5/26/10

Tonight we saw the Holst singers perform in the Temple Church.  Come Jesus Come was such a powerful work.  I got the sense that these singers really understand what they are singing about.  They can feel just as well as the audience the pleading in the opening lines of the piece "come, come, come Jesus, come".  We talked about this piece in class and there was some discussion of how the music aids the text in the pleading prayer to the converging of the different parts on the second page.  I think that maybe the converging voices represents the praying/ pleading individual growing nearer to the Savior or perhaps drawing nearer to his rest.  Such would be the case if the individual was dying.  I also noticed that as we get further into the piece we loose the energy and dynamic contrast from the beginning.  The blend also seems a bit more lazy.  I'm thinking that this may be an intentional reflection of the text speaking of weariness and a longing for death but, then we move into a rejoicing/ dance like section which is full of live and energy.

The concert was interspersed with cello solos which was an absolute delight.  I want to study what it is about stringed instruments that really just seem to penetrate right to the heart.  Interestingly enough, the cordae tendonae pull down on the valves that bring blood from the atriums to the ventricles.  These valves play a major part in creating the pressure necessary for the heart to pump.  Well I digress.  I just wonder if these strings vibrate at a frequency similar to the frequency of low stringed instruments.  It might sound "way out there" but something really happens to me when I hear beautiful cello and violin music.  I nearly cried as the cellist played his first piece, Bach's "Cello Suite no. 1".  This is a well loved piece featured in diamond commercials and car commercials.  It is a lovely piece that, aside from it's pop culture use, can stand it's own among great suites for solo instrumentalists.  I was overcome with emotion hearing this piece in this setting.  It took my breath away. Sadly to say, after the initial effects wore off, I wished the cellist played into his instrument more.  It just felt sort of lack luster by the end.

The Holst Singers came back on with a few German motets that I felt lacked performance qualities like musical nuance but it did have beautiful clarity of tone.

"Sing Ye to the Lord" I felt had great performance quality on the part of the conductor and the choir.  There were some fun stylistic things going on such as trills.  I was impressed by the agility of the choir in the melisma lines; the kind of agility we heard in the London Bach Choir.  By the time we reached the climax of the melismatic-ness in the first section of the piece, things were a mess.

Overall, I was impressed to see this group move from rehearsal mode to concert mode shortly after.  The gave an emotionally charged concert.  

5/23/10

Today I attended the Sung Eucarist at St. Paul's Cathedral.  I had a unique experience doing so.  I travelled there alone which left me time to contemplate my surroundings and the nature of the Sabbath day.  This sounds a little silly but, I've had little alone time since arriving in London and it was nice to have some time to reflect on my blessings and to prepare my spirit for the day.  I had the pleasure of attending the premiere of Francis Grier's service "Missa Spiritus Sancti".  Now, I say it was a pleasure because it was really neat and contemporary and interesting however, by the time the sound reached back to where I was sitting, it sounded like it had gone through a food processor.  It seemed like a very moving work with drama.  There were drums and other percussion instruments played.  I thought, what is the purpose of this work?  Is it to delight the senses? Was it written specifically for large cathedrals like St. Paul's in mind?  I felt that this music might have been more appropriate for a concert setting but I enjoyed hearing something different.

5/24/10

Our day began a little later in the morning with a BBC singers rehearsal.  We met at the appointed place.  I read the Standard (free news paper) on the tube.  I really have come to enjoy that paper.  There is lots of interesting information about politics, local art/ music scene info, and pop culture alerts.  When we arrived at the studio, I was feeling pretty excited to see what they are made of.  The building looked pretty bland from the outside.  Come to find out that this was only the BBC music building and the amount of music coming out of that building and reaching all over Great Britain is really impressive!!!  I wonder if BBC was in it's hayday in the 60's and 70's more than it is now.  You look at all the pop culture stuff they've produced and it is well loved.  My question is, are people listening to the BBC Singers today?  I would like to see the statistics of that!

The rehearsal was a long one indeed.  

