So, tonight we attempted to do trills in various bits of Messiah. We've occasionally been asked to do this in the past, but this year's version has trills all over the place - and this greatly amused the altos, because we discovered that we are REALLY bad at trills! Most of us can only do them by shaking our heads, and we were told not to do that, so there was choral chaos every time a trill appeared (not helped, of course, by the fact that lots of people know Messiah well enough not to look at the score, so the trills often didn't get noticed until they'd flown by!)
We did the whole of part 1 of Messiah tonight - that meant a couple of the runny movements, which are a lot slower than usual. Odd how this makes the runs more difficult rather than less - or is that just me? In fact, it may be worth me pasting a few links I've included before: here are mp3s of the five most difficult movements, for those who are unfamiliar with the work.
And He Shall Purify
For Unto Us a Child is Born
His Yoke is Bloomin' Difficult
All we like sheep have gone astray... a LOT
Let us break their bonds
And, actually, while I'm being useful, I suppose there are likely to be a few people in the choir who haven't done Fauré's Requiem before and are worrying about having to perform it a week on Monday with hardly any rehearsal (most of the choir knows it well enough that we don't need much rehearsal), so here are some mp3s for those people.
Introit and Kyrie
Offertoire
Sanctus
Pie Jesu
Agnus Dei
Libera Me
In Paradisum
(Yes, I know there's no choir in the Pie Jesu, I just didn't like to leave it out!)
We did a bit of Fauré tonight (the Agnus Dei) but other than Messiah it was mainly the World AIDS Day commissions. Some are much easier than others! I do like the one in E minor that mentions the hokey cokey (I could tell you what it's called but that would involve getting out of my chair!) I'll be interested to see what the audience makes of them - the poems are very cleverly comic and morbid at the same time, and it's quite hard not to laugh on first hearing them, even though you immediately realise that you probably shouldn't have... I think the whole endeavour is a great idea, and I just hope it gets a large (and appreciative) audience.
And, as usual, a few links for you: No more pop concerts at Manchester City's ground because they don't need the money! Which reminds me... I mentioned about the football-related chaos that's likely on 30th November. Since then, it's been decided that United will play their Carling Cup quarter final (at home) on Wednesday 3rd December, despite City also being at home that night. The police don't normally allow both teams to play at home on the same day but they have agreed in this case - I'm not sure why! So there will be TWO whole sets of traffic chaos. And to make matters worse, United's game is against Blackburn, so that means even more local traffic...
Sadly, though, the B of the Bang is to be scrapped. I'm disappointed - I really like that statue!
The Lost and Found Orchestra.
Elgar's effect on elephants.
Great article by Roseanne Cash about songwriting.
Slightly more info about the Royal Opera House's move to Manchester.
And finally, a fabulous classical music rollercoaster from an ad for the Zurich Chamber Orchestra.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Groovy kind of concert
EDIT: Yet another 5-star Guardian review calls it a "near-definitive performance". Yay!
Well, Nevsky was fabulous! The concert went very well indeed - the conductor seemed particularly delighted (I'm not sure I've ever seen a conductor that delighted!) It was quite hard work physically, mainly because so much of it required us to sing extremely loudly, but it was great fun. All the sections of the choir were on top form. The tenors have sounded great all along during the rehearsals - I kept expecting them to break into a Cossack dance at any moment. The basses seem to have found it more difficult to sound Russian, but they managed it brilliantly in the performance (and the bottom C sharps were spinetingling!) The altos are of course always fantastic. But my favourite choral moment of the concert actually came from the sopranos - they don't have many high notes to sing in this piece, although the end makes up for this... but there's a bit near the end where they come in on a top G sharp. In rehearsals (even this afternoon) I could never hear this note - I could see from their faces that they were singing it, but from where I was standing it was always drowned out by the tenors. But tonight, in the concert... that note was DEFINITELY audible. It pierced the texture like a laser beam!
EDIT: I've just realised I didn't answer the most important question.... Was it louder than the War Requiem? Well, I have to say I don't think it was, although it WAS pretty loud. But maybe it was, from the audience side... and in any case it's a very long time since we did the War Requiem so maybe I've misremembered how loud that was! I do hope we do the War Requiem again soon so I can compare.
My actual favourite bit of the whole piece didn't really involve the choir - it was the Jaws bit that got faster and faster and louder and louder. SO exciting. (Sheena has very kindly given me a copy of the film, so I'm looking forward to seeing that bit particularly!) That's the bit I've currently got on the brain, and it's FINALLY driven out the tune that is a cross between Groovy Kind of Love and the theme from Skins.
In the breaks today and yesterday, many of the choir were obsessively doing the annual quiz from Sale Friends of Cancer Research. Jane brings this to sell every year, and it's always both annoying and fun! I've done most of it now, but there are still a few that are annoying me - does anyone know 44, 45, 57, 60, 61, 69, 71, 86, 87, 89, 92, 93, 99, 101, 102, 104 or 109?
The other thing I enjoyed doing in the breaks was teasing Amy for being a Stoke fan (in case you didn't realise, that's who United were playing today, and United won 5-0). Which reminds me - lots of people seemed not to know until last night that there was a match this afternoon. My online choir schedule with relevant football fixtures included is still where it's always been, and I do keep it up to date. Choir members please email me for the link if you don't have it, but in the meantime you may wish to note that on Sunday 30th November (when we have an afternoon rehearsal) it is the Manchester derby, i.e. City and United play each other. It's at City's ground this time, and the kickoff is 1.30pm. Expect traffic chaos. (There are also football matches on 3rd, 10th and 20th December.)
Oh, and I almost forgot: I was interviewed by the Guardian on Friday (I wrote "yesterday" but I've just realised it's now Sunday!), for an article which is likely to appear on Saturday 6th December, although it might be a week earlier or later (I'll let you know). The reporter could only meet me at 3pm on Friday, so I suggested meeting in the city centre because otherwise I'd have to dash off quite early. We tried the Bridgewater Hall café, but it turned out they shut at 3pm and the building closed to the public shortly afterwards, which surprised me! So I went to ask whether we could go into the Artists' Bar, figuring that if the answer was "no" at least we weren't any worse off - but the answer turned out to be "no problem", so that made things much easier. Except that the reporter had said it would take "a couple of hours" so I thought I'd be able to get some food before the rehearsal, and it was only when the room started to fill with choir members that I realised it was 6pm and the apple I had in my bag would have to sustain me till afterwards!
