Les voici! voici la quadrille

Well, I did mean to post again a couple of days after my last post, but I didn't have a chance till this weekend, sorry. After the Spem event (which was only two weeks ago, but feels MUCH longer ago) I had another (non-musical) event last weekend in Edinburgh which involved a fair amount of preparation... and I'm still doing the part-time job which involves spending at least three hours a day on various buses. I'm hoping that ends soon, because the travelling makes it feel like a full-time job (so there's very little time or energy for anything else), but my finances are getting rapidly worse as a result of working there. I need to find extra sources of income ASAP.

Anyway, I've done a bit of singing in the past couple of weeks, although not as much as I would have liked. We recorded "Valiant for Truth" by Vaughan Williams a few days before the Spem thing, and I think the result will be great - I can't wait to hear it. (We were supposed to record two Elgar songs too, but (to no-one's surprise) there wasn't enough time in the session. I was pleased the Vaughan Williams was the one we did, because it was the only one of the three I liked!)

Currently we're rehearsing opera choruses for our next concert, which is a week on Saturday. I'm very much looking forward to this - I like all the pieces we're doing (well, the thing from Macbeth is less good than the rest, but that's mainly because the alto part is VERY boring) and I think they'll all sound pretty good. Also, I just LOVE the Aida trumpets! (One of my Great Choral Moments involves the Aida intro. I still think of it every time I hear that piece. Actually, I should resurrect my Great Choral Moments series - it's been a while since I mentioned one.)

(Just to remind you there are mp3s here if you want to practise. I can't promise they're all La Scala, though. (In fact, the Aida recording is US, last time we did it.))

The only thing we haven't rehearsed at ALL so far is Nessun Dorma (although we've only sung once through Brindisi so far), but that won't be a problem as it only involves two lines for the choir (just the ladies, in fact) and we've sung it many times before, although not for quite a few years. Most of the previous occasions were in the Classical Spectacular gigs at the MEN Arena (I'm still distraught that they do those gigs without us these days), in which invariably we had to sing Nessun Dorma in the dark because the spotlight was on the tenor, so we had to memorise our two lines. This wasn't exactly difficult - I can still remember the words even now, and it's years since I last performed them - so I was always a bit baffled at the fuss some people used to make over having to do the memorising. A couple of people just refused, and either didn't sing that piece or sang it to "la"; significantly more people went to a considerable amount of trouble to make sure they COULD see their words even though it was dark. (At least one person wrote the words on a bit of paper using a special pen that showed up under fluorescent light (or whatever sort of dim light it was we had on stage.) I could never understand this, because it seemed to me that they could probably have learned the two lines in the time it took them to sort out their alternative plans! But the choir these days is a lot more professional, so I imagine everyone will just get on with it and spend the two minutes it will take them to learn "il nome suo nessun saprà... e noi dovrem, ahimè, morir, morir!"

A few days ago I went to sing at an open mic night at Ronnie's Bar in Macclesfield. My friend Nigel (the guitarist in my band) lives nearby, and he was accosted recently on his way home from a rehearsal by the organiser, who had noticed his guitar and was keen to get new performers at the event, which they run every week. We want to take the whole band sometime, but we thought it would be worth going with just the two of us at first, so we could see how things worked. When we arrived, the place was deserted, but they had several screens showing the football, so we thought the open mic night might have been cancelled for that week due to the World Cup... but although they started a bit late in order to wait for the end of the match, the event did go ahead, and it was very well attended - lots of people turned up at about 9pm, when the event usually starts. They let us go on first because I was restricted by having to get home by train, and we had a great time. We hadn't expected to do more than three songs (and possibly fewer), but we ended up doing five, at the request of the organisers. They have a great sound system, and they did all the mic adjustments etc., so all we had to do was sing and play. I recommend it to any of you who ever perform pop (or know people who do).

I've also done a fair bit of singing at home, mainly recording multi-track a cappella vocal arrangements. I keep doing this thing where I record myself singing (usually for someone's birthday) and really enjoy myself doing so, but then I listen to it and think "hmm, I thought I sounded better than that. Ouch." ... but, having done it, I send it to the person concerned anyway in the hope that they'll think it's OK. I did three birthday presents this week, but I'm particularly dissatisfied with my singing on all three of them, so although they are all online, and you could find them if you searched hard enough, I'm not going to link them here, sorry!

Anyway, you won't be surprised to hear that I have many, many, many links to share with you. (I actually had a lot more than this, but quite a few are no longer relevant, so I've deleted them.) Firstly, I said I'd put any Spem photos I received online. Here's a link to a zip file which contains all of Caroline's and Martin's. They aren't full-size - I reduced them to keep the file size down - so if you want higher-quality versions of any of them, you should ask Caroline or Martin directly. As for the video, I haven't seen it yet, but Dr Liz has and says it's great. As soon as we get it online (which is still definitely the plan), I'll let you know. There's also a video of Dr Liz arriving (we had to do that separately, because her husband filmed the rest of it, but he couldn't start filming until the secret was out!) which I also haven't seen, but again I'll let you know when it's online.



Most of the links I deleted were about vuvuzelas. I was right, wasn't I? I told you almost a year ago that vuvuzelas would be big news - I hope I can truthfully say "you heard it here first!" Anyway, there are a few I still want to share. Fox News and the Daily Mail both have the story of the woman who burst her windpipe by blowing too hard. Via Intermezzo, the Daily Mail also has Alison Balsom trying to get a tune out of one. And the Guardian tells us that someone wrote a concerto for vuvuzela. This did amuse me, but of course there's a huge mistake in the score - the pitch of the vuvuzela is an octave lower than the one printed. I suppose the composer could claim it's a transposing part, but why bother?

