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resonantTonight the three of us went to a madrigal dinner -- do they have those where y'all are? I'd never heard of one until I came to Illinois, and it's an odd combination for Illinois: food plus a strolling chamber choir singing Renaissance music.
And after dinner, the lead tenor demanded that all the people who had a ribbon tied around their chair leg should go up front for a little game. The kidlet would have loved to go up front, but I was the one with the ribbon. So I went up, dreading the worst. The last audience participation stunt I saw involved antlers.
But this turned out to be a singing sort of audience participation.
The tenor would read the name of a Christmas song off the list, and the person at the front of the line would sing a line or two of it, until the rest of the chorus either applauded (sending them back to the end of the line) or shook tambourines at them (sending them back to their seats.)
Now, I shun public speaking, not to mention karaoke, and would never volunteer to sing a solo. But I am in a choir, and I'd sing harmony for anybody, anywhere; my voice is nothing special, but my ear is terrific. And anyhow, it quickly became obvious that people weren't getting eliminated for bad voices; they were getting eliminated (1) for refusing to participate, or (2) for not knowing the words.
Oh, I thought. It's a know-your-Christmas-song contest. Bring it on!
"O Come, All Ye Faithful," and back to the end of the line. "The Holly and the Ivy," and back to the end of the line. "Silver Bells," and by now we're down to about four people; the woman next to me joins in, and for a lovely moment it looks like it will turn into an all-sing (I can sing the low part on "Silver Bells" like you would not believe), but the tenor intervenes and sends us back to the end of the line.
Someone else gets "While Shepherds Watched," which is good, because I have recordings of "While Shepherds Watched" set to about eight different tunes, and I'm afraid they'll all swirl around in my mind and paralyze me.
The tenor looks me over when I come back up and says crisply, "Gloucester Wassail." I panic briefly, not because I don't know it but because I know about five wassail songs and I can't remember which one is Gloucester, but I just sing the first one that comes to mind ("our toast it is white and our ale it is brown") and get sent to the back of the line.
It's down to me and one other woman. "Angels From the Realms of Glory," the tenor says. "I don't remember the second line," she whispers, and I whisper, "wing your flight," and the tenor says, "You're not supposed to be helping her! This is a competition!" But she couldn't bring it to mind, so on the wings of angels I'm the last singer standing.
And we haven't even tapped into my Latin.
The prize was a CD plus a framed picture of the chamber choir; I gave the picture to a couple at our table whose son was in the choir. They acted like I'd made a great sacrifice, but seriously, what was I going to do with a framed picture of sixteen college kids I didn't know? I ask you.
Anyhow, cherish your obscure talents and odd obsessions; you never know when life might call for them.
And after dinner, the lead tenor demanded that all the people who had a ribbon tied around their chair leg should go up front for a little game. The kidlet would have loved to go up front, but I was the one with the ribbon. So I went up, dreading the worst. The last audience participation stunt I saw involved antlers.
But this turned out to be a singing sort of audience participation.
The tenor would read the name of a Christmas song off the list, and the person at the front of the line would sing a line or two of it, until the rest of the chorus either applauded (sending them back to the end of the line) or shook tambourines at them (sending them back to their seats.)
Now, I shun public speaking, not to mention karaoke, and would never volunteer to sing a solo. But I am in a choir, and I'd sing harmony for anybody, anywhere; my voice is nothing special, but my ear is terrific. And anyhow, it quickly became obvious that people weren't getting eliminated for bad voices; they were getting eliminated (1) for refusing to participate, or (2) for not knowing the words.
Oh, I thought. It's a know-your-Christmas-song contest. Bring it on!
"O Come, All Ye Faithful," and back to the end of the line. "The Holly and the Ivy," and back to the end of the line. "Silver Bells," and by now we're down to about four people; the woman next to me joins in, and for a lovely moment it looks like it will turn into an all-sing (I can sing the low part on "Silver Bells" like you would not believe), but the tenor intervenes and sends us back to the end of the line.
Someone else gets "While Shepherds Watched," which is good, because I have recordings of "While Shepherds Watched" set to about eight different tunes, and I'm afraid they'll all swirl around in my mind and paralyze me.
The tenor looks me over when I come back up and says crisply, "Gloucester Wassail." I panic briefly, not because I don't know it but because I know about five wassail songs and I can't remember which one is Gloucester, but I just sing the first one that comes to mind ("our toast it is white and our ale it is brown") and get sent to the back of the line.
It's down to me and one other woman. "Angels From the Realms of Glory," the tenor says. "I don't remember the second line," she whispers, and I whisper, "wing your flight," and the tenor says, "You're not supposed to be helping her! This is a competition!" But she couldn't bring it to mind, so on the wings of angels I'm the last singer standing.
And we haven't even tapped into my Latin.
The prize was a CD plus a framed picture of the chamber choir; I gave the picture to a couple at our table whose son was in the choir. They acted like I'd made a great sacrifice, but seriously, what was I going to do with a framed picture of sixteen college kids I didn't know? I ask you.
Anyhow, cherish your obscure talents and odd obsessions; you never know when life might call for them.
(no subject)
Date: 12/6/09 06:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/6/09 06:09 am (UTC)And my high school chamber choir used to have something like a madrigal dinner. It was a Christmas in July thing (this is Australia, we sometimes have Christmas in July parties when the weather's actually approaching cold) singing Christmas carols and Britten's Ceremony of Carols. The guests were served minced pies and mulled wine, and we came onstage singing Hodie and hitching up our concert cullottes in one hand, while wrangling a carol book and a lit candle in the other. I fell down the stairs during one of those. Good times.
O holy crap, you're really fucking aaaaaaaaaawesome...
Date: 12/6/09 06:12 am (UTC)I thought I had a pretty good handle on Christmas carols, but I didn't know we had more than one wassail, and truthfully, the only version of "Here We Go a-Wassailing" that I remember well is the one from MST3K.
Then severe financial penalties shall cooooooome tooooooooo you, then severe financial penalties to yooooooou.
What was the CD you won? I need to know, for my records.
(no subject)
Date: 12/6/09 06:13 am (UTC)Of course, they're also the reason why I know what an actual boar's head smells like. Eww.
(no subject)
Date: 12/6/09 06:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/6/09 06:22 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/6/09 06:58 am (UTC)The tune of the Gloucester Wassail also works perfectly with "New York, New York" (the one from "On the Town," not the other one.)
(no subject)
Date: 12/6/09 02:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/6/09 11:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/6/09 02:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/6/09 03:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/6/09 04:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/6/09 04:26 pm (UTC)"I don't remember the second line," she whispers, and I whisper, "wing your flight,"
really wonderful, and the sort of thing that would make me adore a fic (if it happened in fiction), and the sort of thing that reminds me that I adore you.
(no subject)
Date: 12/6/09 06:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/6/09 06:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/6/09 07:02 pm (UTC)wow, good for you!
Date: 12/6/09 07:08 pm (UTC)Re: wow, good for you!
Date: 12/8/09 01:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/6/09 10:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/7/09 03:37 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 12/8/09 01:07 am (UTC)Words to live by. :)