they were great at the Proms, and this concert sounds as if it was great fun.
I love this story (on Stephen Hough's blog) of Steven Isserlis trying to get to a concert on time. Hilarious!
Intermezzo brings news that reading about music before listening to it is not always a good thing.
The Guardian has a long, detailed, interesting article about Renee Fleming singing non-classical stuff. You can even listen to the whole album there for free.
Yet more on the thorny question of when applause is appropriate, this time from Ivan Hewett in the Telegraph.
Great post from The Chorister called Am I a bad singer? I would add one thing - if you don't identify with anything in her post, I'm willing to bet you're not as good a singer as you think you are :-)
The all-conquering Gareth Malone has been awarded the Freedom of the City of London. Wouldn't it be great (and VERY convenient) if he felt like moving to Manchester? I think someone should ask him. (Seriously.)
The Guardian's music blog discusses the enduring legacy of Kate Bush.
I've mentioned Shazam a few times - here's an article from Mashable that compares Shazam to other methods of identifying the song in your head.
Chris Rowbury wants to discuss why men won't sing.
Mark Burstow (of the Bournemouth Male Voice Choir) has an interesting post about the difficulties of singing in English.
The Radio 3 blog has the first in a series of posts about life in the BBC Symphony Chorus.
And finally, the teachers among you will like this: a poem by Taylor Mali called What Teachers Make. Very true.
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