5/27/10

I sit here at a train station near Manchester.  My heart has been racing all morning.  Maybe because I’m nervous to be traveling alone and getting lost.  Maybe because I’m nervous I’ll mess up.  I let on to be very confident and independent, which I am, but this is the first long journey I’ve planned out all on my own.  I have orchestrated parts of my travels in the past but this time, it’s all me.  I arrived at the rail station about 15 minutes after my train took off.  A few things held me up in the tube station. There were some delays on the trains, I helped a girl with her suitcase, and I saw a child crying in the corner alone because she didn’t know where her daddy was.  I stopped to comfort her and see if there was anything I could do.  It’s pretty feasible that a parent could loose their child in one of those tube stations that connects to a rail station.  There are so many people commuting and traveling, especially since it’s a bank holiday here in England.  I worried for her and touched her arm asking if she was ok.  She said through her tears something about her daddy.  Only moments later, I heard a voice say “she’s ok” as her father came up with her mother and baby in a stroller.  She was just a little confused.  Poor little thing.  So, I explained my hold ups to the woman at the counter and everything seemed to work out just fine!  I didn’t have to pay any penalty fees or anything.  Blessed day!  I think I’m still just all shook up from the craziness.  It’s comforting to know that I can ask almost any stranger here for directions or help and they are all so kind and willing to explain things.  I have a pretty good sensor for who I can talk to.  Don’t worry mom and dad, I’ve only asked young female strangers for directions and nothing else.  I really feel pretty safe traveling around in England.  People get all worked up about muggings and violence but, I’ve found the English to be quite pleasant.  Perhaps thats because I’ve been spending most of my time in the nice parts of London.  South Ken isn’t exactly the roughest neighborhood.  We have one neighborhood bum.  He sleeps in the same place every night on some cardboard.  I’d like to have a chat with him sometime.  I think he’s got it made.  He has a warm bed every night...at least in the summer months...he doesn’t pay taxes and he always has food to eat, at least from what I’ve seen.  I don’t envy that he doesn’t have running water.  I suppose he could bathe at the lake in Hyde Park.  

I finally arrived at exactly half past 2 as expected.  I hopped off the train a little nervous and not knowing what to expect.  I would be seeing a close friend that I hadn’t contacted in 2 years.  Luke is the first close friend to come home that I’ve been able to see.  I found my way to the train exit and explained why I had the wrong ticket and such.  He let me through the gates no problem.  I look up and there I see Luke!  I felt SO excited! More excited than I was when I landed in England even!  I love the people in my life very much.  I practically skipped/ jumped over to hug him.  I was relieved to see him all smiles.  I know that the first few days home from the mission can be a really depressing time but Luke seemed genuinely excited to have me there.  I gave him a big squeeze which, he confirmed later did make him feel a tad uncomfortable.  I think it’s partially a British thing and partly a RM thing.  Maybe both.  Anyway, it felt great to finally be there.  I must have chatted to him at about a mile a minute telling him about my trip there, my travels in London, things about BYU, and trying to catch him up on our friends and pop culture.  I think the “catching up with pop culture” thing is pretty futile.  I just told him what I found to be the best new movies and songs. Anyway, we walked around Southport.  It felt like we were both visitors.  Luke said to me, “this is such and such street...I think”.  We walked down the promanade and the pier which jutted out into what looked like a sandy version of the salt flats in Utah; sand and puddles of muddy water.  Fun!  Lets go hang out at the beach...I mean...uhhh. 

We made our way back through town and to his home.  It was fun to walk by the bustling down town area.  There was plenty of live music because of this Southport Jazz festival!  FUN!  We made our way back for some dinner and to get settled in for the night.  Mr. and Mrs. Chalmers are just lovely people and so inviting.  We chatted about BYU and our families and our faith and of course we played a round of taboo.  I love that game.

5/25/10

Have you ever read “The Canterbury Tales”? Well, today I have a tale about not going to Canterbury.  We all set off to meet at the tube station and then walk to where our coach would pick us up.  We walked here, there, and everywhere.  From, I think it was somewhere near Temple station, up to Big Ben, across that bridge, and back down to the London Eye.  Funny thing was, we could have just crossed a different bridge right across the Thames from the eye.  This sort of thing seems to happen regularly.  We pick a less convenient station or we wind up back tracking.  It doesn’t ever really frustrate me... it just makes me laugh.