Actually, it's occurred to me several times that the vuvuzela might be very useful for helping singers to develop their pitch memory. Anyone who's watched even ONE match during the World Cup will have that note in their head (the B flat below middle C). Just try it - if you've watched any football, I bet you can hum the vuvuzela pitch right now. (Well, you certainly can at this very moment, because the World Cup Final is on TV as I'm writing this, but you know what I mean!) And if you can remember that pitch, you can use that in the future as a way of working out other notes. (You may have to actually make an effort to do this at first, though - hum the B flat to yourself once a day, and check to see if you're right. After a while it will be ingrained, and you won't need to make the effort any more.) This is more or less how I developed my good memory for pitch (which is what makes people think I have perfect pitch, which I don't) - originally it came from the oboe's tuning A, which stuck in my mind (because I'm an oboist), and I started working out other notes from that.

A few more footy/music links: The band We Are Scientists wrote a great Guardian article about how to write a World Cup song. Tom Service has an intriguing article about composers who were inspired by football (intriguing because I knew NONE of this - e.g. Elgar being a Wolves fan!) (Tom was a bit less impressed at the BBC's Wimbledon coverage, which included a sin against J.S. Bach.) And the BBC Music Magazine has some suggestions for music to inspire some of the teams in the World Cup. (I know it's too late to share this now, but I like it!)

Glastonbury has also happened since the last time I made a full post. I wasn't that impressed with most of it this year, although that may be because I was distracted by non-TV things. But Stevie Wonder was fabulous, and I did like the Kylie guest spot with the Scissor Sisters. Anyway, here's an article by the BBC producer in charge of it all, in which he explains some of their limitations. Both the Guardian and the BBC have some tips for headliners. The Big Picture, as usual, has some great photos. And the Guardian compares Damon Albarn to David Bowie, which hadn't occurred to me before, but I can see their point.

Chris Rowbury (From the Front of the Choir) had a fascinating series of posts recently, in which he describes the sort of music he likes, with many examples. Since I am very unfamiliar with most of the music he mentions, I found this a great way to get to know some new stuff. Start with I may not know much about music but I know what I like, and follow that up with Now THAT's what I call singing! Volume 1 and Volume 2. Also, if you're wondering how he manages to teach these songs without using any written music, he explains that too.

I was very amused by this: grading every country's national anthem, part 1. No further parts have appeared yet, but I'll post links here when they do!

You'll find this interesting if you're a Glee fan: from BoingBoing, an article about copyright law as it applies to a TV programme full of cover versions.

Tom Service wonders whether Dido's Lament is really twice as good as Mozart. He also has an interesting article about El Sistema (in which he disagrees with certain people); some thoughts about minor thirds; an article about composers using codes; a post about the BBC Proms Archive (the Guardian also has an editorial about that); more about the Leonard Slatkin/La Traviata saga; and some great quotes from an interview he did with Anna Netrebko.

You've probably heard that the BBC Phil have a new chief conductor from next year (more on that from the BBC Music Magazine), but did you know that Kent Nagano has been pushed out of his job in Munich? (That news is from Intermezzo, who has more to say about it here.)

Also via Intermezzo, a treat for those of you who can read German: a blog by a journalist who was given unrestricted access to behind-the-scenes Bayreuth. And Intermezzo also examines how much opera directors and composers get paid, and disapproves of a recent situation at ENO. (Which reminds me: yesterday I finally caught up with Gareth Goes to Glyndebourne, which I really enjoyed. Well done Gareth. Only the last of the three programmes is still on iPlayer, but if they repeat it and you missed it, do watch.)

From On an Overgrown Path, an intriguing short post about Stravinsky and technology, although the bit I really liked was actually the news that Beethoven once wrote a Duet requiring Two Pairs of Spectacles. Hee!

Elgar has now vanished from our £20 notes - I'm still angry about this.

The Guardian has a long and thought-provoking article about music being composed by computers.

Gillian alerted me to this: an article in Science News about why some people find sight-reading easier than others.

Vaughan Williams' Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis is one hundred years old, and Rob Young takes an in-depth look at it in the Guardian.

This year's Three Choirs Festival is in Gloucester from 7th to 15th August, and Classical Iconoclast has a helpful guide to what's on.

BBC Music Magazine has a short article about the lack of female composers. They've also just launched a podcast, and the first episode features our Götterdämmerung CD.

Paul Woodiel, a violinist who plays in a Broadway theatre, tells the New York Times of his outrage at the decision to cut five string players from West Side Story (which, it turns out, has ELEVEN SEPARATE STRING PARTS) and replace them with a synthesiser.

Latest practice tip from Stephen Hough: start by writing the fingerings in.

The BBC tells us that TV themes have been the most lucrative UK musical exports over the past decade. Sad, but not really very surprising, I suppose. They also have a related article about jingles (we have Wagner to blame for them, essentially, but we knew that).

And there's a new choral work in which the singers sing parts of their own genetic code. *boggle*

I think that's all my musical links, but I have a few more football ones. Don't go away! These are good, you'll like them!

The Big Picture has had several sets of their trademark amazing photos: Preparing for the World Cup, Opening Weekend, and Halfway in. No doubt there will be more after the final.

