Alright. After the last little brainwasher, things have calmed down. Just a bit. Way out here it's much quieter than even sleepy Norfolk. Except for the near-constant Bach...
Allow me to accurately describe my situation. I, a living Countertenor, have moved to Truro, deep in the heart of Cornwall, or KERNOW in the old style. I now reside in a medium sized, three bed Georgian town house with three other people. Just like most student housing, the front parlour has been converted to another bedroom (I do not live here). I live with a Baritone, a Bass, and a Tenor. WHY AREN'T WE A QUARTET UNDER ONE ROOF?! More on that story later. My room's ok, though, for saying I must now ascend and descend stairs. It is vastly improved by being filled with my possessions, which therefore makes it second only to the miniscule kitchen that continues to shorten my life daily. As chef de maison and also cleaner...er, de maison, I have been kept busy during my otherwise empty and unemployed days (well, afternoons) by keeping the kitchen and its contents fit for human use. I accordingly do most of the cooking, and have gladly reasserted Thursday Night Is Curry Night, last Thursday being a pretty beastly Biryani that managed to feed 5 people. God Bless the Captain's Curry House, and all who sail thereon!
In the mean time, I have relaxed my initial search for employment. This is a double edged sword, for while money is especially thin on the ground if I rely on the Scholarship, but why bother depressing myself further? I've got a couple of forms left to fill in (coffee shops &c), but after that I'm leaving it for a good three or so weeks until I really start again. Hopefully this will help me out, as seasonal staff positions will be hiring, and maybe that Italian place will ring me back anyway.
But what about my place? You know, my place at the stall? Well, I'm actually quite satisfied. I am happy. I am in the right place. Look at what I am saying, and take heart dear readers, there's hope for me just yet. No, seriously now, I'm pretty solid in my place. I almost believe in myself again, and am doing quite well. The Lay-Vicars in the altos are also astounded at my ridiculous breath control; not bad for an asthmatic with a partially collapsed lung (yes, I still think I have the lung problem because it twinges in the same place every now and again). All those years at Derby and breathing exercises and sustaining legato American art song phrases have brought me a small benefit to say the least, and one which must be consistently built upon. I'm working on my decibel reputation (almost derailing the end of the first phrase of the Schubert G major Gloria and the Lasst Uns Erfreuen incident) slowly but surely, keeping the bottom notes in focus and the tops ones from ruining me. And I still haven't had a lesson down here, which is of course, terrible. I got handed out the solo in Byrd's Second Service, which reminds me that for some reason I've been put on second alto. Why? What? Where? I have no idea, but Mr. Gray moves in mysterious ways, I don't doubt that he's done this for a reason...could it be though? Could I finally be in line for the record of John? The one bloody reason I wanted to be a countertenor in the first place?
Anyway, I sit on the north side, beneath the Organ case. The Cathedral has 3 organs, the mighty Father Willis in the choir, which is absolutely bloody enourmous, a box organ that also resides in the main choir aisle, and the reanimated corpse of a 1750 Byfield Organ in St. Mary's aisle. This aisle is all that remains of the original church on this site before the Cathedral was built in the late 1880's, and the remains of the Organ that stood in the west gallery have since been installed in the northwest part of the aisle. Now, it's obviously off-colour to refer to it as a dead body...but seeing as the specification has been changed from a small but complete IIIP/20 to a IIP/13, compounded with the tantalising specification left up on the NPOR and the small matter of my 12,021 word dissertation on Organs exactly like this one make me very sad that it has basically been turned into an Octopod. At least the majority of the case has survived, and is an excellent example of the late Harris-Byfield-Byfield II style of cases. Imagine if this instrument has been restored to it's original manual specification, with the addition of a mid-scale Bourdon to the pedals, much like the contemporary 1754 Snetzler Organ in Hillington, Norfolk. Not only could it make a credible contribution to music in the Cathedral, but also would have acted as a base for historic performace practice.
Oh well. Of course, things aren't always that simple, but it would have been nice, especially seeing as I'm used to nipping down to Colegate to work on the 1803 instrument they have there.
Oh yeah! The Quartet thing. Most of all, it comes down to the division of that I am a slave to that Barbershop sound, and the others are not. That's it. No recriminations, no name calling, nothing. Just that one difference. Unlike the others, I am no great fan of the King's Singers. Well, definitely not like they are anyway. Barbershop is a different ball game, and as my experiences have taught me, you just can't force people who don't want to lock chords together. While I am only a rank amateur, I get offended enough when Barbershop is reduced to the description of "cheesy close harmony", seeing as it is absolutely neither of those things. I might be able to sneak a bit of the old flavour into some arrangements. I'm looking at 'Goodnight Sweetheart' as a definite candidate.
So. Getting better.
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