We all boarded our bus and I was feeling pretty ready to set off on this adventure!  Canterbury is a hot spot for Crusade history which was a very interesting time.  We waited...then waited some more...then finally we realized the coach started smelling like exhaust.  We were told to get off the bus which was fine to me.  We were right in front of the London Eye at this point and there was a grassy field right next to the river that was just calling my name.  We got out and took some pictures.  Scott asked our friend Heidi what she thought of first thing this morning.  She said something like “my breakfast was delicious”.  I said, “I woke up this morning and the first thing I said to myself was ‘I am so glad I’m not wearing a burka’”.  Scott laughed and I felt pretty witty.  It’s true though!  The weather was so lovely that I simply had to do some cartwheels in the grass!  We waited a few minutes while all our supervisors tried to get everything under order.  It was decided that because we couldn’t go see Canterbury, we would just have another free day to play around London. It was also decided that they would give us 40 pounds to go see a show which thrilled me to pieces! I could really get used to this whole not working playing all the time thing...but then I realize that I would soon run out of funds.  Nathan got everyone tickets to ride the Eye which was pretty cool.  Surely not 17 pounds cool but cool nonetheless.  It was mostly just fun to be in the little bubble and watch how everything worked...it’s pretty genius.  We even watched a 4 minute, 4D movie before hand that was so cool we had to see it twice...more bang for our buck that way!!

Our friend Robert Crapo joined us on our adventures today.  As we walked in the direction of the tube station I saw a group of young people packing up some instruments.  I saw what looked like a jazz combo and asked them “are you guys still playing?” They said they were about to take a little break but...they decided to play another song.  The three of us stood there and listened for a few bars and then Scott asked me to dance.  He must have read my mind!  This band was just jammin and I was really feeling the need to dance!  So, we did!  Scott swung me around and we did some cool moves...so cool that we gathered more of a crowd than the actual band.  They kept playing for a while and Robert said that people were stopping and giving the band money.  Even the band members thanked us for dancing haha! I have been wanting to panhandle for two weeks now!  Scott and I could totally just swing dance for money...we just need the right outfits.  I tell you, there was quite a crowd.  Should have gotten pictures of that!

We made our way to Picadilli Circus to find out about some shows.  We walked for about a half an hour to the Royal Theatre (I think that was what it was called...around here everything has something to do with royalty).  We got student seats in about the 10th row center for 25 pounds!!! Fan-jolly-tastic!  Robert, Scott, and I then made our way through Covant Garden which is a deceptive name for this indoor/ outdoor shopping mall.  Thats all it is really...unless I missed something!  ha.  We walked around there and I found this vintage toy shop.  I was hoping to get some miniture doll furniture for the dollhouse that my grandparents made for me.  I’ve been working on that VERY slowly.  I think it will be a lifelong project.  We didn’t buy anything and decided to try out the London Museum.  That was fantastic!  I learned about what it was like to live in London in the thousands of years before Christ.  Can you imagine?  How did these people communicate with each other? What language did they speak?  Luckily we had Robert there who is a linguistics major.  He said that the English language developed around 15,000 years ago!  Shnikies!

6/6/10

-slept until 10:00...missed church :(

-wanted to go to St. Pauls

-had a leasurly morning instead and a big brunch

-went to Winsor (I forgot that I've seen Winsor castle before haha until I was there and recognized the outside)

-saw really cool things like the miniture doll house (nothing close to what I'm aiming for)

-knight of the garder and hallway

-more of those fire place face protectors

-ate at this irish pub

-late for evensong so we walked around a bit and thought about doing the "long walk"

-found this church I went to with Liberty in 2007!  Fun to be there again.

-drowned our sorrows in icecream for missing the evensong

-met up with our friends and came home

6/5/10

Tonight we heard the Croydon Philharmonic Choir sing Haydn's "Creation".  It started off as a typical concert but slowly developed some character as the soloists began to sing.  I was impressed with the technique of the soprano although I felt that her communication suffered as a result.  There was a particular segment that really interested me...the bit about Adam and Eve.  The conductor decided to be true to oratorio style and have sort of a "scene" develop between the soprano and baritone soloist.  I found that it was more distracting than serving the music.  It seemed to come from nowhere.  This was a choral society that impressed me more than the other choral society we listened to.  I was engaged in this concert and impressed that although the woman's section was more than twice the size of the men's section there was a pretty decent balance.  

