Good morning blog fans. Well, last night a slightly smaller group of us met to bash through this Robert Carver piece, O Bone Jesu. As mentioned before we are singing this at the National Library of Scotland in October. It is pretty tough and the two Claires had particular challenges as we changed parts. Sight reading is a frightening thing but not half as frightening as the notes Claire 2 has to hit as a tenor. Blimey! Jen and Claire 2 can sing LOW. Us sops gave it a go and couldn't get anywhere close even after sharing a packet of Mentoes which made Jen slurp the low notes. Sorry to the rest of our little group who didn't get a sweetie btw - I ran out half way round and we all had to chew quietly like you did when you were a kid trying to eat Hubba Bubba in assembly.
Anyways, suffice to say we sounded brilliant. Well... that might be a wee bit of an over-statement but it sounded like music, which is a start. We sang through it backwards (not actually backwards silly... oh you know what I mean!) and almost got to the bit we actually knew. It is a piece you have to count through - tough for a person like me who can barely recite my three times table. Stop counting and you'll crash and burn. So it is a little like standing on the edge of a large cliff. Certainly not a relaxing musical experience.
By now Ol and Helen should be winging their way to Iceland. We wish them a happy, chilled out trip. Oh... and no news of Rach and the baby yet. Love and hugs deary should you be reading this. Also hugs to Alison who is taking a wee break courtesy of the NHS. We will miss you while you are away.
Apparently Jimi Hendrix's burned guitar from that 1967(?) concert where he set his Strat alight is going on sale for squillions of pounds today. Perhaps we could auction off Ol's baton... or Chris' tambourine (as bought hastily from Blackwells and played at St Giles)... or that wee green wooden frog that has come in handy on a number of percussive occasions... or an original bottle of Slivovice from our Czech tour... OK, so maybe not. But when the album comes out surely such objects will soar in value!
Since almost nobody has recorded O Bone Jesu (let alone put it on YouTube!) here's Eric Whitacre's Cloudburst, which we're making an early start on for the spring (different version now, at Susan's recommendation):
Enjoy this jolly day folks
CSW
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Sounds like you were Carvin' it up big stylee last night....
Good idea re baton auction, reminds me that I came across Chris' gorgeous green frog the other day, sitting on my shelf, looking smug for having gotton away with hiding for so long. Will reunite them next time I'm in Morningside Park. Still very preggers....
Love and hugs Rach. Come on baby, there are Tormis pieces to be sung, and you and Kay's wee one could do a very jolly version.
Post a Comment