Tag: song

The scene I was in..

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With some of the other actors in the scene.

The character Alice Beech, far right of photo, sings a wonderful mezzo soprano piece about inheriting Molly Leighs cottage, that the villagers and vicar are all gossiping about the two woman’s relationship. And laments the loss of Molly.

Part of her getting the cottage obliged her to make 46 penny loaves every week to look after the “poor, the widows” basically the needy of the parish. Three townsfolk visit her as she sings. One is Winifred who is very nosy and wants to know whether Alice has “seen anything, anything strange?” since she moved in. She is ignored and just handed the loaves. Then Lily, a widow, visits and is given a few extra loaves. Finally a young woman visits for just one penny loaf. She tells Alice she doesn’t have to pretend, she understands. And that she is a friend.

The singing by Alice is lovely and written using the “Devils interval” a discordant chord which is a Tritone (six semitones) it causes an unsettled feeling in the music.

Singing

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I went to the one to one session with the opera singer. I explained that Parkinsons affects your voice and throat muscles so I’m trying to keep singing as much as I can. She got me to warm up my voice, showed me how to stick my tongue forward to relax it and allow myself to hit higher notes. I was surprised at how high I could get.

Singing in front of a professional musician was nerve-racking but she was so kind and very complementary about my voice. I don’t think I’ll ever be professional myself, but it taught me ways to improve my technique. And it was wonderful to try something new and exciting. It also made me feel less anxious about my health.

Classical

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What is your favorite genre of music?

Most classical orchestral music.

Beethoven, Bach, Stravinsky, Motzart, Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Holzt, and many more. I love all sorts of tunes and sonatas and melodies. It’s hard to remember all the names. But in a lot of cases I can sing along with them.

From gentle Strauss waltzes, to strong and vibrant marches, classic music cheers me.

I don’t dislike more modern music, but the melodies don’t stay in my mind as well.. Music is part, but not all of my life.

What will happen tomorrow?

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The world turns,

Cities fight for freedom,

One land or another is overwhelmed.

War, pestilence, natural disasters.

We seem to have all four horsemen

Riding around, a melee of fears?

The question is

What can we do?

Politics and Peace?

Politicians and War?

Who decides,

We do!

Imagine a world of peace

As Lennon sang

Idealistic but needed.

Yes!

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Do you vote in political elections?

I’ve voted in every election I could. The first time I voted following my families choice, I was young and I hadn’t really thought through my voting intentions, we had always voted one way so I followed suit.

Then I left home, my situation changed. Many conversations followed and I realised I no longer agreed with my family. Much to their surprise I changed allegance. Why? The reality of life was not as I’d imagined it as a child.

I think the important thing to do when voting is to really consider what’s on offer, not just to you, but to your neighbours and friends. Bad policies should not be selected. That means any party that is not bothered about the needs of the population should be discarded. Perhaps we could have more accurate measurement of whether parties have kept their promises?

As a woman I’m proud to vote. I remember all the women 100 years ago who fought for women’s suffrage. If you can find the song on the Internet have a listen to the song “Nana was a Sufferagette”. I think it gives a good idea of how I feel.

Singing reindeers

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Singing reindeer bringing some cheer…

We went off to a garden centre today to get some pyracantha and roses to add to our hedge, we are bulking it up because it looks like there was another attempt last night to get in. I feel like we are under seige.

Hubby nailed some fence boards back in place and we also bought a lot of chicken wire to go above the bamboo screening we have put in. Spiky Pyracantha will go next to all this. Making it more robust.

We heard Christmas music as we were searching for plants, and these animatronic reindeer made me laugh and cheered me up!

River River where do you flow….?

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Words and music by John Warner.

One of the loveliest and unusual songs we sing at choir practice is River River.

These are words from memory but I think they are pretty accurate. I had to look up the writers name as we didn’t have it. I hope I’m not breaching copyright by writing out the lyrics? I will delete ths post if here is a problem?

River River where do you flow
With your water the colour of tea
Gold and red in your sandy bed
Do you flow to the wide green sea?
No said the river I flow inland
Sink down deep beneath the rock and the sand.
Under the Geeji  and the Mugar tree
Where the desert people can find me
Earth belongs to all, she belongs to no one, she belongs to herself
Earth belongs to all, she belongs to no one, she belongs to herself…..

I was answering someone’s question about how it goes because they recently joined the choir, and I see an image a bit like my drawing in my mind when I sing it.

Music?

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What would your life be like without music?

To be perfectly honest I don’t really listen to much music. I have not been to many concerts or watch much on TV or radio.

If there are quiz questions on TV I can sometimes get answers about classical music, but I’m useless at pop music bands or songs. I don’t know why, it just doesn’t engage my brain. I know the music from my youth, I could even name some of the groups, Ultravox, Blondie, Elvis Costello. They are linked to me becoming an adult, but after that there are very rare songs or music that stir me. Maybe Bowie, or the band Queen. After that, grunge, hip hop, garage, trance? They are all just noise.

I will listen to Desert Island Discs to hear the choice of eight records a celebrity would take with them if they were marooned on an island, but that’s more about finding out what they are like rather than the music itself.

I get irritated with loud background music on TV and radio. Sometimes it’s really distracting.

I would say I have an eclectic taste in music, just not a strong taste. But the fact that I love singing, that I love being in a choir, does mean that music has somehow got a hold on me!

Singing time

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Tonight’s rehearsal was fun. We discussed our performance on Sunday at Middlewich and agreed we had done well to cope with the Loud music from across the road at a local restaurant. Our choir leader was pleased with us and told us people had come up and shook her hand!

It was also good to perform alongside her and her friend Esther from the Boat Band. When you normally sing a capella and without microphones it’s difficult to tell how things are sounding, but we didn’t cause any whistles or squeaks or feedback….

So tonight we were planning which songs to sing in a mediaeval event in July, we started singing a French song and a few other old favourites. It’s surprising how things come back to you even if you haven’t sung them for years…. We were sounding quite good by the end of the practice session.