-huge breakfast

-abbey road

-camden road market

-attempted swimming in the serpentine

-Cadogan Hall to hear Croydon Philharmonic Choir sing Haydn's Creation

-clubbin that night babay

-rush to get plane tix

6/4/10 Friday

Today we commemorated Poppy Day.  We talked about WWI and WWII from the English perspective and then studied "In Flander's Field", V. Williams "Dona Nobis Pacem", and Britten's "Requiem Mass".  Our discussion of the wars really informed our study of this music.  "Requiem Mass" in particular required some heavy coaching to walk us through the thickness of the piece.  There is just so much to take in.  I know I felt as if we had just scratched the surface of this piece.  I thought of something else also.  I've noticed that at many of the larger concert halls the conductors and sometimes composers give free lectures about the music.  I don't know if this is nearly as common in the US.  I gather that the English are anxious to enrich their understanding of the art they are consuming and I find that inspirational.  Every day people, not choral scholars, but just people who love music can come and buy a ticket to a concert and then have a brief study of that music.  Neat.

-poppy day

-we were supposed to go see the war museum, we did write out thoughts about war as an assignment

-lecture first about the war and second about music that had to do with war

-went to the flats for a really yummy lunch (that chicken dish Taylor taught me how to make)

-took some left overs and snacks out with us

-walked to the theatre for tix

-stopped in Trafalgar square to "swim" in the fountains

-tried to go to so ho square and sit in the park to just relax and kick it for a few hours

-found another square instead...a private park actually

-gate was open but locked afterwords behind us so we had to hop the fence

-we got twenty pound tix

-show totally sucked.  I couldn't have liked it less.

-walked around Picadilli stoped at KFC for icecream and ate our left overs

-searched for a place to party but gave up and decided to go the next day

6/3/10 Thursday

Thursday 6/3/10

Today was our trip to Canterbury.  We all met in Greenwich  early in the morning.  This is the furthest they’ve asked us to travel on our own in order to meet up with the group.  Scott comes down in the morning all proud because he’d found a more effective method of getting to Greenwich than suggested by Nathan, our choral assistant.  (again with all the interesting directions).  Pretty soon, we had an entire group following Scott.  He always knows where he is going and I think people have come to expect that.  We got separated at one of the train stations and everyone started freaking out because they lost Scott (at least that was the story that was relayed to me later).  We arrived on our bus  for a very uncomfortable ride.  It was so stinkin hott on that thing.  I did not know what the deal was.  It was sooo bad that I thought about asking for a partial refund.  There is no way that the air blowing on us was AC air.  It was like luke warm!  

We finally arrived and Scott had already made a list of the places we could visit.  He catogorized them by price: free, cheap-er, and cheap.  We both really wanted to see the Normal castle and that was really the only thing we had time for anyway.  So we set out and stumbled upon it.  This thing was built during the 11th century!!!  Of course, it is only in ruins now having served it’s purpose as a royal residence, a storage facility, and the home of a gas tank.  I thought it looked pretty cool still.  Scott and I walked up this spiral staircase that had one of those darn gates that prevent you from reaching the top.  I decided it might be fun to climb over it and continue walking up the stairs. I grabbed the gate and anchored my feet on the rocks of the wall a little bit.  Scott wasn’t shouting his praises at my choice of activity so, I got a little nervous that I couldn’t do it and such and started to climb back down. There were some rot iron spokes clawing over the top but, I fit right through.  Scott documented this event of course.  The view from the top of the stairs was quite lovely. 

Scott and I wanted to check out the Canterbury museum.  We found it and it turns out that there are remnants of an ancient Roman home below the ground floor of the museum.  Totally amazing!  Too bad we didn’t have enough time to actually go into the museum. As we were walking back into the main part of town I saw this cool alley way.  I like narrow and interesting looking alley ways...during the day of course!  I decided we needed to walk through a particular one and behold, there was a lovely bridge and a grassy park area!  Scott and I felt as if we stumbled upon hidden treasure. 