Anyway, as usual I babbled a lot, so I dread to think how it will come out. But hopefully it will attract the attention of some employer :-)
EDIT: Just remembered I meant to ask - Does anyone have a copy of Carols for Choirs 4 (the S/A one) that they won't be using this Christmas? My band now has 3 (thanks to a kind donation from Martin last Christmas) but ideally we need 5. If you have a copy you could lend me, please let me know - I'd really appreciate it! Thanks.
Well, Nevsky was fabulous! The concert went very well indeed - the conductor seemed particularly delighted (I'm not sure I've ever seen a conductor that delighted!) It was quite hard work physically, mainly because so much of it required us to sing extremely loudly, but it was great fun. All the sections of the choir were on top form. The tenors have sounded great all along during the rehearsals - I kept expecting them to break into a Cossack dance at any moment. The basses seem to have found it more difficult to sound Russian, but they managed it brilliantly in the performance (and the bottom C sharps were spinetingling!) The altos are of course always fantastic. But my favourite choral moment of the concert actually came from the sopranos - they don't have many high notes to sing in this piece, although the end makes up for this... but there's a bit near the end where they come in on a top G sharp. In rehearsals (even this afternoon) I could never hear this note - I could see from their faces that they were singing it, but from where I was standing it was always drowned out by the tenors. But tonight, in the concert... that note was DEFINITELY audible. It pierced the texture like a laser beam!
EDIT: I've just realised I didn't answer the most important question.... Was it louder than the War Requiem? Well, I have to say I don't think it was, although it WAS pretty loud. But maybe it was, from the audience side... and in any case it's a very long time since we did the War Requiem so maybe I've misremembered how loud that was! I do hope we do the War Requiem again soon so I can compare.
My actual favourite bit of the whole piece didn't really involve the choir - it was the Jaws bit that got faster and faster and louder and louder. SO exciting. (Sheena has very kindly given me a copy of the film, so I'm looking forward to seeing that bit particularly!) That's the bit I've currently got on the brain, and it's FINALLY driven out the tune that is a cross between Groovy Kind of Love and the theme from Skins.
In the breaks today and yesterday, many of the choir were obsessively doing the annual quiz from Sale Friends of Cancer Research. Jane brings this to sell every year, and it's always both annoying and fun! I've done most of it now, but there are still a few that are annoying me - does anyone know 44, 45, 57, 60, 61, 69, 71, 86, 87, 89, 92, 93, 99, 101, 102, 104 or 109?
The other thing I enjoyed doing in the breaks was teasing Amy for being a Stoke fan (in case you didn't realise, that's who United were playing today, and United won 5-0). Which reminds me - lots of people seemed not to know until last night that there was a match this afternoon. My online choir schedule with relevant football fixtures included is still where it's always been, and I do keep it up to date. Choir members please email me for the link if you don't have it, but in the meantime you may wish to note that on Sunday 30th November (when we have an afternoon rehearsal) it is the Manchester derby, i.e. City and United play each other. It's at City's ground this time, and the kickoff is 1.30pm. Expect traffic chaos. (There are also football matches on 3rd, 10th and 20th December.)
Oh, and I almost forgot: I was interviewed by the Guardian on Friday (I wrote "yesterday" but I've just realised it's now Sunday!), for an article which is likely to appear on Saturday 6th December, although it might be a week earlier or later (I'll let you know). The reporter could only meet me at 3pm on Friday, so I suggested meeting in the city centre because otherwise I'd have to dash off quite early. We tried the Bridgewater Hall café, but it turned out they shut at 3pm and the building closed to the public shortly afterwards, which surprised me! So I went to ask whether we could go into the Artists' Bar, figuring that if the answer was "no" at least we weren't any worse off - but the answer turned out to be "no problem", so that made things much easier. Except that the reporter had said it would take "a couple of hours" so I thought I'd be able to get some food before the rehearsal, and it was only when the room started to fill with choir members that I realised it was 6pm and the apple I had in my bag would have to sustain me till afterwards!
Anyway, as usual I babbled a lot, so I dread to think how it will come out. But hopefully it will attract the attention of some employer :-)
EDIT: Just remembered I meant to ask - Does anyone have a copy of Carols for Choirs 4 (the S/A one) that they won't be using this Christmas? My band now has 3 (thanks to a kind donation from Martin last Christmas) but ideally we need 5. If you have a copy you could lend me, please let me know - I'd really appreciate it! Thanks.
Friday, November 14, 2008
I *told* you it was the greatest CD ever made!
Thank you to the various people who told me that our Gerontius was featured on Radio 3's CD Review last Saturday (8th November). You can still listen again online until tomorrow (the relevant bit starts at 2:24:40 - drag the slider across!) but Graham has helpfully sent me an mp3 of it in case you've missed it by the time you read this. It's about 11 minutes long, but most of that is taken up with an excerpt (the bit leading up to where the Angel takes Gerontius for his brief glimpse of God, including the very quiet choir bit that we did seated). The actual review is - well, perfect. They START OFF by saying that "the chorus is outstanding" (before they even mention the orchestra!), and they literally can't find a single flaw. Pretty good eh? :-)
(Graham also sent an mp3 of the interview with our music director which is mentioned at the end of the review. Some interesting stuff, particularly if you're an opera fan! This interview is about 13 minutes long.)
Actually while we're doing mp3s, I have another one - you remember that Radio 4 programme about me a couple of months ago? Well, I listened to most of the other episodes the day they were broadcast, but the last one was on while I was on holiday, and it was ages until I got to listen to it, because I'd recorded so much stuff while I was away. So by the time I heard it and found (much to my surprise) that I was featured in it, it was far too late for me to tell anyone to listen! However, the producer has now very kindly sent me a copy, so I've put it online in case anyone wants to hear it. (My bit is about 7 minutes in.)
(Needless to say there have still been no offers of employment as a result of either radio programme, but you never know. I am currently still awaiting a new temping assignment and have been at home for the last two weeks. I've got lots of other stuff done but would feel better if there was any money coming in! I'm hopeful things will start to improve soon though.)
Anyway, today is the start of a busy weekend for the choir (annoyingly it coincides with the release of Wrath of the Lich King, but never mind). Tomorrow night is Alexander Nevsky, and tonight we get to do it with the orchestra for the first time, so I'll finally find out whether it's as loud as I've been led to believe. I do hope so!