A British chemistry professor says that FIFA are lying when they claim that the actual World Cup trophy is solid gold.

Football can help people with dementia, a Scottish project has found.

I really like this BBC article about why David Beckham is a really great guy. (I already knew he was, but it's nice when people give me evidence I can use!)

And here's something I never thought I'd see: a football match on the M60.

Let's make the transition to Manchester-related to links via another footy-related link: the site of Maine Road is to be marked with a blue moon. I think that sounds lovely.

Manchester Day has come and gone now, but in the buildup to it the MEN site featured this Manchester quiz. It's harder than you might think! I scored 76784, but I think I could have done better if I'd been thinking clearly. It gives you a map of Manchester and names an event, and you have to click on where it happened. Give it a go.

Also in aid of Manchester Day, Manchester Confidential printed a great list of reasons why Manchester is historically significant. They include a great quote: "Manchester is the place where people do things. Don't talk about what you are going to do, do it. That is the Manchester habit."

I missed the parade (I was singing in Macclesfield at the time) but it sounds as if it was a real spectacle. (That's from the MEN; Manchester Confidential reviewed it here.)

The MEN also tells that we are the third most popular UK tourist city (after London and Edinburgh).

The temporary Central Library is now open - have any of you been in it yet?

And on 22nd August you can take part in a backwards running race in Heaton Park.

A bit more randomness...

If you have an iPhone, and have been alarmed at recent reports warning that the current unlimited-data situation will end soon, this MacFormat article explains how to find to how much data you CURRENTLY use.

I love this story about a vicar who discovered that there was a law giving her the right to call her parishioners together for archery practice.

Language teachers will particularly like this: a Guardian article which discusses the theory that Brits are bad at languages. And here's an article that discusses the changing use of the word "so" in the English language.

Here's a nice story from BoingBoing about how Martha's Vineyard became the birthplace of American deaf (and Deaf) culture.

Most of you will have heard of the TED talks - I'm sure I've mentioned them before - but now the Guardian explains the whole thing in detail, and tells us that TED is coming to Oxford.

And finally (finally!) some Harry Potter news. The Guardian reviews the recently-opened theme park in Florida, and the official website now has the full cinema trailer for the Deathly Hallows film.

Spem in Alium

Sorry for the long hiatus. I've been organising a big project that I couldn't talk about here, because it was a secret. But it happened today, and it was BRILLIANT. So I can tell you about it now! (I have a million links saved to share with you, and no doubt other stuff to tell you, but I'll do that in the next day or two.)

Dr Liz - a fellow 2nd alto in the choir - is, as many of you are aware, moving to Australia in a few weeks' time, as she has a job there. She has been extremely helpful to me while I've been broke (which I still am, by the way - more so than ever!) - in particular, she has paid my ISP bills for the past three years. So I wanted to do something for her as a farewell present.

Here's the thing: Dr Liz has been saying for years that one of her all-time ambitions is to perform the Tallis 40-part motet (Spem in Alium) with one to a part. She and I both sang it in June 2006 as part of the BBC People's Chorus event with a thousand singers, and she's wanted to try the one-to-a-part idea ever since, so I thought it would be fun to organise it as a surprise for her. And I did!

Her husband came up with a timeslot in which she was available and (more importantly) he could guarantee she would STAY available. I found forty really good singers, who have all been practising industriously for the last few weeks. (I had to actually ask 112 people before I had forty who said they could do it! There are still about twenty people who never replied to any of my emails - their loss.) (Dr Liz herself was one of the singers, of course, and she obviously couldn't have practised before the day, but I arranged the schedule so that there was an hour between her finding out what was going on and the first part of the rehearsal that involved her singing, and I arranged for a practice room (with a piano) to be available, and created an mp3 of the piece which had her part played over it clearly, and sent it to her husband so that he'd have it available on his iPhone. Also, I remembered which part she sang four years ago, and I made sure she was on that part, which hopefully helped a little.)

The venue might have been a problem, because not only did it need to be a decent-sized room with a piano in Manchester city centre, it also had to be one that I wouldn't have to pay for, since (as previously mentioned) I have no money! But, much to my surprise, Plan A actually worked: when I dreamed up this idea, I imagined it happening in the Baronial Hall at Chet's, which is not only one of my favourite rooms in the WORLD (I'm an ex-pupil of the school, so I'd loved that room since I was ten years old), it's perfect for the sort of music we were singing (particularly as it's one of the few rooms in existence that's older than Tallis!) So, on the basis that "if you don't ask you don't get", I wrote to the headteacher of Chet's and explained what I wanted to do... and it turns out that the hall was available, and she let me use it free of charge! (I did agree to have a collection among the participants, with the proceeds going to the Chet's building appeal, and people seemed happy to contribute to that.)

So, it finally happened this afternoon (Sunday 27th June). Needless to say, the way the football fixtures turned out was VERY annoying, but it couldn't be helped - and it sounds as if we didn't miss much anyway! My sister texted me updates, which I passed on to the singers (although we had to warn Fanny not to listen each time, as she was convinced she could get home without hearing the score...) And poor Catharina couldn't decide who to support, but was leaning towards England. She kept quite quiet as the German goal count increased!

