Roads to Safe Places

A lot, especially when it comes to her singing and the choirs she can sing in. Her ensemble performed "Lux Aurumque" at their last concert, which is beautiful piece by the conducter and composer Eric Whitacre (here's also a TTBB only version of this here commissioned by the Gay Men's Chorus of LA). 

Whitacre is not only noteworthy because of his beautiful music, but also because of his virtual choir- this is them with Lux Aurumque:



I love the VirtualChoir project, you can join here.

Thank you so much for the various birthday greetings!

GOSH, am I old! Twenty-three! The ever-so-lovely Crocky surprised my with a birthday table yesterday, complete with birthday cake and candles! She is so lovely, and everyday with her is, so yesterday was as perfect as I had anticipated in spite of being quite lazy. After that weekend I really, really did not have the least desire to go out, and so we stayed home befitting a lady as old as I am. 

Also, we did not go to Carmen as planned as it was an info event rather than the opera by the look of it, so now we have to hurry and go before the move on to Edinburgh. Maybe it would have been worth the while to go yesterday to goggle at the choirmaster, who is none but the Chapel Choir's choirmaster James. Maybe he would have been better groomed than he was at the concert on Sunday, in his proper conductor's attire for a change and without glasses. 

The weekend was fun and but all the farewells were sad. There are so many people I will never see again and who I don't really know well enough to stay in touch with, and every time I have to wish someone a good life it gives me a little stab in the chest. Seeing Julez go was one such moment. Julez the Mighty, who always We will see her again when we are back in summer, but still... it felt terrible to say goodbye. The other guys from the various courses have already gone home over the summer. Sigh. 

Hearing the concert on Sunday made me feel all emotional and nostalgic, too, but I guess that was mostly due to the superb music. It is the last time I am going to be in that church, probably. It is certainly the last time I heard the Chapel Choir sing - and they were so absolutely fantastic!  It was (yet another...) concert designed to show off the new organ - although strangely, what bothered me about the concert were the organ-only pieces. One I thought was somehow... very...  jazzy, and it flattered my non-existent knowledge no ends to find out that Gemma, a big, evil and knowledgeable music post-grad thought the same, the others were just... I don't know. I feel I don't have the background knowledge to get them and they are too loud and booming for me to like them. With the exception of a Bach piece, it was modern music only. Usually, I avoid modern music after having discovered Nono and Schoenberg, but the pieces the choir performed were all absolutely, heart-wrenchingly beautiful. 
One piece was even commissioned by the University for the organ especially and the composer was there! It was strange to think that the small man sitting in the second row should have been able to come up with that piece.
Two of the pieces always make me feel all choked and teary and emotional and make me wish I was able to sing a lot better to be able to sing with them. Oh, I found a sample, they are very short. The first one is  "Lullaby for Lucy" by Peter Maxwell Davies, the other is "A Child's Prayer" by James McMillan. Sigh. That one always makes me cry. Oooh, and Swayne's "Beatus Vir". Beautiful.

Today, I was half-heartedly planning to go to the movies, but somehow, there just isn't anything which sounds interesting - with the possible exception of Wah-Wah and United 93 - both films I'd much rather see at home than in the cinema. But the rest...? 
Why exactly does anyone want us to go and watch Poseidon? Why should anyone see a movie without a plot or characters? Well, for the floating corpses and the shipwreck. Are we interested in shipwrecks? I don't think so. It's rated 12A, too - which means there'll probably be to much carnage for me, anyway. 
Then - The Omen 666... not that I didn't like the original version, but... Nah. Brooding kids and blue filters are not scary. 
Oh, yeah, The Wild. I wanted to go and see a horror movie, but there is no way I am going to endure that. 

So - we'll see. I guess staying home and watching The Memoirs of a Geisha which I didn't see when it was in the cinemas will be it. I wish I had read the book, but I guess if I had, it would make me wish I hadn't seen the film. 
Oh, which also means more time spent with my book (The Unbearable Lightness Of Being - which has been on my reading list for sooo long now. Since I first heard of the author  back in - what was it, '97? -anyway, nearly ten years ago, I wanted to read that book and somehow never got round to doing it, but I saw it in the library yesterday and just had to take it out. Strangely, to read  on the receipt that I have to hand it in "by no later than 27-09-06" made me feel all teary-eyed again. I won't even be here then, I won't even have my library card... Ah, well.

Hugs to all.

Once more, my beloved Chapel Choir has had the chance of being broadcast on BBC radio! Yes, that famous our dearest Crocky has become!

So, go ahead and listen to the service here.

I think it will not be on there for long, though.

That choir is really good!! So if you want to hear some native Scots reading and preaching and a REALLY good choir (with an excellent second soprano) singing, click here!!