We met the conductor for the occasion, Alexander Lazarev, on Wednesday night, and we liked him very much. I was delighted that he sounds properly Russian - I would have been very disappointed if his English had no trace of an accent and his voice was high-pitched! Also, he told us some good stories (I think my favourite was the one about the use of bells in Russian villages) AND he finished early. Oh, and he didn't correct any of our Russian! These are all good qualities for a visiting conductor to have :-)
(Of course, even though he'd rehearsed everything he wanted to by 7.50pm, we didn't actually go *home* early - we spent the rest of the rehearsal learning the world premiere stuff for the 1st December concert. Mostly easy, although there's one line that the sopranos had to do that they failed SPECTACULARLY at. To be fair, it was ridiculously hard - amongst other things, it had a Db major arpeggio in the middle of a line that was mostly in D minor - but their attempts at it were quite funny!)
A few links to share with you, as usual in no particular order. Firstly, a very interesting article by Sara Maitland about silence.
Tom Service writes about Riccardo Muti upsetting the Queen.
Steve Reich's music is featured in a concert in Manchester on Wednesday (I thought at first that Steve Reich would be there himself, but when I read it again I decided I'd imagined that).
Some new research from the University of Maryland concludes that listening to music is good for your heart.
In Switzerland, meanwhile, researchers have announced that songbirds have hymnsheets in their heads.
And, finally, you will recall that I am very enthusiastic about the Vendee Globe yacht race. It's now well under way - it started last Sunday, but obviously it takes quite a while to sail round the world (see below for the route they take - they go eastwards, i.e. under Africa first and under South America last) so it will be ongoing for months yet. (The Guardian had a nice article about the race.) Sadly I appear to have cursed Alex Thomson by telling you about his bad luck, because he's already out - his boat developed structural problems almost immediately. He turned back to the start in the hope that he'd be able to repair them in time to continue, but it turns out he can't, so he has retired from the race. I can't begin to imagine how depressed he must be - after what happened last time, he worked for 4 years to take part in this year's race, and now it will be another 4 years before he can try again. Poor guy.
Still, it does at least mean that I don't have to decide whether I want him or Mike Golding to win! Mike is doing pretty well so far - he's in 10th place overall, but he's the leading non-French competitor. It's early days though, and anything might happen when they reach the Southern Ocean! (The traditional saying about the Southern Ocean - referring to its latitude - is "Below 40 degrees, there is no law; below 50 degrees, there is no God.")
(Graham also sent an mp3 of the interview with our music director which is mentioned at the end of the review. Some interesting stuff, particularly if you're an opera fan! This interview is about 13 minutes long.)
Actually while we're doing mp3s, I have another one - you remember that Radio 4 programme about me a couple of months ago? Well, I listened to most of the other episodes the day they were broadcast, but the last one was on while I was on holiday, and it was ages until I got to listen to it, because I'd recorded so much stuff while I was away. So by the time I heard it and found (much to my surprise) that I was featured in it, it was far too late for me to tell anyone to listen! However, the producer has now very kindly sent me a copy, so I've put it online in case anyone wants to hear it. (My bit is about 7 minutes in.)
(Needless to say there have still been no offers of employment as a result of either radio programme, but you never know. I am currently still awaiting a new temping assignment and have been at home for the last two weeks. I've got lots of other stuff done but would feel better if there was any money coming in! I'm hopeful things will start to improve soon though.)
Anyway, today is the start of a busy weekend for the choir (annoyingly it coincides with the release of Wrath of the Lich King, but never mind). Tomorrow night is Alexander Nevsky, and tonight we get to do it with the orchestra for the first time, so I'll finally find out whether it's as loud as I've been led to believe. I do hope so!
We met the conductor for the occasion, Alexander Lazarev, on Wednesday night, and we liked him very much. I was delighted that he sounds properly Russian - I would have been very disappointed if his English had no trace of an accent and his voice was high-pitched! Also, he told us some good stories (I think my favourite was the one about the use of bells in Russian villages) AND he finished early. Oh, and he didn't correct any of our Russian! These are all good qualities for a visiting conductor to have :-)
(Of course, even though he'd rehearsed everything he wanted to by 7.50pm, we didn't actually go *home* early - we spent the rest of the rehearsal learning the world premiere stuff for the 1st December concert. Mostly easy, although there's one line that the sopranos had to do that they failed SPECTACULARLY at. To be fair, it was ridiculously hard - amongst other things, it had a Db major arpeggio in the middle of a line that was mostly in D minor - but their attempts at it were quite funny!)
A few links to share with you, as usual in no particular order. Firstly, a very interesting article by Sara Maitland about silence.
Tom Service writes about Riccardo Muti upsetting the Queen.
Steve Reich's music is featured in a concert in Manchester on Wednesday (I thought at first that Steve Reich would be there himself, but when I read it again I decided I'd imagined that).
Some new research from the University of Maryland concludes that listening to music is good for your heart.
In Switzerland, meanwhile, researchers have announced that songbirds have hymnsheets in their heads.
And, finally, you will recall that I am very enthusiastic about the Vendee Globe yacht race. It's now well under way - it started last Sunday, but obviously it takes quite a while to sail round the world (see below for the route they take - they go eastwards, i.e. under Africa first and under South America last) so it will be ongoing for months yet. (The Guardian had a nice article about the race.) Sadly I appear to have cursed Alex Thomson by telling you about his bad luck, because he's already out - his boat developed structural problems almost immediately. He turned back to the start in the hope that he'd be able to repair them in time to continue, but it turns out he can't, so he has retired from the race. I can't begin to imagine how depressed he must be - after what happened last time, he worked for 4 years to take part in this year's race, and now it will be another 4 years before he can try again. Poor guy.
Still, it does at least mean that I don't have to decide whether I want him or Mike Golding to win! Mike is doing pretty well so far - he's in 10th place overall, but he's the leading non-French competitor. It's early days though, and anything might happen when they reach the Southern Ocean! (The traditional saying about the Southern Ocean - referring to its latitude - is "Below 40 degrees, there is no law; below 50 degrees, there is no God.")
Friday, November 07, 2008
The Russians are coming!
You know, I totally forgot about this when I wrote my last post, but I want to share two recent incidents with you.
The day we got our scores for Alexander Nevsky, I was looking through mine on the bus back into town, and a man got on and sat next to me. He noticed what I was looking at and got very excited. He said to me, in Russian, "Are you Russian?" - at least I assume that's what he said, because he repeated it a moment later in English. I explained to him why I had the score, and he was delighted and read all the movement headings out to me (sadly they're the only bits for which the Cyrillic has been left in, so he couldn't read the rest).