I was convinced someone would cancel at the last minute, or just not turn up. But no-one did, so everything worked perfectly. Dr Liz's husband hatched a plot that ensured that she didn't work out what was going on until she actually entered the Baronial Hall with him and saw thirty-nine singers... because everyone was in their seat, with just one left for Dr Liz. We were suspicious that she'd somehow found out the secret, because she didn't show much surprise or shock... but she says she really didn't have a clue, and her not-showing-shock face is probably one that she's acquired as a result of working as a doctor for quite some time!

I'd arranged the chairs so that all the singers were round the outside of the hall in a square with ten on each side, and we had seats in the middle for spectators (there were a few friends and family who wanted to watch). I was very keen to have the circular arrangement after experiencing the amazing swirling effect when we sang the piece with a thousand people in the Bridgewater Hall, and our spectators said it was just as effective today. (Lots of people took photos, but I didn't have time to take any myself - Caroline took loads, so I'm hoping she'll send me copies of hers, and I'll put them online if she does.) (EDIT: she has, and so has Martin, and sometime I will put them all up together, but for now here's a sample...)



We were only in the hall for three hours, but the time flew by. We started with a 5-minute condensed Maggie-type warmup (well, it wasn't just "Maggie-type"... I asked Maggie what she recommended for an ideal 5-minute warmup for people who were already familiar with the usual warmups, and I followed her instructions!) Then we rehearsed ten people at a time (for those of you who don't know, the piece is written for eight groups of five singers each, and each group has soprano, alto, tenor, baritone and bass - so you will understand why I ended up asking ALL the men in the choir (and several from the youth choir) before I had enough of them who were available, whereas there are lots of ladies in the choir who know nothing about it). We were all immediately impressed at how great it sounded, whichever group was singing. Not every note was perfect (this piece is DIFFICULT!) but enough of them were that it sounded mostly correct, and we all got to the end together. But the overall vocal sound was spectacular, I thought, and of course it helped that the acoustic was perfect. And we stayed bang in tune every time!

I'd been a little worried that people might get bored sitting around while their group wasn't involved, but it was a lovely day, and a beautiful location, and people just sat out in the courtyard and chatted. And Mr Dr Liz went out and bought a whole tableful of refreshments for us all, which was very much appreciated. (I didn't get any of it till after the event was finished - because I was conducting as well as singing, I didn't get a gap when I could eat, but it was fine. Plus, I ended up taking all the remnants home with me as a result, which solved some of my current food problems!)

After we'd rehearsed each pair of mini-choirs together, we rehearsed with choirs 1-4 (i.e. twenty singers) and then with choirs 5-8. (All the rehearsals were only twenty minutes long, so there wasn't time for note-bashing - but everyone had worked really hard at learning their parts, so it wasn't necessary.) Then, finally, the audience arrived, and after a brief bit of explanation (mainly to convey the fact that there was a good chance we wouldn't get to the end at the first attempt) we tried it with all forty singers. Much to everyone's surprise (and delight!) it worked first time - we DID all get to the end at the same time, with everyone ending on the right note, and it sounded amazing. The audience loved it. They asked for a repeat performance, and I'd always planned to do it twice, but that was mainly because I didn't expect it to be that good the first time! So we did it again, and it was amazing again. And yes, we still stayed perfectly in tune \o/

Anyway, Dr Liz's husband filmed the performance, so at some point we will put it online and you can see it for yourself. (I noticed that YouTube has a surprising lack of videos of this piece actually being performed - there are many versions of it there, but they all have the music with just a still image. Apart from the King's Singers one, which doesn't count because there are only six of them and they used multitracking. Or the Dresden chapel choir one, which doesn't count because there are more than forty of them, and they don't do the whole piece anyway. So maybe we will end up as a YouTube sensation!)

EDIT: Zip file of photos from the day
Video of Dr Liz arriving
Video of the first attempt (preceded by my introduction)
Video of the second attempt

VUVUZELA!

Not much singing since my last post, and not much to tell you about what I've been up to. Which is not to say that I haven't been busy, because I have! But most of the things I've been spending time sorting out are things I don't want to talk about until they actually happen, for various reasons.

One of the things I have been doing, though, is setting up my regular biennial Fantasy League. (The World Cup starts on Friday, in case you hadn't realised!) If you want to enter a team, that'd be great - the more the merrier. Deadline is kickoff in the first match (i.e. Friday afternoon, UK time). It's free and you don't need to know anything about football, but it makes the World Cup MUCH more fun! The rules are on the form. If you know very little about football, or are in a hurry, you'll find the short player list most useful - it just contains a selection of the most famous players. The other two player lists both have ALL the players on. If you want to enter, just email the form to me (jocelyn@wardle.demon.co.uk).

(This is a RIDICULOUSLY simplified fantasy league, compared to most of the ones you'll see elsewhere - that's because it was originally designed so that kids with learning difficulties could enter. And it works, so I've kept it like this. I always have people who tell me that it's SO easy that there's no way they can lose... but they never all pick the exact same team...)

We have a rehearsal tomorrow (well, later today), which will be fun. (Oh, and for those of you who don't know all the opera gala and recording stuff, you can download most of it from my mp3 page.) (I can't find a recording of Love's Tempest anywhere, though - at least, not without spending more money than I've currently got - so if any of you has one they're willing to share, I'd love a copy.)

Other news for members of my choir: tickets have just gone on sale (this week) for the Birmingham gigs, and I believe the Mahler 8 ones are selling very fast. More news about the Birmingham season at Intermezzo, and there's also a fascinating Guardian interview with Andris Nelsons.

