Every so often it occurs to me that the house needs a bit of a clean, and thus I pull out the vacuum cleaner and drag it all over the house and up and down the stairs. I must say that vacuuming is truly boring, and I would rather do practically anything else. And, as a rule, I do. One of these days I must get around to finding a cleaner.
Here I sit, listening to a live broadcast of the King's College Choir, enjoying it mostly, except for a rather dreary period of 19th century English music. Early music is what touches my soul. I gather that this choir is all, or mostly, male. Although, perhaps I am wrong, and that these days they do admit an occasional female.
It has always seemed to me both extraordinary and outrageous that rather than allow females to sing in church, those in charge chose to castrate males. Makes you think, eh? Does the mere possibility of a mixed choir cause testicles to atrophy and to fall off? I wonder.
Is misanthropy innate in males? I would rather not think so, but there is much evidence to support the theory.
The choir is now singing Britten's Hymn to St Cecilia. It is a piece I sang early in my chorister life, and I do love it.
In between all these pursuits I am reading a lot of Irish history, mostly written by the remarkable, productive and erudite Tim Pat Coogan. He gives me much food for thought, not all of it tasty or digestible. Sometimes it is difficult to believe in the possibility of the perfectibility of human nature.
Here I sit, listening to a live broadcast of the King's College Choir, enjoying it mostly, except for a rather dreary period of 19th century English music. Early music is what touches my soul. I gather that this choir is all, or mostly, male. Although, perhaps I am wrong, and that these days they do admit an occasional female.
It has always seemed to me both extraordinary and outrageous that rather than allow females to sing in church, those in charge chose to castrate males. Makes you think, eh? Does the mere possibility of a mixed choir cause testicles to atrophy and to fall off? I wonder.
Is misanthropy innate in males? I would rather not think so, but there is much evidence to support the theory.
The choir is now singing Britten's Hymn to St Cecilia. It is a piece I sang early in my chorister life, and I do love it.
In between all these pursuits I am reading a lot of Irish history, mostly written by the remarkable, productive and erudite Tim Pat Coogan. He gives me much food for thought, not all of it tasty or digestible. Sometimes it is difficult to believe in the possibility of the perfectibility of human nature.
2 comments:
I often find it difficult (impossible) to believe in the perfectibility of human nature.
There is beauty though. And creativity. And what for want of a better word I will call 'goodness' which balances the whole. Mostly.
From a musical purist viewpoint there is no comparison between young boys' voices and those of girls. In mixing the two a great deal of the acoustic quality is changed. I stress that this is from the viewpoint of cathedral choirs, and those of the ancient tradition, such as King's College.
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