Last week, I lost my voice at some point on Tuesday (it got much worse in the next couple of days, although it's more or less OK now), and when I popped into Starbucks on the way to choir and asked for coffee, the barista said "You sound as if you need an extra shot!" I croaked "well, would you believe I'm actually on my way to a choir rehearsal where I'll be singing in Russian!" She made me repeat this statement, and when she was sure I'd said what she thought she'd heard, she shook my hand and introduced herself as a native of St Petersburg! I told her she should come to the concert, and she seemed quite keen, especially as her father will be here that day.
I'm slightly disappointed that there have only been two random Russian encounters, since when the second one happened it felt as if they were everywhere! Has anyone else had any similar incidents?
Anyway, there's been a fair bit of singing this week. We sang the whole of Nevsky (including the non-Russian bits) on Wednesday. It's going well - can't wait to hear it with the orchestra. Still no idea whether or not it will live up to my expectations of how loud it will be - next week will answer that question! Then last night we did a bit of sight-reading, which is always fun (some specially-written pieces for the World AIDS Day concert), plus a bit of the Fauré for the same concert.
I know the Fauré from memory (we were asked to memorise it many years ago, although on that occasion they changed their mind at the last minute and we performed with scores - but I'd already learned it by then) so I found it quite difficult last night, because it turns out that the scores that are to be used this time are NOT the same as the one I've had for many years (and memorised). There aren't a HUGE number of differences, but most of them are in the first movement, and that's the bit we did last night. It took me a while to realise that people were singing different notes to me, and even once I *did* know that, it was really hard to get the "proper" notes out of my head. This new version just sounds wrong! Still, the notes that are in my head are still in the chord each time, so if I sing them by accident I'll still fit :-)
Couple of links to finish: The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment have a very successful late-night series of classical concerts, but I'd never heard about this till Tom Service wrote about it in the Guardian. Sounds like a great idea - we should do something similar in Manchester!
The Royal Opera House are copying Calendar Girls!
No doubt many of you followed the US election. In which case, you may be interested in this series of fabulous photos of Barack Obama from the last few months, and also behind-the-scenes photos from election night (note: the server seems to be overloaded for the latter set, so you might have more success getting the slideshow to work if you try early in the morning when it's the middle of the night in the USA).
Graham E has kindly sent me links to some Gerontius CD reviews - I hadn't even got round to looking yet, so thank you Graham! I always obsessively search for concert reviews immediately after all our concerts, but since I don't have a CD yet I haven't had anything to remind me to look for reviews... Anyway, there's a good one from The Guardian, a great one from Music Web International, and a not-quite-as-great-but-still-pretty-good one from Musical Criticism. And finally, the Manchester Evening News one still doesn't seem to be online anywhere (I just spent a while searching too - if anyone's found it, please let me know!) But Graham has supplied the text. I just pasted it here, but then I realised it includes words I can't use, so if you want to read it, see his comment to my last post.
And finally, if (like me) you have become addicted to Blocks With Letters On and have reached the hard bits, you might find some useful hints here or here.
EDIT: Just seen a nice Spectator interview with the lovely Ed Gardner.
The day we got our scores for Alexander Nevsky, I was looking through mine on the bus back into town, and a man got on and sat next to me. He noticed what I was looking at and got very excited. He said to me, in Russian, "Are you Russian?" - at least I assume that's what he said, because he repeated it a moment later in English. I explained to him why I had the score, and he was delighted and read all the movement headings out to me (sadly they're the only bits for which the Cyrillic has been left in, so he couldn't read the rest).
Last week, I lost my voice at some point on Tuesday (it got much worse in the next couple of days, although it's more or less OK now), and when I popped into Starbucks on the way to choir and asked for coffee, the barista said "You sound as if you need an extra shot!" I croaked "well, would you believe I'm actually on my way to a choir rehearsal where I'll be singing in Russian!" She made me repeat this statement, and when she was sure I'd said what she thought she'd heard, she shook my hand and introduced herself as a native of St Petersburg! I told her she should come to the concert, and she seemed quite keen, especially as her father will be here that day.
I'm slightly disappointed that there have only been two random Russian encounters, since when the second one happened it felt as if they were everywhere! Has anyone else had any similar incidents?
Anyway, there's been a fair bit of singing this week. We sang the whole of Nevsky (including the non-Russian bits) on Wednesday. It's going well - can't wait to hear it with the orchestra. Still no idea whether or not it will live up to my expectations of how loud it will be - next week will answer that question! Then last night we did a bit of sight-reading, which is always fun (some specially-written pieces for the World AIDS Day concert), plus a bit of the Fauré for the same concert.
I know the Fauré from memory (we were asked to memorise it many years ago, although on that occasion they changed their mind at the last minute and we performed with scores - but I'd already learned it by then) so I found it quite difficult last night, because it turns out that the scores that are to be used this time are NOT the same as the one I've had for many years (and memorised). There aren't a HUGE number of differences, but most of them are in the first movement, and that's the bit we did last night. It took me a while to realise that people were singing different notes to me, and even once I *did* know that, it was really hard to get the "proper" notes out of my head. This new version just sounds wrong! Still, the notes that are in my head are still in the chord each time, so if I sing them by accident I'll still fit :-)
Couple of links to finish: The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment have a very successful late-night series of classical concerts, but I'd never heard about this till Tom Service wrote about it in the Guardian. Sounds like a great idea - we should do something similar in Manchester!
The Royal Opera House are copying Calendar Girls!
No doubt many of you followed the US election. In which case, you may be interested in this series of fabulous photos of Barack Obama from the last few months, and also behind-the-scenes photos from election night (note: the server seems to be overloaded for the latter set, so you might have more success getting the slideshow to work if you try early in the morning when it's the middle of the night in the USA).
Graham E has kindly sent me links to some Gerontius CD reviews - I hadn't even got round to looking yet, so thank you Graham! I always obsessively search for concert reviews immediately after all our concerts, but since I don't have a CD yet I haven't had anything to remind me to look for reviews... Anyway, there's a good one from The Guardian, a great one from Music Web International, and a not-quite-as-great-but-still-pretty-good one from Musical Criticism. And finally, the Manchester Evening News one still doesn't seem to be online anywhere (I just spent a while searching too - if anyone's found it, please let me know!) But Graham has supplied the text. I just pasted it here, but then I realised it includes words I can't use, so if you want to read it, see his comment to my last post.
And finally, if (like me) you have become addicted to Blocks With Letters On and have reached the hard bits, you might find some useful hints here or here.
EDIT: Just seen a nice Spectator interview with the lovely Ed Gardner.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
The only thing louder than Britten's War Requiem...
OK, this might end up being a bit long :-)
Sorry for the long gap. I know there are hardly any people reading this these days, but it probably didn't help my reader numbers when I vanished for several weeks. Anyway, for those of you who are still here, I'll try to make it up to you.