We met up with the group to tour Canterbury Cathedral and St. Augustine’s Abbey.  Our tour guide at the cathedral was incredible and was able to captivate our attention for about an hour and a half.  With a combination of fun facts, historical facts, myths and folklore, and comedy, I actually felt that my money was well spent in deciding to take a guided tour even though we technically didn’t make the decision because it was part of our program.  but, anyway, there were some memorable things about that tour the biggest thing is that this church was the spiritual home for the legendary Thomas Beckett (and the destination for the pilgrims in the famous story “Canterbury Tales”).  We began our tour talking about the facade of the building and how it’s grown from it’s original romanesque structure to the gothic structure.  There is a plaque on the floor in remembrance of the “Fire Watchers” who stood on top of the roof of the church and threw bombs off and preserve this “mother of all Anglican cathedrals”.  The next memorable bit was this inner walkway outside the chapel.  We learned that through time the church began to function as a boys school.  There were midieval handprints and games carved into the stone by these children.  We were also brought to the place where Beckett was supposedly slain and told the rather groosome story.  When we went into the crypt, I was disappointed that I was unable to capture the beauty of this space.  It felt like the most reverent part of the cathedral all dimly lit and silent.  Not that those elements are necessary for reverence, obviously, but this was a much more still place than the chapel section.  There is a chapel that was a gift for French refugees to come worship in.  They continue to do so till this day and they only rarely open the doors to outsiders.  We walked up the stairs and looked at the shrine for the final burial place for Beckett (because he had three different burial places in that one cathedral).  There were stories of miracles occurring when the sick and afflicted made the journey to his burial place.  They would touch or kiss his shrine and be miraculously healed.  They would pray and kneel around the shrine so often that there are indentations in the marble.  Pretty incredible.  

-lady follows us around

-we go to the St. Augustine's Abbey

-enjoy the ruins 

-met up for boat rides

-went to evensong and barely made it in time

6/2/10

Logan and I decided, while chatting on facebook last night, that we (including Scott) should wake early, get out by 9, get tickets to see the play “All My Sons” and watch the London Tower Bridge raise for a boat to go through.  It lifts about 1000 times a year and they always schedule these lifts.  Well, we didn’t get out by 9...it was more like 10 so, we missed the bridge lift.  Jessica decided to join us and she and Logan ran off to the British Library while Scott and I ran to the London Tower Bridge to use our little passes we got from climbing the monument.  I laugh, still, at this monument.  It was like...how can we get tourists to pay us more money?  OH...I know, build this “monument” and make them pay to climb 311 stairs.  Anyway, we got to the bridge and had about an hour before “All My Sons”.  They had this really cool little movie explaining how and why the bridge was designed and built.  It was honestly much more exciting than I anticipated.  I was really hoping that these footpaths would be open to the air. How exhilarating would that have been 46 meters above the Thames?  Well, it wasn’t open to the air.  There was, however, plenty of information to read about the bridge and it’s relationship to London.  They also had some Victorian games set up which were not unlike other games I have played.  My favorite was this sort of horse shoes game where you have rope circles and pegs to throw them over.  There were five pegs set up in the shape of a box and I got the peg with 25 points (the most you can get) two tosses in a row. :) Beginners luck probably.  I just remember the few times I played horse shoes as a girlscout in the park in Disco by my grandparents house.  I was never very good at that.  They also had a long display of some of the world’s greatest bridges.  I would like to see the world’s oldest wooden bridge in Sweden some day.  I was happy to discover that the Golden Gate is indeed displayed there.  Did you know that the Golden Gate is the most popular bridge to jump off of to commit suicide.  Sad!  Maybe the Brits have it right in enclosing the foot path. 

I think the most interesting part of the bridge was to learn about Victorian engineering.  It was rather clever.  We could see this displayed in particular in the engine room.  I won’t bore you with that stuff.  If you’re really curious after seeing the pictures...look it up online to read about it :)

Finally we made our way to the theatre for “All My Sons”.  Scott and I made it back just in time.  Probably 42.3 seconds before the lights dimmed for the show to begin.  I splurged and bought a 2nd row seat for 31 pounds.  yikes.  I justified this decision because this play is the only thing in London that has 5 star reviews right now.  After seeing the show, I can confirm that this rating is well deserved.  We sat down to an open curtain and one of the most incredible sets I’ve ever seen.  There was this sort of New Orleans style farm house and a front yard, lawn furniture and all.  They had actual grass on the stage people!!!  It was an incredible story written by Arthur Miller about an American family during WWII.  The father sold bad parts to the airforce and all the planes went down killing 21 pilots.  This is a story of lies and deception and the dynamics of a family that shape how we view the world.  There were some incredible scenes between the father, Joe, his wife and his son Chris.  I felt as if I was looking in on private conversations that were actually happening.  There commitment was so intense that it sucked me right in.  I was so captivated I had little thought to critique or analyze.  I simply listened and experienced this moving story.  There were only a few stage choices that threw me out of the story for a brief moment. There was a conversation going on between the mother and her dead son’s sweetheart.  Chris and Joe sat by listening to the girl talk intently while I felt it would have been more effective for them to converse separately and chime in after their ears purked up for some reason or another.  Does that make sense?  Another scene came in the second act.  The mother made grape juice for a family gathering and the neighbors kept coming in and out.  Members of the family would pour a glass for these visitors and they would never take the glass or if they did, the wouldn’t drink from it.  I was like...what’s the point of the grape juice if you don’t really use the prop...it’s distracting more than a tool.  These critiques are little to be concearned about however.   The show was incredible.  I haven’t given a standing ovation for any show since I got here but this was truly incredible.  I stood and held back my tears.  I was absolutely astounded. 

