I am sitting in the No 1 Lounge at Gatwick Airport, it is cold and very rainy outside, but nothing like the cold I am expecting when I brave the stairway out of the plane in Inverness! I have spent a super 6 days with the family in Sussex, but all good things come to an end, so today I am on my way home, and looking forward to seeing friends at home, and feeling the super cuddle which Gretel gives me !
My ex son in law drove me to the airport along with the children, rather hang dog in appearance, and very tired from too many late nights and too much rich food ! He chatted about this and that on the way to Gatwick, telling me in much detail how proud he was of his newly acquired Chapel Choir, at the school where he recently became head of department. I smiled inwardly, M is primarily a rock musician, soul saxophonist, and backing singer with his own Blues band. He is a brilliant teacher and even as a boy his musicianship was very fine in all styles, classical included. Over the years we have had an undercurrent battle about the fact that most children nowadays are never exposed to anything but 'pop' culture music in school, which means that classical genres become devalued and forgotten.
The inward smile of the last paragraph was because he so wanted to introduce the Middy sound to his choir, he has been using all the scales and exercises he poo pooed as a boy and young man, aiming for a beautiful SOFT sound, and asking them to sing with a real sensibility with the words !
Result !
On the quiet, he has asked me to go and give the choir a vocal masterclass sometime in the coming year, how pleasing is that. He was gracious and humble in asking, and told me he finally understood how moving a soft, unified, head sound is, and how glad that he was part (all be it peripheral) for all those years of the Middy 'stable' training!
He was the finest Antonio in The Marriage of Figaro many years ago, not totally in tune, but so very funny - I think all the serious singers wanted to lynch him for stealing the show!
Of course I will be going to his school, as soon as he gives me a date.
Well done that man.
No comments:
Post a Comment