The Mahler in Manchester series is now over, both live and on R3. Here's a Telegraph review of Mahler 9, which hadn't appeared when I last posted; also an MEN review, a Telegraph review and a 5-star Guardian review of Mahler 10. Also a belated Telegraph review of the Wagner CD, and an Observer review of Billy Budd. And, since one of the reviews mentions it, I may as well include here the fact that Gianandrea is leaving the BBC Phil after next season.

Talking of the BBC Phil, they are having a come-and-sing day this Sunday, featuring Mozart's Requiem. They were pleading on Twitter for tenors and basses to join them, in case you're interested. Oh, and here are some great photos of the Bridgewater Hall.

I enjoyed this Observer feature discussing other people's taste in music.

On Sunday, Radio 3 are having ten straight hours of live music.

Tom Service reports on the backlash against Dudamel, and there's a nice Guardian editorial in praise of operatic arias. And I'm sure lots of you have been watching all the recent opera stuff on the BBC. I've enjoyed it more than I expected to - I like opera, but wouldn't describe myself as a huge fan. You can still catch What Makes A Great Tenor and the three Opera Italia episodes on iPlayer, and I recommend them. (There's also several full live operas, including Aida and the Marriage of Figaro.)

Sydney Opera House, by way of contrast, recently held a concert for dogs.

You remember the Leonard Slatkin drama recently re La Traviata? Well, now he's come out and explained that Angela Gheorghiu was the cause. Fascinating, but I'm torn - on the one hand, if she's behaving badly, people should know, but on the other hand it's a bit unprofessional of him to say so, maybe.

I think I mentioned that the South African opera singer who was due to sing at the opening ceremony had died - well, they're going to use his voice anyway.

Stephen Hough has another practice tip: practise with your eyes shut.

Classical Iconoclast reminds us that Bachtrack has recently been updated - go and have a look. It's a very useful site, and now it has all sorts of new features.

The latest wacky classical music story is that they're using Mozart operas to treat sewage. Whatever next?!?

4 Bars Rest has a proper Whit Friday retrospective, which laments the tragedy that marked this year's contest and bemoans the increasing number of thuggish "spectators", but also informs us that the St Etienne Band, who I mentioned last time, are from Huddersfield University.

I like this Guardian story about what music makes you feel old. (If you've never heard Pendulum, Watercolour is their current single.)

You may not be aware that there isn't, for once, an official England World Cup song. However, the Guardian rates a few unofficial ones, and Manchester Confidential brings news of a Manchester-created effort called God Save Colleen. I haven't heard it, but I want to!

Also, it seems that ten staff in a Manchester pub have all changed their name by deed poll to Wayne Rooney. This amuses me far more than it should.

And I haven't mentioned the vuvuzela yet, so here's yet another story about it. (If you haven't heard the sound of these things yet, I guarantee you will in the next week!)

Some of the non-football fans among you (and some of the fans, too) will enjoy this collection of all the best-looking players from all the teams. Although for some reason he/she has a dislike of Cristiano Ronaldo and refused to include him. Bizarre.

Manchester Day is a week on Sunday, and they need strong volunteers to carry the giant bees in the parade.

The train users among you will no doubt be as unimpressed as me to hear that the new government has apparently decided that there is no need for extra train carriages after all. *headdesk*

Very pretty: live webcams from Iceland.

And finally, for my fellow Harry Potter fans: Boris Johnson makes a very reasonable demand, and here's the recently-released latest trailer for the Deathly Hallows films Exciting!

Somewhere, there's music - how faint the tune

Well, unlike the LAST time I had a big gap between posts, when I had no idea where the time had gone, this time I do have an excuse! After over a year with no work other than a few hours here and there, I finally got a new temp job a couple of weeks ago. It's only part-time (four hours a day) but it's at two different sites in Oldham, which each involve two buses and up to an hour and a half's travelling each way. So I feel as if I've spent most of my life on buses recently! And, to make things worse, I'm worse off financially than when I was signing on. But this job does at least leave me time to continue my freelance work when opportunities arise, so all I need is a bit of luck and I'll be fine :-)

I did have a very interesting freelance commission which I completed last week. One of my fellow altos in the choir wanted me to arrange Brandenburg 4 for a different group of instruments. The original group involves (in case you don't know - I didn't, until I looked it up) two flutes, a solo violin, a full string section (two violin parts, viola, cello and double bass) and continuo (i.e. harpsichord). The required group was: two flutes, two cellos and one harpsichord. Well, I did it, but to say that it took an awful lot longer than I'd anticipated is putting it mildly! And it wasn't the arranging itself that was time-consuming; it was inputting the notes of the original score in order to be able to rearrange them. It's all Bach's fault - there are so MANY notes! I'll be very interested to hear how they get on with the result. I did warn them that the harpsichordist would need to be super-human!

We had a really nice choir gig in Ashton a couple of weeks ago, too - it went really well, and the audience loved it. I was particularly delighted that "We'll Gather Lilacs" and "The Bare Necessities" had been restored to the programme. I know a few choir members disagreed, but I suspect they weren't at the Harpurhey concert at which we first performed these songs, and therefore didn't see how much the audience liked them. At Ashton, there was an old man sitting near the front - right behind the mayor - and he seemed to be enjoying the whole concert, but when it got to "We'll Gather Lilacs" he was mouthing the words, and he had a... well, I was about to say that he had a smile on his face, but he did throughout... but it was a different TYPE of smile in "We'll Gather Lilacs". I can't find the words to describe it, but I do know that I sang that whole song with tears in my eyes due to seeing that smile. (And I do hope that next time we do an a cappella concert, whoever plans the programme remembers what sort of audience we tend to get, and includes something similar again.)