Life has been a bit overcrowded lately. I went to Italy last month with my mum and sister (my photos are online if you want to have a look). We saw lots of things I've seen before but wanted to see again, and lots of other things I'd never seen but always wanted to, and I got the chance to use my Italian - I'm by no means fluent, but I'm a bit beyond basic, and I spent every spare minute in September revising, once I knew we were going. I can understand a lot more than I can produce, of course. Choir has really helped - we sing in Italian quite often, and even when we're singing in Latin (which is far more common) we are always instructed to pronounce it as if it was Italian - so I'm very familiar (and comfortable) with the pronunciation rules. The trouble turns out to be this: when I know what I'm going to say, I can pronounce it perfectly, and this seems to cause Italians to assume that I *am* actually fluent, so they reply to me with this in mind, and are surprised to find I might not understand every word they say!
We flew to Pisa and returned from Naples, and stayed at several places in between, travelling by train. If you ever want to know ANYTHING about travelling by train outside the UK, I can thoroughly recommend The Man in Seat 61. I'd heard of this website many times before - the guy often writes in the Guardian (e.g. recently he described his favourite winter train journeys) - but I'd never needed to use it before. His information was absolutely spot on, even to the extent of warning that British credit cards don't usually work on the Trenitalia website!
My use of this website had a bonus - not long after I'd used it to investigate Italian trains, travel arrangements for the choir's trip to Valencia next summer were being discussed. Most of the choir will be flying, but that wasn't really an option for me, partly due to the cost but mainly because a large part of it had to be paid immediately, and that was impossible. (A couple of people kindly offered to lend me the money, but I already owe far too much to far too many people, and there are no signs of things improving just yet!) There was at least one other member of the choir (that I knew of) who was keen to investigate non-air travel, although in her case it was for environmental reasons... I'm all for that too, but it was only my second priority. Anyway, to cut a long story short, three of us will be travelling from Manchester to Valencia (and back!) by train next May, following instructions from the Man in Seat 61, and we're really looking forward to the adventure. (I do wish it was a different week though - it means missing both the UEFA Champions' League final AND the FA Cup Final, but it can't be helped.)
My stint as a temp at RNID finally ended on Friday - it was supposed to be for 2 weeks and ended up being 14 months. They have finally appointed a permanent replacement - well, two in fact, because the job has grown so much while I've been doing it (that's how I ended up so stressed!). I don't yet have a new assignment from Office Angels but they hope to get me one very soon. In the meantime I can finally catch up with some stuff of my own. Money is still a major concern - particularly as I have no income until I get a new assignment - but I do have a couple of side projects which may start to make a little bit of money soon, so I'm hopeful I'll survive.
Choir update: hmm, there's loads! So, very briefly: VW Sea Symphony from scratch on 12th October - this was great fun despite me being in an absolutely FOUL mood all day. (It was my birthday, and just about all my friends - except those in the choir - forgot. And I didn't get picked for the semi-chorus again, and even though I'm used to this, I still get really depressed every time it happens, and lose confidence. They did sound fantastic though!) It went really well, and I do like to do lots of sight-reading, especially when the people around me seem grateful that I was there :-)
Mahler 2, a few days earlier on 9th October, was unbelievably amazing. I can't remember the last time I was so overcome with emotion during a concert. I'd expected to have to struggle to stay awake in the movements before we sang, but I was totally absorbed by how well the orchestra were playing, and in no time it was our turn. But I could hardly sing properly at all - just before we were due to sing, I couldn't stop thinking about the people in the audience who DIDN'T know how the piece ends, and imagining the effect of our entry on these people (especially as we remained seated). This feeling grew all the time we were singing, and when we finally stood up, I had such a lump in my throat that I dread to think what I sounded like. I had tears running down my face - so much so that I couldn't actually see anything by the end. Wow! Sadly my name had been missed out of the programme - this seems to have happened to a few people recently, but it's the first time it's happened to me - but I didn't know that until afterwards so it didn't distract me during the concert. (It definitely would have - I hate the way my mind fixates on stupid things like that - so I have resolved never to read programmes before concerts in future!)
Oh, and our Gerontius CD is finally officially released, although I haven't heard it yet!
Currently we are in full-on Russian mode, because our next concert is Alexander Nevsky, a week on Saturday. I've never sung this before, but so far it doesn't seem too hard - the Russian is the hardest bit, but it's quite repetitive, and we've been given lots of help from the fabulous Xenia. (By the way, I took the audio files we've been given and created a 6-minute audio file of Xenia speaking the entire text with no repetition - I've emailed it to a few people, but if any other choir member would like it, please email me.)
I'm very excited about Alexander Nevsky, because for years there has been one thing I've known about it.... To explain, I need to give a small amount of background. Quite a few years ago (I suspect it was 1995) the choir performed Britten's War Requiem in Chemnitz in Germany. (I think we've done it again since then, but 1995 was the first time I'd done it.) There's a bit towards the end, in the Libera Me, when the sops sing (in the top octave) G F# G Ab F# (to the words "Libera Me"), and the altos were asked, on this occasion, to sing it with them. Some altos protested - we weren't as used to occasional high notes then as we are now - and John Currie, who was the chorus master at the time, said "Don't worry, when you hear the noise at this point you'll be so scared you could sing a top C. It's the loudest noise in all music.... well, except for Alexander Nevsky."
Well, thirteen years later, I've still never heard Alexander Nevsky, but I do remember how loud that bit of the War Requiem was, so my excitement has been building for all those years! I'll be SEVERELY disappointed if I don't need earplugs. (Note to self: remember to take earplugs!)
I've been busy with my band as well - we've recorded our Christmas set (been meaning to do that for years, but there's never time at Christmas, so this year we did it in September!) and tried some fun new songs. We had a fabulous rehearsal a couple of weeks ago - we were all exhausted when we arrived, and I'd had a really bad day (the worst part of which was, I'd had nothing to eat all day because I only had enough money for one meal, so I'd saved it till teatime, but then I realised - when I was at the till in the sandwich shop, with the sandwich already made - that I didn't have enough money for the sandwich AND the bus fare to Rachel's house, so I had to walk out and leave the sandwich there, which was not only embarrassing but meant I was absolutely starving!) But it was one of those rehearsals that was just fun from beginning to end, and we all left in a fabulous mood - I was still grinning about it for the whole of the next day!