Our next adventure was to look for a place to dine.  Jessica and Logan wanted Thai food.  Scott and I suggested sushi and everyone seemed game for that.  We were looking for a sushi place when Logan came up with the brilliant idea to ask the people in this Chinese resturant.  I thought, yea thats a good idea.  Let’s ask other resturants where we can find their competitors.  haha good idea.  We stumbled upon a Thai resturant that looked pretty posh and decided we could splurge on some quality food.  It was a treat indeed.  I ordered a red curry chicken dish and brown rice.  We had lively conversation, which we always do with Jessica and Logan.  We talked about social standards and our present social dynamic in the program.  Jessica and I really get along.  We are independent women with strong minds thus, we don’t get all touchy about things.  It’s refreshing to be able to be honest with her and have it so well received.  Scott decided that we all needed to try this sweet mango rice dish.  It was absolutely heaven sent!!! It reminded me of this wet/ spongy yellow cake my Aunt LuAnn makes.  Rice with mango slices smothered in coconut milk was DIVINE.  

We then headed out to become cultured even further by seeing the opera “Tosca” presented by the England National Opera.  I was less than pleased when we got to our seats.  Since Scott and I are in charge of bathroom clean up, getting tickets after class and before concerts is a low priortiy.  Thus, we wind up getting whatever ones are left.  I used to think that they built theatres so well that there weren’t “bad” seats.  That was before I sat in the far right of the upper balcony in the London Colluseum.  The front of the balcony blocked my view of half the stage.  The other half of the stage was blocked by the large head of the man in front of me. BoOoo0o0oo.  I managed to just enjoy the first act anyway.  I laughed at the jokes and enjoyed the music.  This piece feels very grandiose yet, I feel like all opera is that way. Big and dramatic....that’s kind of the point.  I asked the attendants how long before the show began they would continue to seat the audience.  This attendant knowingly said, “right up until the show starts, the house is full”.  I thought...a) how do you know it’s actually full? did you have a little meeting with all your little usher friends and found out that the house was packed and to not let people switch seats.  probably.  I’m thinking, sometimes people don’t even show up to the opera they got tickets for!  I asked if I could stand on the sides of the balcony where at least I could get a full view...again, the answer was no probably because of all the lighting equipment nearby.  I so coveted the members of our group who had seats in the front row of the balcony.  During the first interval, I asked some of my front row friends if there were any open seats during the first act and as it turned out...there were! Scott and I nabbed those right up.  There was zilch leg room but the view was sooooo much better.  This is what happens when Michelle gets aggressive.  :)

I was quite impressed with the ease with which the baritone sang.  Opera singing and acting requires serious stamina.  These guys go on without mics and sing for every last seat in that colluseum.  It’s incredible.  Sitting in the balcony allowed me to just listen and try to picture the story using the expressiveness of the singers as my guide.  I was impressed that both Tosca and her lover, Mario, could project and portray such powerful and deep emotions using only their voices.  I’ve heard recordings of operas but never attended one live (Phantom of the Opera certainly does not count!) so this was quite the experience for me. 