While we were in Ashton, by the way, Alison and I were fascinated by the small bronze (I think) sculptures that were dotted around the pedestrianised area of the town centre. We were frustrated that there was no visible information about them (such as the title or the name of the sculptor), though. Most of the statues (of which there were five or six) were of Victorian-type children, but my favourite was this miner:



Oh, and last Saturday I went to the other side of Bury (ANOTHER day involving six buses!) to sing in a Brahms Requiem workshop with Bury Choral Society. Maggie was a guest vocal coach for the day, and did her usual stuff (which went down very well), and then we sang about half the Requiem. I was a little disappointed not to be able to do all of it (it's been a few years!), especially as we're no longer performing it later this year as planned. But I really enjoyed the bits we DID do, and oddly enough it's the 4th movement I've had on the brain since - normally I dislike that movement compared to the others, finding it a bit boring, but I enjoyed it this time.

Currently in our Wednesday rehearsals we're doing some a cappella things which we're recording soon but which I didn't previously know at all: Elgar's The Shower and Love's Tempest, and Vaughan Williams' Valiant for Truth. I must say I much prefer the Vaughan Williams to the two Elgar things, which are not the most exciting songs ever - it starts with an alto tune, and has a few more further in, and there's a fabulous trumpety bit at the end. But also (and I suspect I'm in a minority here!) there are quite a few aspects of the words which make me think of the last Harry Potter book. Needless to say it was the line "my marks and scars I carry with me" that started me off on this train of thought, but then it wouldn't go away.

We're also doing the usual opera choruses in preparation for our last concert of the season. Well, I say "the usual", but it's actually a few years since we've done any of this stuff. I found that I still remember Brindisi (well, the alto part, at least) from memory, but that's probably because most of it is on the same note. And Fuoco di Gioia is just as entertaining as ever!

Another thing that's taken up a lot of my time recently (albeit very enjoyably) is birthday presents. Due to extreme being-broke-ness, I haven't been able to buy anything for anyone for the past three years... but it occurred to me, late last year, that there IS something I can make for people - at no cost to me other than time - which most of them seem to quite like. I do an a cappella vocal arrangement of (ideally) a song I know they like, or (if I don't know such a song) a song that is relevant to them in some way, and use the very wonderful FourTrack app on my iPhone to record myself singing all the parts. (I can have more than four parts - and I usually do - because it even has a bounce function.) I love doing this, but several friends have had birthdays in the past week, so I've spent more time at it than usual. And tonight I need to do "How High the Moon" (hence the title of this post). Can't wait!

(If you're wondering how I can afford an iPhone, the answer is that I couldn't if I'd had to actually buy it, but I got it free with my contract. Which is just as well, because I'm not sure how I managed to live without it.)

I hope some of you made it to a Whit Friday event. (If not, next year's date is 17th June 2011 - put it in your diary now!) I went to Delph with my family - not been there for quite some time (well, I have, but not on Whit Friday), but we fancied a change from Friezland. I bumped into the wonderful Richard Charles, who's a percussionist I've worked with in the past several times, but other than him, I didn't see anyone else I knew (at least, not to talk to). Friezland tends to be where the Wardle people congregate, and most of my Whit Friday acquaintances are Wardle people. We saw some great bands, though - not all the top bands were out this year, but we did see Brighouse & Rastrick in their distinctive purple tunics, and Boobs and Brass (the all-female brass band in their pink uniforms, who march to Here Come The Girls). The crowd's favourite, though, was the St Etienne Band, who dressed as England football fans (there's a photo of them here if you scroll down a bit) and marched to Three Lions. We have been unable to find out where they're from - we ASSUME France, from the name, but we have no evidence for this (although my mum insist that they LOOKED French!) - and in any case, why would a French band dress as they did?

(Whit Friday results, for those who are interested, are mostly now online - Saddleworth results and Tameside results.)

You've probably all heard the Radio 3 broadcast of our Mahler 8 gig by now. It's only available on iPlayer until Monday night, but you can download it (helpfully split into separate tracks) from my mp3 page for the foreseeable future, and I'm delighted to see that several of you already have. (Also, does anyone have any thoughts about why we sound very quiet compared to choir 1? I can't believe the balance was like that in the hall, because I think it would have been noted and fixed in rehearsal if so. Maybe they had a faulty mic on our side? Although I did notice at the time that there was no mic at all anywhere near the altos (on either side) - there was one in front of the men, and one near the sops, and several near the kids, but nothing near the altos.)

The Mahler in Manchester cycle is almost over, and Mahler 9 was this week. Here's a Guardian review and one from the MEN. And, talking of reviews, I'd love to see the current Glyndebourne production of Billy Budd, conducted by our own musical director. Here's a five-star review from the Independent, and another from Classical Iconoclast. Oh, and also a brief Guardian review of the Götterdämmerung CD.

Now for a million more links!

If you're one of those who didn't listen to me when I recommended that you sign up to Spotify when they were allowing unlimited free access and has regretted it since, you will be pleased to hear that they've recently launched a new free version for which you don't need an invite code. It's not quite as good as the unlimited version, but the only difference is that you're restricted to 20 hours' use a month. So if you just want to try it to see whether you think it's worth paying for, now's your chance.