EDIT: I love the songs, even though they have what Crocky describes as "happy clappy" quality. Sigh. I want my choir back, why didn't they do something in the third trimester as well?
The funny thing is that even though there was no congregation, it sounds as though there was one due to the choir. I have not often heard such fervent "amen"s. I bet they were instructed to sound convinced... 
Ah, yes, they were. Crocky just tells me they were told "not to sound like zombies". I love James.

I know!! The lady in front just told me, Morven asked me why I was behind her AND Netta on the other side asked whether I was a second alto. NO! I am not! I am just confused! Just because I managed to screw up the seating because I thought we should all move one row back like yesterday does not mean I don't notice. Sigh.

Now I am no longer sitting comfortably in the middle of the alto section in the front row, the best or in some cases just loudest altos just behind me, no, I am sitting between two of the best altos we have... and of course make tons of mistakes, because I can't do sight reading, because I have missed one or the other rehearsal. I do hope everything'll go well... And I hope I don't miss her sometimes not too clear cues for when we have to get up. She does give cues, but sometimes, they're just a wee bit... flaily. Not easy to find out when she wants us actually standing. I'll just stick to doing exactly what the guys around me do.

Stop reading what I'm writing, idiot. I love it when people at the library don't even pretend NOT to be reading what I'm writing. Well, fine. Come along to the concert! 19:30! In the Chapel! Buy a ticket! Support the choir! Mozart's Mass in C Minor!

If anyone is interested, maybe the concert will actually be on here. Maybe it's not, it's all black to me just now.

And after the concert - home, work on the Psy Essay and the Russian Writing project. Gah. I need more Russian friends.

I hate my workload. I already had to miss the Ann Summer's party at Kat's Hall on Friday, and today I'm most probably going to miss the Ceilidh because of work.

I. Want. Holidays.

I hope youse have a nice weekend!

Stolen from a lot of people:

ENFJ- The Teacher You scored 63% I to E, 42% N to S, 42% F to T, and 42% J to P!

Your type is known as the teacher, or the educating mentor. You also belong to the larger group, called idealists. You tend to bring out the best in other people. You lead without seeming to do so. People are naturally drawn to you. You expect the very best from people which takes the form of enthusiastic encouragement which is so charming that people try their best not to disappoint you. You share your personality type with 3% of the population. You need to feel a deep and meaningful connection to your romantic partners, and go to great lengths to understand and please your mate. Harmony is vitally important to you, and you often put others' needs before your own. You have a pretty thin skin and are easily hurt. Although you strive for harmony, when your values or ethics are violated, you can be very emotional, confrontational, and even punishing. However, you are very insightful about the underlying cause of conflicts, and an excellent communicator, so you have the tools to bring about a quick and peaceful resolution as long as you can keep control of your facilities. You want to be appreciated for your thoughtfulness and compassion. You need your partner to make a real effort to get to know you. Above all, you need to be able to express your feelings and have them taken seriously. Your group summary: idealists (NF) Your type summary: ENFJ

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 75% on I to E You scored higher than 51% on N to S You scored higher than 41% on F to T You scored higher than 35% on J to P

Link: The LONG Scientific Personality Test written by unpretentious2 on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

I used to be an INTP! What happened to me? Well, but some of those decisions are hard to make, they depend largely on mood, maybe?

Well, I'm in a good mood. We have just had the first progress test in Russian of the year and instead of getting the promised 15 sentences with gaps for words in the right case we got last year's end of year exam... which consists of a translation of a short text ONLY. Whee!! There will be another grammar exam and another oral exam at the end of the year.

Funnily enough our darling teacher Margaret Tejerizo gave us lots of help, we went through the text together, reading it out loud and got plenty of help with the words we didn't know... in the end we practically translated the whole text together. Not hard, it was actually fun.

So, another quiet weekend. There is a concert on Sunday with the Chapel Choir (with one of the best second sopranos in the whole wide world *hearts*) and the University Chapel's shiny new organ, I'm looking forward a lot to that.

Special wishes to Count_Tygath who's doing his Essay Test today!

Lots of hugs to all of you. Enjoy your well-deserved weekend!

...no, not Klaus von Dohnanyi, the composer Ernö or Ernst von Dohnányi (whose grandson is, incidentally, the Chief Conductor of the NDR Sinfonieorchester in Hamburg!! [/useless trivia of the day]).

The concert will be tonight at 7:30.
Will the altos be able to sing their parts? 
Will they manage to find a tuba for the Vaughan Williams - in which there are quite a number of tuba solos?  
Will there actually be someone there to hear the concert?
Will there be more people than the fifteen regulars who always attend service and some bored  random parents and husbands who have been dragged along?

( The woes of a member of the Choral Society )

I hope we're going to do the piece justice - it is so beautiful! It has one of the most beautiful Kyries I have ever heard, so if someone finally bothers to record or perform it and you have the chance to hear it, do so! It's so beautiful.

Ah, well. Off to select a text to bring along to the Writing Society tomorrow...

*hugs* to all!