David and Stefan's Third Great London Adventure

Steve Reich. Philip Glass. Stefan Inglis. David Hately. All in one room spanning two evenings. Fun.

London. Minimalism. Microphones swinging. Organs playing.

Tube. Minimalism. Train. Minimalism. Life. Music. Reich. Glass. Inglis. Hately. Music. Pleasure. Intellectual stimulation.

Sounds awesome. Even in. Sentence fragments.

Especially. In.

Very good, it was. Especially the second concert which was Glass' "Music With Changing Parts". The Reich concert was also interesting, but value for money was questioned.

More comments later, when I have the time and inclination to sit in a hot room in front of a computer.

Looking forward to hearing more!

Looks like I'm going to be in London next summer. My church choir is going to be in residence at Westminster Abbey again (yay!), so I'll be there for about 9 days in August, 2006. I can hardly wait. It's been 5 years since I was there last.

Maybe I can meet some of you of the British contingent and we can go for a pint or two! 'Twould be lovely.

YES! That would be excellent. Let me know more nearer the time!

August is also the time of the Proms concerts. Would you have time to sample them? (Concert programmes allowing, of course. You nor I have exactly the same taste in music, do we? *grin*)

August is also the time of the Proms concerts. Would you have time to sample them?

Aside from a rehearsal and an Evensong each day, and a couple of visits to friends in town and down near Winchester (probably on the Wednesday off), my time is my own! So yes indeed.

You nor I have exactly the same taste in music, do we? *grin*)

Maybe not. But I've always been open to trying new things, and I'm more open minded and appreciative than I once was.

Excellent. I shall keep August fairly free. Any bookings in August are likely to be in London anyway. (August is a time for me to go to concerts and generally have holiday type time off.)

Of course, I shall hear your choir perform. That would be most look-forwardable to.

Lovely! I'd like to hope you won't be sorry...not many choirs get invited back to the Abbey - we've already been in residence once in 1999. So I'd like to believe that for an American choir, anyway, we'll acquit ourselves satisfactorily.

Just betwixt you, me and Big Ben, the Abbey is a squirrelly place to sing, maybe because the quire is in the nave, rather than in the apse where it belongs. I'd almost rather sing in York Minster or Durham Cathedral. Haven't we had this conversation?

I believe we have indeed had this conversation! I went through Durham and York last Wednesday. It was only on a train though and so I couldn't wander around anywhere. York Minster is a magnificent building though.

How did you get on with the local accents in Durham? *grin*

Hi, I don't mean to intrude on your conversation, however; I just sang for an Evensong with my university choir at York Minster a few weeks ago. We've sung for many English churches and cathedrals and I have to say York Minster was one of my favourites. :)

I have been in the Yorkshire area for almost a year now (originally Canadian) and I'm just barely understanding some of the accents now. It sure takes getting used to.

I hear Ferneyhough's 'Shadowtime' was playing this past weekend in London. Anyone get a chance to see it?

Please, this is a public board, so don't feel like you're intruding!

Stefan nor I went to hear the Ferneyhough concert. It could have been interesting, but instead we had a weekend of Reich/Glass/Short Films/Long Film.

I find the people of the north to be very friendly, though understandably the accents are confusing. I consider myself a Geordie, but by no means do I have a geordie accent. I live in Leicester, as I have done for 20-ish years of my life. My accent is therefore one that many people consider "posh" though it's definitely "grass" and not "grarss", if you see what I mean. I also have the occasional Geordie inflection, apparently. However, yes: northern accents may be the most difficult to understand!

I guess I better add my tuppence worth!

Geordie?!

Wha? I really didn't notice that. Maybe Lincolnshire somewhere, sometimes, but no northernerer than that...

Anyway, the Glass concert was tremendous. Really really good. Not only was the music top notch, but the skill of the performers just keeping going was something to behold. I must get a copy of it on CD. (Music with Changing Parts).

Pendulum music was for me one of the most interesting pieces - however, as we did discuss - we could do this ourselves. And shall. Hopefully!

It was a very nice weekend - got lots done!

I once sang in the bath, but it sounded rubbish so I never did it again.

Have a good trip, David!

Originally posted by stefan inglis@Jul 13 2005, 08:39 PM

I once sang in the bath, but it sounded rubbish so I never did it again.

So there I was two nights ago, driving a truck (full of equipment that belongs to a concert band that I'm working for that plays music that only old people could possibly like), and the radio is full of garbage and so I just start vocalizing. I'm getting not so bad at throat-singing, isolating partials and the like. I can make this one nasal O sound (a lot like an English horn, actually) that nails G on the top of a treble staff.

But then I get into nonsense speech. It was mostly muttering, I tended to avoid things that even sounded like full vowels, so I tried pushing in that direction. Well, I couldn't concentrate on it too hard; I was driving and all.

Well I hope this little anecdote seems as relevant and entertaining to you.

That's actually pretty cool. :)

Yeah, it is!

I eagerly await a thread referring to all three of you having one of these London Adventures. * grins * Not only does it sound like an awesome opportunity for your choir, Viscount, but it's darn cool hearing about you guys meeting up in person.

Maybe it's not true..?

Originally posted by stefan inglis@Jul 17 2005, 10:58 AM

Maybe it's not true..?

There's a song about that.

Well, perhaps. But I feel it necessary for me to warn the British contingent that I shall almost definitely be in those isles come next summer -- though based in Edinburgh. Then again, nothing's that far away in Britain. What a pity I won't be there at the same time as the Viscount, that could be most interesting...