Another thing I told you about ages ago is the vuvuzela - a word which I would imagine you will hear a lot of in the next month, because the World Cup finally starts a week on Friday. Bryan Robson is the latest one to tell us that these instruments will cause problems.

Various interesting posts from the ever-reliable Tom Service in the Guardian: about the singing in the Free Church of Scotland; the fact that the "Mozart effect" is a load of rubbish; an obituary for Yvonne Loriod (Messiaen's widow); a defence of opera (in response to Robert Thicknesse's attack on it); Simon Rattle rehabilitating Sibelius in Germany (I hadn't realised he wasn't popular there!); and some news about Claudio Abbado (and the fact that Rattle's recent Matthew Passion is now online).

Also from the Guardian: Grayson Perry talks about arts funding under the new government; David Arnold writes about the value of the Ivor Novello Awards; Caroline Sullivan discusses how wrong it is that some people are upset that Lily Allen won several of these awards; Helienne Lindvall writes more on a similar theme; and Keith Stuart has a very interesting article about the music in Red Dead Redemption ( a recently-released - and very successful - video game).

From Classical Iconoclast: news of a downloadable, intriguing-sounding Mahler 8 performance, and the Berlin Phil's forthcoming Mahler cycle.

From Intermezzo: some photos (and intriguing reports) from the recent Classical Brit awards ceremony, and some news about outdoor opera which may be useful to those who are fans of that sort of thing.

From the LA Times, news of what the stage crew has to do to enable the climax of Götterdämmerung.

From Neil Gaiman va BoingBoing, a great story: Stravinsky was once arrested because of his arrangement of the American national anthem. (According to Wikipedia, his main crime was including a MAJOR SEVENTH CHORD. This delights me a great deal.)

From BBC News: very sadly, a young opera singer who was due to sing at the World Cup opening ceremony died this week from meningitis.

From the Independent, news that, in Greece, trombonists can retire at 50 because their job is "arduous and unhealthy".

Another practice tip from Stephen Hough: take your foot off the pedal.

Chris Rowbury (From the Front of the Choir) would like to know more about the pleasures of being in a choir.

Manchester-related news now: firstly, I knew it was too good to be true... the planned revamp of Victoria Station has been cancelled.

The city council has bitten the bullet and agreed to have big screens in the city centre showing World Cup matches - something they've avoided since Rangers Day. (Which reminds me - Manchester Confidential again had an anniversary post about this, and I was particularly amused by them asking Pat Karney whether we could declare 14th May an official holiday in Manchester in remembrance. His reaction is priceless!)

There are currently spring markets in the city centre until next Sunday - go and have a look, they sound nice.

Oh, and Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd) is bringing The Wall to Manchester.

And if you, like me, are heartily sick of non-Mancunians going on about our supposedly perennial rain, show them the map in this article. (And try not to think about the fact that it says we'll have a drought up here within weeks.)

Finally, some random stuff: via BoingBoing, news that the original Foucault's Pendulum broke recently! I've never seen this, although I've wanted to for a long time. In fact, on the one occasion on which I had a whole day to spend in Paris, over twenty years ago, I dragged a group of year 11 schoolkids right across Paris to see it, only to find that the museum was closed on Mondays, and that was the only day we were there. Typical.

If you're not watching Spartacus: Blood and Sand on Bravo, you should.... if, that is, you like the sound of something that's "possibly the lustiest, goriest, most wilfully red-blooded drama series the law and human decency will allow". More details from Charlie Brooker in the Guardian. (Warning: although the photo on the linked page is fine, the text is probably NSFW.) It's on at 10pm on Tuesdays, and it started this week, but if you missed the first episode it's repeated tomorrow (Sunday) night at 11pm.

Martin Gardner was a hero of mine when I was younger - I had all his books, and probably still do somewhere - so I was quite saddened to learn that he died last weekend.

The fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square is to have a giant ship in a bottle - the Victory, in fact. I'd love to see that!

Did you watch the Lost finale? If you did, but aren't entirely sure what happened despite this, here's a simple explanation that even I can understand, along with an argument to put to all those people who think they all died in the first episode, and answers to a few other questions.

I'm sure you'll be hearing lots more from me about the World Cup in the next few weeks, but in the meantime, have a look at this Spanish World Cup calendar. I haven't entirely worked out how it works, but I think it looks fabulous!

I love these photos (from the ever-wonderful Big Picture) of Argentina's bicentennial. Particularly the crowd in front of the opera house, and the harp orchestra.

But my current favourite picture is this one from NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day, showing a starry night sky over Iguaçu Falls. These falls are second only to Cape Horn on my list of "places I'd most like to visit". But I don't think I've seen a photo of them at night before. Beautiful.

It's Whit Friday today!

V concise because I'm writing this on my phone from the bus:

Today is Whit Friday. If you're in the north west and have never been to this event, please consider it! Explanation is here and details of this year's event are here. Proper post tomorrow, I promise!

Mahler 8 online!

Proper blog post coming very soon (sorry for the delay, I've been busy!) but in case I don't finish it tonight, I just wanted to alert you to the fact that downloadable mp3s of the Mahler 8 broadcast (split into helpful parts rather than one file that's two and a quarter hours long) are now on my mp3 page. Thanks again to Mr Dr Liz for supplying the file to be split!

What's happened to the passion in my top part?