6/1/10

Today we had a lecture from Paul Spicer, the conductor of the Finzi Singers.  We listened to him all day. Quite literally.  Here's my notes from the day:

-Helen Wadell had an influence on Howells

-psalms of the wondering scholars begin with a quote from Wadell

-spirituality, a sense of other, inspiration taken from earlier music, popular focus of work in the early 20th century dispite the fact they are athiest

-sacred and secular rub shoulders through text

-dulomere??? cold and stillness of winter, the birth of jesus to intensify the image, in a poem

-Howells setting of this poem, sense of remoteness painted in sound

-listening to this piece

-Orthodox worship “ppl look at worship as consciousness of heaven come down to earth...howells and English visionary composers are trying to create this

-music paints a sense of wonder by basses starting low and other voices build until the soprano descant creating an etherial

-synesthesia: mixing of senses

-this music is the equivalent of stained glass windows for a more sophisticated audience

-when Vaughn williams came in Glauster cathedral with his fantasia, fused the old and new

-for some composers, Gregorian chant created the distance, Williams used the English Hymnal to create eclesiastical distance and a psalm with his own music

-the mass in G minor, it was to bring a whole new world of tet and musical feelings, like the Oxford movement, catholic revival...stress higher standard of church worship

-Finze was a free thinker, not a church goer which is interesting bc the church music he wrote

-”religion should be like a weather clock” something about fixing north south east and west...blowing in the wind instead

-what speaks to him about the music is the raw emotional power, spirituality and sensuality, allows the humanist to contact this music

-sostinato***

“misa sabrenenses” Howells

-20 minutes, set in paragraphs, 7 bohr (sabranences is the nuber seven in latin)

-raw power hung on the coat hanger or ------

-creed, drama of the resurection leading oto the words “and his kingdom will have no end”, most power of English music!!!

-the heart of the matter is visionary

Lewis forman said: “the agnostics at prayer” and pieces he listed as the pieces that created this

-how shall I sing thy magesty...a singers tune

-Christ triumphant...another singers tune, great range

-RS Thomas 1913-200 Welch Poet

-a writer he’s set as a composer more than anyone

-”but” is the word that turns it all around, there are these “but” moments in the text and a but moment in the songs

-”alive” to celebrate the dioscese in Birmingham

-he conducts the Birmingham conservatory choir

Dyson and Howells

-was called the town of 100 trades

-harmed the envoronment there...it became very industrial

-alliteration lyrics for Dyson’s memorial for his father, fitness of a marriage of words and music

-listening exercise....alliteration one, drudgy and fitting for the text and the setting in which he grew up

Dyson’s Cello Sonata is soooo beautiful!!!

Howells was the first to recieve radium treatment?  !

G-D a perfect 5th, canterbury pilgrims, signed this way often....how would I sign?

He scripted the last 2-ish hours of his lecture and moved so rapidly through it that I could barely type what all he was saying.  My favorite thing about this experience was to learn from Mr. Spicer who is an expert in the composers Howells and Dison.  He has written books about them and knows so much about their lives and the history of the world surrounding the writing of specific pieces that really informs the way we listen and absorb the music.

-tuesday = class all day

-Paul Spicer lectured us....all day!

-saw the play London Assurance with Logan

-before the show started we had some time to kill...we sat and listened to these Andrew Sister wanna be's

-we asked what it took to perform there :)  they said talent...I said "you're looking at it"

-called the BYU health center to get a job and promised to send in a resume

-tried to go to that open mic musical theatre bar

-guy followed us...i think...awkward

-place was booked so we boogied home

5/31/10

-left from the Liverpool station sooo early in the morning.  Like 6:30!

-interesting characters on the bus

-lonely ride...blogged a bit but slept most of the time

-Arrived at the Victoria bus station and who was waiting there for me??? Scott.  with a gift in hand.  He loves me.

-we decided we needed to have some fun.

-the monument, harmons, jeans for Scott

-found a blues bar and went back

-Johnny and our new friend utalized that open mic night and did a swell job!

-bought cokes and got the best seats in the house

-went back to sleep because we had an early morning the next morning

5/30/10

-sunday, church which turned out to be stake conference

-sunday dinner was salmon

-played uno

-watched Mobsters and Mormons

5/29/10

-LIVERPOOL

-breakfast of a muffin and some milk and we hit the station

-when we arrive in Liverpool we hit the TATE first.  Who knew they had a TATE Liverpool?  

-Picasso gallery was amazing

-lots of surrealist art which really excites me!  I love love love surrealism

5/28/10

-saw Luke's guitar teacher playing

-got huge cups of hot coco

-walked around a bit, hit up top man, Luke's favorite shop

-Luke goes home teaching so, I hang out with Luke's mama and sister, we girls talk shop