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I recently had to turn down a great gig in Chile, so I passed it on to a dutch colleague. She's having, erm, an authentic British tour experience - right down to photos of a percussionist tenderly placed in the recovery position, having passed out in a bar. We've all done it, mate.
Musicians wrestle everywhere
All day among the crowded air
I hear the silver strife
And waking long before the morn
Such transport breaks upon the town
I think it that “New Life”!
from Emily Dickinson, Musicians Wrestle Everywhere
Well, poets, 'tis true "New Life!" scans better than "Salzedo's Harp Conditioning Exercises with the metronome at 104". But I know what I usually hear breaking the morn. Warts and all, this blog.
I'm currently involved in Judith Weir's new chamber version of her excellent opera Blond Ekbert; Really? for voice, viola, clarinet and harp by the same composer; and a new work by Kenneth Hesketh, Tall Tales, Small Tales. (reviews here and here. TwTwTw resolves to play her chord with even more imagery tomorrow night)
All the band have to sit on at the front of the stage for the first half. To preserve the dramatic atmosphere, we've been asked to behave & look serious and arty when we're not playing. This isn't a problem for the harp section, who plays non-stop, but theatrically thwarted are the others' plans to read/text/listen to their Ipods.
I won't be blogging much before July, but have been meaning for ages to saluate The Standing Room. To nick a phrase from the Room himself, he give me the good laugh, especially with today's link to the Awful German Language. I spent the other evening writing German emails, only to wake in a cold sweat at 2am realising I'd used an accusative where should have been a dative personal pronoun. Um Gottes Willen!
Even if you haven't learnt German and aren't therefore laughing hysterically throughout Twain's piece, it's perhaps worth scrolling to the end for that flash of seriousness belonging to the best comic writers:
"There are some German words which are singularly and powerfully effective. For instance, those which describe lowly, peaceful, and affectionate home life; those which deal with love, in any and all forms, from mere kindly feeling and honest good will toward the passing stranger, clear up to courtship; those which deal with outdoor Nature, in its softest and loveliest aspects -- with meadows and forests, and birds and flowers, the fragrance and sunshine of summer, and the moonlight of peaceful winter nights; in a word, those which deal with any and all forms of rest, repose, and peace; those also which deal with the creatures and marvels of fairyland; and lastly and chiefly, in those words which express pathos, is the language surpassingly rich and affective. There are German songs which can make a stranger to the language cry. That shows that the sound of the words is correct -- it interprets the meanings with truth and with exactness; and so the ear is informed, and through the ear, the heart."
Whoops - TwTwTw has been chastised by a prospective client for "poor customer service". The poor chap is right, I've surpassed myself this time. Not only did his emails slip through the net, it turns out I've been calling him Michelle for much of our correspondance.
Shamed, I've written "don't call any men by girls' names" on a harp-shaped pink post-it above my computer.