We have various gigs coming up between now and Christmas, but the one I want to mention is the Henry Watson Music Library Christmas Music Day, which this year is on Saturday 13th December. They are looking for more groups to take part this year, so if you have a choir or other ensemble, do consider it - you won't get a fee, but we got several further engagements as a result of our performance there last year, so it's definitely worth doing! If you want to contact them, their phone number is 0161 234 1976, or you can email them.
Anyway, I have about a million links I've been stockpiling for you (only some of which are music-related), so I'd better list them all. In no particular order other than the order in which I saved them....
I was fascinated to learn about Stanislav Petrov - a true hero, and one who deserves to be more widely known.
By way of contrast, a website that helps you to determine how long you might survive if you were chained to a bunkbed with a velociraptor! In my case, apparently 60 seconds - go me!
From ChoralNet: links to a discussion about how best to rehearse the melismas in Messiah. (Just in case there's anyone who isn't sure what a melisma is but can't be bothered to look it up, it's just the name for singing more than one note on any particular syllable - e.g. "we have tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurn-ed" - the semiquaver runs on the "tuuuuuuuu" bit are a melisma.)
From Podium Speak: link to a news story about how musicians think differently to non-musicians.
A new part of Classic FM's website (well, it was new to me): HearHere. Interestingly they seem a bit confused about whether it's HearHere or HearHear, but the website seems to be the same whichever way you spell its address.
Mrs O'Malley's Sweet Shop - proper old-fashioned sweets! Lots of it is American, but lots isn't. Anglo bubblies, for example!
A really interesting explanation of how mobile phone networks work, for those who like to know that sort of thing.
Next year's Manchester International Festival is taking shape - Rufus Wainwright has written an opera for it.
Fans of 80s pop will enjoy the literal video on "Take On Me"!
From the Guardian, a review of a new book by Oliver Sacks. (More on this from A Cappella News.) (The book is now available in paperback.)
Also from the Guardian, an article about the recent Bernstein festival that Chet's did (and Maggie sang in).
I've discovered quite a few performers by seeing them for the first time on "Later with Jools Holland", and the most recent one I've been fascinated with was Amy LaVere, who sang while playing a double bass - did anyone else see her? I'm looking forward to hearing more of her stuff.
A ridiculously addictive game called Blocks with Letters On. Starts easy, gets harder very quickly. Warning: don't try it unless you're prepared to lose at least an hour!
From David Griggs-Janower (and Brian Eno), an article about what's good about singing.
John Adams writes about how he came to be regarded as a threat to US National Security.
In case you weren't aware, the Vendee Globe starts on Sunday (9th November). That's the solo round-the-world yacht race that only happens every 4 years (the one Ellen MacArthur came second in, in 2000-2001, which is what first made her famous). There are several British entries this time, but the two I'll be watching out for are Mike Golding, who came third last time despite losing his keel towards the end, and Alex Thomson, who has had an unbelievable amount of bad luck. He had to retire from the race last time after problems with his boat, and a few weeks ago his new boat was accidentally rammed by a fishing vessel, and his team have been working round the clock to get it ready for the race. Also, they both entered the Velux 5 Oceans Race in 2006, and Alex lost his keel in the Southern Ocean and Mike turned back to rescue him (in these races, the competitors travel so far from land that a fellow competitor can usually reach them far quicker than land-based rescue services), and then Mike lost his own mast while they were both on board and had to retire from the race himself. So they're both due for loads of good luck, and I'd be thrilled if either of them won. If you're interested, you can follow the race on the official site.
Great Guardian article about muso moments in pop songs.
The BBC has cancelled Christmas Top of the Pops! Christmas Day just won't be the same :-(
From Londonist, more Monkey news! I haven't managed to find a photo of Monkey on top of Nelson's Column (which apparently he is at the moment) - if anyone else does, please point me to it!
An article about the opening chord to "A Hard Day's Night".
Via A Cappella News, a fascinating New York Times article about the Metropolitan Opera Chorus and their inspirational chorus master. (Read this one soon, because NY Times articles don't stay available for long before you have to register to read them.)
For fans of Last Choir Standing, it seems that Only Men Aloud are hoping to have the Christmas number one single! Pity they won't get to perform it on TOTP if they do...
An anonymous person sent me a link to Cool Conductor.
Much to my surprise, Germaine Greer writes about violas! She didn't mention this area of expertise when she was on Never Mind the Buzzcocks last week...
You probably won't like this as much as I did unless you know the script of Star Wars like the back of your hand, but it's great even if you don't: an a cappella tribute to John Williams. Clever stuff.
I enjoyed watching Dead Set last week (if you missed it, you can still watch it online via that link - summary is that zombies take over the world and the last safe place turns out to be the Big Brother house) but I was even more amused at Simon Pegg's only criticism of it!
Yma Sumac has died. I'm ashamed to admit that I had never heard of her until she was mentioned in a Buffy episode, but it seems she had a unique voice - listen to the stuff on her website, it's very weird indeed! EDIT: The BBC have a story about this today. I suspect that the "experts" they've quoted are either a bit confused or a bit stupid (or both), because I would dispute their claim that "most people are capable of three octaves. The average person could sing within this range with very good guidance from an expert." I think they mean TWO octaves (e.g. the G below middle C to the G on top of the treble stave), but maybe they're calling it 3 because there are 3 Gs in it.... what do you think? And as for Mariah Carey, I know she can sing stupidly high, but I am yet to be convinced that she can span four octaves, let alone five. For example, from the F at the bottom of the bass stave to the F that's a few leger lines above the treble stave is four octaves inclusive, and I suppose some may claim this range "spans 5 octaves" since it contains 5 different Fs. But, while I might have heard her sing that top F, I haven't heard her sing anything quite as low as the bottom of the bass stave... If anyone has any evidence to support her, I'd like to hear it!
I Classici Tifosi made me laugh a lot when I found it. They're a group of classical musicians (soprano, tenor and string quartet) who take Italian football chants and record them in a classical style. The most amusing part is that some of the lyrics are (unsurprisingly) quite rude... but the whole website is in Italian so you may not immediately realise this! I think my favourite so far is Totti Gol, but I haven't listened to them all yet - I picked that one out because I love Francesco Totti :-)
And finally (because I seem to have been doing this all night...) you may have noticed from the addition to the sidebar that I have recently succumbed to the temptation of Twitter. If you choose to follow me there, that would be fun, although I don't promise it will be anything other than meaningless waffle! The beauty of it is that all the updates are necessarily very short, so people tend to update more often. I've deliberately avoided Facebook for various reasons I won't bore you with, and I don't expect to change my mind about that, but Twitter is the next big thing, trust me!
