Quote:
Originally Posted by alecE
Hi, finally returned from durance vile in a location lacking mobile broadband - ouch! Please say "Thank you" to Mallory for the postcard, complete with Bambi - it was most thoughtful and very much appreciated.
This location lacking mobile broadband was deepest, darkest Ludlow, so surprise, surprise, there will probably be a card from there falling through the letterbox sometime. Suppose I'd better confess that I'm seeing friends in the Dordogne in September.......
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In the summer of 1990, I -- along with 80 others in our choral group -- made a concert tour in England. One of the highlights was singing a concert at Ludlow parish church. The first half of the program was performed by a young British organist who had just completed his degree at Oxford. One piece on his program was
Variations on America by Charles Ives. This is an arrangement of the tune "America", also known as "My Country 'Tis of Thee", and "God Save the Queen". It starts with an extended fanfare, segues into a rather straight-forward pass thru the tune and then twists off into some amazing variations including a ragtime version and some jazz-like twists. (If you want to hear a very good rendition, see
this video on YouTube.)
So there I sit in the front row of the chorus, my knees about four feet from the ladies in the front row of the audience. The organist starts in to the piece and as people begin to recognize the tune, you can see their discomfort. First it's "do we stand?" Then it's "are we offended?" And I'm about to bust a gusset laughing silently. I've got my hand over my mouth, tears are running down my cheeks, and I'm having to just look at my lap 'cause if I look up one more time I'm going to lose it. Fortunately, there was an interval ("intermission" for us Americans) before we had to stand up and sing. I was able to get it back under control before we plunged into Dvorak's
Stabat Mater.