Last night was a jolly evening of Christmas tunes. It began with a small group preparing for a wee Scottish concert that took place this evening. As I am skiving this one I can't tell you how it actually went so... I'll make it up..."Rudsambee brought the house down with their Gaelic songs and traditional Scotch tunes. A standing ovation was met with humble thanks from the valiant choral members." Accurate enough guys? Hope so! [Chris says: pretty close. We did have the shortest introductions in history due to the hubbub, though. My favourite was, and I quote, "Amazing Grace!"]
Anyways, on to the rehearsal of last night. Christmas music is now in full swing and it makes us all feel jolly. We began by sight singing a new piece called 'O Nata Lux'. It is basically Lauridsen's 'O Magnum Mysterium' (a classic Rudsambee tune from last year) with different words - big, slightly clashy and a couple of fab top sop notes that make your head spin round if you don't take in enough breath! As 'Magnum' was my Mum's favourite from last year and as I know she now reads this blog (and called it "racy" no less) this one is for you Mum. Suffice to say, it sounded really quite good by the end. It'll be cracking in St Giles.
Our second new piece was in German. It is called 'Susser die Glocken nie klingen' (sorry folks, my computer is struggling with Deutsch vowels but you get the general idea) and sounds, surprisingly enough, like clinging bells. It is pretty straight forward until the end when it all gets flat-y and sharp-y. The sops get to stay on a 'G' (composer Gundermann knew Rudsambee's limitations! I joke of course; sops are magnificent) while the other parts dot about all over the shop. The bass line makes the whole final section sound like a musical interlude in a Victorian melodrama... you know the bit where the villain comes in, twirls his dastardly moustache and kidnaps the girl from her wussy male companion. The trouble with me writing this stuff on a Thursday is that I have way too much time to think about it, hence the involved mental images. Anyways this song will be very jolly.
We finished off with 'Bog Off' and 'Apple Tree Wassail', both by heart though we missed Jen for the final moments of the latter. Clare had to do it on her own - she did, on a more positive note, manage to remember the amount of bushel baskets (see the past, like, four blog posts for this ongoing saga!). We have now nearly memorised these two pieces! Still slowing down in 'Bog Off' but give us time...
The major source of contention and debate this week has been the CD cover and tag lines and stuff. We are just increasing your anticipation in the run up to the general release at Christmas. Anne expressed some concern that her roof may sag with all the old CDs stored in her loft. Of course, it is a well-known fact that when a band's album goes platinum everyone wants to buy their back catalogue. So we live in hope that Anne's loft will be emptied by eager E-bay fans paying £20 a copy by next year (£30 if signed by members).
It also must be mentioned that Sebastian had a bit of shindig at his house last Saturday to watch the Susice DVD which Mirren directed (Ridley Scott has nothing on Mirren's epic theatrical cinematography). I sadly missed out but everyone seemed to have a brilliant time. The general feeling was that the Jazz Wars were a particular highlight. I am yet to see this, though I do have a copy waiting for a spare place in my busy taking-over-Scotland schedule. I await it with anticipation.
Here's an excerpt from the notorious DVD, though nothing too racy. This was Svatobor's half (well, third) of the concert:
Anyways, I am off to plan world political domination beginning with Scotland's electronic procurement system (I can buy coffee online). See you next week folk and folkesses.
CSW
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