Sorry for the long gap. I know there are hardly any people reading this these days, but it probably didn't help my reader numbers when I vanished for several weeks. Anyway, for those of you who are still here, I'll try to make it up to you.
Life has been a bit overcrowded lately. I went to Italy last month with my mum and sister (my photos are online if you want to have a look). We saw lots of things I've seen before but wanted to see again, and lots of other things I'd never seen but always wanted to, and I got the chance to use my Italian - I'm by no means fluent, but I'm a bit beyond basic, and I spent every spare minute in September revising, once I knew we were going. I can understand a lot more than I can produce, of course. Choir has really helped - we sing in Italian quite often, and even when we're singing in Latin (which is far more common) we are always instructed to pronounce it as if it was Italian - so I'm very familiar (and comfortable) with the pronunciation rules. The trouble turns out to be this: when I know what I'm going to say, I can pronounce it perfectly, and this seems to cause Italians to assume that I *am* actually fluent, so they reply to me with this in mind, and are surprised to find I might not understand every word they say!
We flew to Pisa and returned from Naples, and stayed at several places in between, travelling by train. If you ever want to know ANYTHING about travelling by train outside the UK, I can thoroughly recommend The Man in Seat 61. I'd heard of this website many times before - the guy often writes in the Guardian (e.g. recently he described his favourite winter train journeys) - but I'd never needed to use it before. His information was absolutely spot on, even to the extent of warning that British credit cards don't usually work on the Trenitalia website!
My use of this website had a bonus - not long after I'd used it to investigate Italian trains, travel arrangements for the choir's trip to Valencia next summer were being discussed. Most of the choir will be flying, but that wasn't really an option for me, partly due to the cost but mainly because a large part of it had to be paid immediately, and that was impossible. (A couple of people kindly offered to lend me the money, but I already owe far too much to far too many people, and there are no signs of things improving just yet!) There was at least one other member of the choir (that I knew of) who was keen to investigate non-air travel, although in her case it was for environmental reasons... I'm all for that too, but it was only my second priority. Anyway, to cut a long story short, three of us will be travelling from Manchester to Valencia (and back!) by train next May, following instructions from the Man in Seat 61, and we're really looking forward to the adventure. (I do wish it was a different week though - it means missing both the UEFA Champions' League final AND the FA Cup Final, but it can't be helped.)
My stint as a temp at RNID finally ended on Friday - it was supposed to be for 2 weeks and ended up being 14 months. They have finally appointed a permanent replacement - well, two in fact, because the job has grown so much while I've been doing it (that's how I ended up so stressed!). I don't yet have a new assignment from Office Angels but they hope to get me one very soon. In the meantime I can finally catch up with some stuff of my own. Money is still a major concern - particularly as I have no income until I get a new assignment - but I do have a couple of side projects which may start to make a little bit of money soon, so I'm hopeful I'll survive.
Choir update: hmm, there's loads! So, very briefly: VW Sea Symphony from scratch on 12th October - this was great fun despite me being in an absolutely FOUL mood all day. (It was my birthday, and just about all my friends - except those in the choir - forgot. And I didn't get picked for the semi-chorus again, and even though I'm used to this, I still get really depressed every time it happens, and lose confidence. They did sound fantastic though!) It went really well, and I do like to do lots of sight-reading, especially when the people around me seem grateful that I was there :-)
Mahler 2, a few days earlier on 9th October, was unbelievably amazing. I can't remember the last time I was so overcome with emotion during a concert. I'd expected to have to struggle to stay awake in the movements before we sang, but I was totally absorbed by how well the orchestra were playing, and in no time it was our turn. But I could hardly sing properly at all - just before we were due to sing, I couldn't stop thinking about the people in the audience who DIDN'T know how the piece ends, and imagining the effect of our entry on these people (especially as we remained seated). This feeling grew all the time we were singing, and when we finally stood up, I had such a lump in my throat that I dread to think what I sounded like. I had tears running down my face - so much so that I couldn't actually see anything by the end. Wow! Sadly my name had been missed out of the programme - this seems to have happened to a few people recently, but it's the first time it's happened to me - but I didn't know that until afterwards so it didn't distract me during the concert. (It definitely would have - I hate the way my mind fixates on stupid things like that - so I have resolved never to read programmes before concerts in future!)
Oh, and our Gerontius CD is finally officially released, although I haven't heard it yet!
Currently we are in full-on Russian mode, because our next concert is Alexander Nevsky, a week on Saturday. I've never sung this before, but so far it doesn't seem too hard - the Russian is the hardest bit, but it's quite repetitive, and we've been given lots of help from the fabulous Xenia. (By the way, I took the audio files we've been given and created a 6-minute audio file of Xenia speaking the entire text with no repetition - I've emailed it to a few people, but if any other choir member would like it, please email me.)
I'm very excited about Alexander Nevsky, because for years there has been one thing I've known about it.... To explain, I need to give a small amount of background. Quite a few years ago (I suspect it was 1995) the choir performed Britten's War Requiem in Chemnitz in Germany. (I think we've done it again since then, but 1995 was the first time I'd done it.) There's a bit towards the end, in the Libera Me, when the sops sing (in the top octave) G F# G Ab F# (to the words "Libera Me"), and the altos were asked, on this occasion, to sing it with them. Some altos protested - we weren't as used to occasional high notes then as we are now - and John Currie, who was the chorus master at the time, said "Don't worry, when you hear the noise at this point you'll be so scared you could sing a top C. It's the loudest noise in all music.... well, except for Alexander Nevsky."
Well, thirteen years later, I've still never heard Alexander Nevsky, but I do remember how loud that bit of the War Requiem was, so my excitement has been building for all those years! I'll be SEVERELY disappointed if I don't need earplugs. (Note to self: remember to take earplugs!)
I've been busy with my band as well - we've recorded our Christmas set (been meaning to do that for years, but there's never time at Christmas, so this year we did it in September!) and tried some fun new songs. We had a fabulous rehearsal a couple of weeks ago - we were all exhausted when we arrived, and I'd had a really bad day (the worst part of which was, I'd had nothing to eat all day because I only had enough money for one meal, so I'd saved it till teatime, but then I realised - when I was at the till in the sandwich shop, with the sandwich already made - that I didn't have enough money for the sandwich AND the bus fare to Rachel's house, so I had to walk out and leave the sandwich there, which was not only embarrassing but meant I was absolutely starving!) But it was one of those rehearsals that was just fun from beginning to end, and we all left in a fabulous mood - I was still grinning about it for the whole of the next day!