I'm not sure where the time's gone in the past couple of weeks - I haven't done anything other than sing, but there hasn't been THAT much singing. What there was was great, though! Most recently, I had a rehearsal with my band at which there was NO-ONE MISSING, which is extremely rare (usually something always happens at the last minute that means someone has to cancel). I was absolutely delighted about this, because it meant that we could finally rehearse a couple of six-part arrangements which I wrote almost three years ago. (Before this week, we'd tried them ONCE, and that was over a year ago, and on that occasion we didn't have time to do more than read through them. That's how rare it is for everyone to attend!) I've been grinning about this ever since - it's the best thing that's happened in my life this year so far.

And yes, that's a year that's included Mahler 8! The concert was last Sunday, and it was very wonderful - as was the open rehearsal the previous day (for which the hall was almost sold out!), although I was disappointed that the Saturday audience didn't get to hear the end. I was hoping they might, because it seemed likely that the bits with offstage brass (i.e. the end of each half) would be rehearsed together, so that they wouldn't have to pay the brass for two sessions. But I was wrong about that.

I could rave about all the many wonderful things in the performance, but it's easier just to say "all of it" and show you some reviews. (I'm quite surprised that all the reviews aren't five stars, but there you go.)

Times
Independent
Telegraph
MEN
Guardian
Chris Swithinbank
AudioWorks (scroll down the page)

EDIT: Three more reviews in the Sunday papers, which I saw just after I finished this post:

Observer
Sunday Times
Independent on Sunday

Also, James Ridgway (a singer from the CBSO Chorus) has put some fabulous photos online. (Do click to get the full-size versions - it's well worth it.)

(By the way, I thought our orchestra's website was broken all weekend, till I realised they'd redone the page hierarchy and therefore broken all the links. If you have any pages from the site bookmarked, you will need to renavigate via the front page.)

Talking of reviews, the Berlin Philharmonic did a morning concert in Oxford last weekend, and the reviews are amazing. Tom Service explains the circumstances (I knew nothing about this - sounds like a lovely tradition); Classical Iconoclast has a detailed review, and the Guardian has a slightly less detailed one (but still gives it five stars). Tom Service has a review of his own: An earthquake in C major. (Isn't that a GREAT headline?) And you can see the concert at the Berlin Phil's website here, although it's not free.

Via Classical Iconoclast, a fascinating Times article about the role of agents in classical music, which includes a list of which stars are with which agents.

Intermezzo has been keeping up with Proms news, and reported on Tuesday (when booking opened, in case you didn't know) which Proms sold out on the first day.

Also from Intermezzo: dates for the BBC's forthcoming opera season.

And you remember I told you about Scottish Opera's operas for babies? Well, the Times has a report - their baby loved it.

Stephen Hough has two more practice tips: make full use of your metronome and don't feel as if you have to include emotion while practising.

Londonist reports that Eurostar has appointed Jarvis Cocker as their cultural ambassador. The really interesting part is news of the partnerships between Eurostar and various artistic institutions.

Blake Morrison writes about the amazing cost of quoting song lyrics when writing books.

The Guardian has a fascinating article about the actual songs that songbirds sing, and the changing nature of the dawn chorus.

From the Globe and Mail, yet another article about the relationship between singing and health, but this is a good one.

An intriguing article from the BBC News website about commissioning music for election night TV coverage.

I've seen quite a few reviews for a recent concert by Rolando Villazon - they're variable, but they all seem to agree that his voice has problems. The Times is probably the most scathing.

You know how Google likes to brighten our days with occasional special logos? Tom Service noticed that early on Friday they had a 10 Downing Street logo, but they replaced it with this lovely one for Tchaikovsky's birthday.

Hebden Bridge is celebrating the 500th birthday of its packhorse bridge. (They've even got a special font, which you can download from the site.) As part of this, they're trying to get 500 singers on the bridge on Sunday 4th July. Contact them if you want to be involved.

The Manchester Day celebrations (on 20th June) look as if they're going to be spectacular. Which is great, but I've yet to find anyone who previously knew that there was any such thing as Manchester Day... do you think they just INVENTED it?

Via Free Range Kids, it seems that a nursery in Wigan confiscated a cheese sandwich from a two-year-old on the grounds that it had neither lettuce nor tomato in it and therefore breached council guidelines. And the council BACKED THEM UP. *boggle* Even though my reaction to cheese sandwiches (with or without extras) will always be "eww, cheese!" this seems a bit excessive!

I know I probably bore people with why I avoid Facebook, but I want to be sure that you know about the implications of their most recent changes. Here's an article from the Electronic Frontier Foundation about the Connections feature.

I'm intrigued by this: in Japan, blood type is an everyday topic of conversation and is believed to influence personality traits.

I'm sure you're all well aware of Snopes as a reference site for checking the validity of urban legends and forwarded email horror stories, but this is something it never occurred to me to check: the derivation of the word "posh". I was told when very young that it was from "port out, starboard home", and it's never occurred to me to question this... yet when I read the points made by Snopes, I realise that I actually knew most of them but hadn't connected them to the derivation of the word.

And finally... never mind "Komm!", my current favourite German word is Triple-Trottel-Fluch. It means something like "triple idiot curse", but in current German football terminology it refers to Bayern Munich, and means something along the lines of "they're up for a treble, but there's a good chance they won't actually win anything at all". But I don't really care what it means - I just love the words :-)

We have TWO orchestras, you know

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 :-)

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.

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?