We have various gigs coming up between now and Christmas, but the one I want to mention is the Henry Watson Music Library Christmas Music Day, which this year is on Saturday 13th December. They are looking for more groups to take part this year, so if you have a choir or other ensemble, do consider it - you won't get a fee, but we got several further engagements as a result of our performance there last year, so it's definitely worth doing! If you want to contact them, their phone number is 0161 234 1976, or you can email them.
Anyway, I have about a million links I've been stockpiling for you (only some of which are music-related), so I'd better list them all. In no particular order other than the order in which I saved them....
I was fascinated to learn about Stanislav Petrov - a true hero, and one who deserves to be more widely known.
By way of contrast, a website that helps you to determine how long you might survive if you were chained to a bunkbed with a velociraptor! In my case, apparently 60 seconds - go me!
From ChoralNet: links to a discussion about how best to rehearse the melismas in Messiah. (Just in case there's anyone who isn't sure what a melisma is but can't be bothered to look it up, it's just the name for singing more than one note on any particular syllable - e.g. "we have tuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurn-ed" - the semiquaver runs on the "tuuuuuuuu" bit are a melisma.)
From Podium Speak: link to a news story about how musicians think differently to non-musicians.
A new part of Classic FM's website (well, it was new to me): HearHere. Interestingly they seem a bit confused about whether it's HearHere or HearHear, but the website seems to be the same whichever way you spell its address.
Mrs O'Malley's Sweet Shop - proper old-fashioned sweets! Lots of it is American, but lots isn't. Anglo bubblies, for example!
A really interesting explanation of how mobile phone networks work, for those who like to know that sort of thing.
Next year's Manchester International Festival is taking shape - Rufus Wainwright has written an opera for it.
Fans of 80s pop will enjoy the literal video on "Take On Me"!
From the Guardian, a review of a new book by Oliver Sacks. (More on this from A Cappella News.) (The book is now available in paperback.)
Also from the Guardian, an article about the recent Bernstein festival that Chet's did (and Maggie sang in).
I've discovered quite a few performers by seeing them for the first time on "Later with Jools Holland", and the most recent one I've been fascinated with was Amy LaVere, who sang while playing a double bass - did anyone else see her? I'm looking forward to hearing more of her stuff.
A ridiculously addictive game called Blocks with Letters On. Starts easy, gets harder very quickly. Warning: don't try it unless you're prepared to lose at least an hour!
From David Griggs-Janower (and Brian Eno), an article about what's good about singing.
John Adams writes about how he came to be regarded as a threat to US National Security.
In case you weren't aware, the Vendee Globe starts on Sunday (9th November). That's the solo round-the-world yacht race that only happens every 4 years (the one Ellen MacArthur came second in, in 2000-2001, which is what first made her famous). There are several British entries this time, but the two I'll be watching out for are Mike Golding, who came third last time despite losing his keel towards the end, and Alex Thomson, who has had an unbelievable amount of bad luck. He had to retire from the race last time after problems with his boat, and a few weeks ago his new boat was accidentally rammed by a fishing vessel, and his team have been working round the clock to get it ready for the race. Also, they both entered the Velux 5 Oceans Race in 2006, and Alex lost his keel in the Southern Ocean and Mike turned back to rescue him (in these races, the competitors travel so far from land that a fellow competitor can usually reach them far quicker than land-based rescue services), and then Mike lost his own mast while they were both on board and had to retire from the race himself. So they're both due for loads of good luck, and I'd be thrilled if either of them won. If you're interested, you can follow the race on the official site.
Great Guardian article about muso moments in pop songs.
The BBC has cancelled Christmas Top of the Pops! Christmas Day just won't be the same :-(
From Londonist, more Monkey news! I haven't managed to find a photo of Monkey on top of Nelson's Column (which apparently he is at the moment) - if anyone else does, please point me to it!
An article about the opening chord to "A Hard Day's Night".
Via A Cappella News, a fascinating New York Times article about the Metropolitan Opera Chorus and their inspirational chorus master. (Read this one soon, because NY Times articles don't stay available for long before you have to register to read them.)
For fans of Last Choir Standing, it seems that Only Men Aloud are hoping to have the Christmas number one single! Pity they won't get to perform it on TOTP if they do...
An anonymous person sent me a link to Cool Conductor.
Much to my surprise, Germaine Greer writes about violas! She didn't mention this area of expertise when she was on Never Mind the Buzzcocks last week...
You probably won't like this as much as I did unless you know the script of Star Wars like the back of your hand, but it's great even if you don't: an a cappella tribute to John Williams. Clever stuff.
I enjoyed watching Dead Set last week (if you missed it, you can still watch it online via that link - summary is that zombies take over the world and the last safe place turns out to be the Big Brother house) but I was even more amused at Simon Pegg's only criticism of it!
Yma Sumac has died. I'm ashamed to admit that I had never heard of her until she was mentioned in a Buffy episode, but it seems she had a unique voice - listen to the stuff on her website, it's very weird indeed! EDIT: The BBC have a story about this today. I suspect that the "experts" they've quoted are either a bit confused or a bit stupid (or both), because I would dispute their claim that "most people are capable of three octaves. The average person could sing within this range with very good guidance from an expert." I think they mean TWO octaves (e.g. the G below middle C to the G on top of the treble stave), but maybe they're calling it 3 because there are 3 Gs in it.... what do you think? And as for Mariah Carey, I know she can sing stupidly high, but I am yet to be convinced that she can span four octaves, let alone five. For example, from the F at the bottom of the bass stave to the F that's a few leger lines above the treble stave is four octaves inclusive, and I suppose some may claim this range "spans 5 octaves" since it contains 5 different Fs. But, while I might have heard her sing that top F, I haven't heard her sing anything quite as low as the bottom of the bass stave... If anyone has any evidence to support her, I'd like to hear it!
I Classici Tifosi made me laugh a lot when I found it. They're a group of classical musicians (soprano, tenor and string quartet) who take Italian football chants and record them in a classical style. The most amusing part is that some of the lyrics are (unsurprisingly) quite rude... but the whole website is in Italian so you may not immediately realise this! I think my favourite so far is Totti Gol, but I haven't listened to them all yet - I picked that one out because I love Francesco Totti :-)
And finally (because I seem to have been doing this all night...) you may have noticed from the addition to the sidebar that I have recently succumbed to the temptation of Twitter. If you choose to follow me there, that would be fun, although I don't promise it will be anything other than meaningless waffle! The beauty of it is that all the updates are necessarily very short, so people tend to update more often. I've deliberately avoided Facebook for various reasons I won't bore you with, and I don't expect to change my mind about that, but Twitter is the next big thing, trust me!
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