The Night Mail

[AndyID]

11 minutes ago, Hroth said:

 

Yootoob here seems to work...

 

 

(see what happens on submit)

 

 

Thanks. Sounds like a recoding from a live performance. Unfortunately nothing like as good as the studio version on the Jailbreak album.

[New Haven Neil]

Sorry to revert, but the age of adulthood thing brought a memory from my last-but-one employment, as the office manager of our equivalent of a young offenders team.  A young person whose family had only fairly recently come to live here, had come to our attention for a number of quite nasty offences.  Upon interview, their approach was very much of 'I'm 17 so I'll only get an easy juvenile let-off, so you lot can all do one'. With a smirk.

 

A shame for them that at 17 here, not the UK,  they were in fact an adult in the law on our little rock, and while our attentions would normally have been focussed on diverting and improving behaviour rather than a punitive approach, this obnoxious person had somewhat urinated on their chips, as they saying goes.  The change in attitude was remarkable, but rather too late as we shunted them off to adult court.  Who gave an adult sentence, having noted our report regarding their responses to our ministrations. Tough poop, pal. 😄

 

Back on current topic, I must admit country and/or western music rather leaves me cold, only they and opera have that effect on me, I like a broad range of music but draw the line there!

[PhilJ W]

Evening all from Estuary-Land. All stuffed up with hay fever again. This time of year its tree pollen which is followed by grass pollen in a month or twos time and then flower pollen a month or so further on. I would like to do something in the garden but if the hay fever is bad I won't be doing much.

[pH]

59 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

Back on current topic, I must admit country and/or western music rather leaves me cold, only they and opera have that effect on me, I like a broad range of music but draw the line there!

“Country” and “Western” are themselves broad ranges. There are sub-genres such as ‘alternative country’, ‘country rock’, ‘swamp rock’, ‘western swing’, ‘outlaw country’ etc. Not all country songs still involve pickup trucks, runaway dogs and broken relationships. There are even songs involving trains e.g.

 

https://youtu.be/p8eR0v3lqyY?feature=shared

https://youtu.be/GtlXwj80OWM?feature=shared

 

https://youtu.be/VSK18G55xP4?feature=shared

 

https://youtu.be/vqSOiawh0vI?feature=shared

https://youtu.be/npO9ilYP5mw?feature=shared

 

 

Edited March 29 by pH

[GMKAT7]

Good evening folks,

 

AndyID, a man after my own heart.

First band I saw live was Thin Lizzy in November 1976, Johnny The Fox tour, at Coventry Theatre.

 

Having played Jailbreak to death at my parents house all that summer, I couldn't get enough of the songs on that album.

 

Just 16 then, now fast approaching 64.

Where does the time go?

 

Cheers, Nigel.

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, New Haven Neil said:

Back on current topic, I must admit country and/or western music rather leaves me cold, only they and opera have that effect on me, I like a broad range of music but draw the line there!

Country Music is quite a broad genre. Some of my most favourite musicians come into that category. Some musicians in that category are not at all my favourites. My nephew who is a GP might have had a career as a busker (or musician in a band!) if the medical career hadn’t gone well. He can play almost anything but loves banjo so was drawn to bluegrass but sort of jazzy free form bluegrass. 
I think the “what is country music” has something of the “what is fine scale modelling” or track gauge threads on here. Some US country radio channels were not going to play songs from a recent album released as  “country “ from someone they didn’t consider to be a “country” artist . Their minds were changed .

 

I didn’t really fancy opera. A few forced listens at school didn’t help. However we watched a lot of really good opera during Covid lockdowns. The New York Met transmitted some classic operas that had been on subscription channels. The productions were amazing. I never intended to watch but did. 

 

[Hroth]

24 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Evening all from Estuary-Land. All stuffed up with hay fever again. This time of year its tree pollen which is followed by grass pollen in a month or twos time and then flower pollen a month or so further on. I would like to do something in the garden but if the hay fever is bad I won't be doing much.

 

I've been wheezy for a while, it hadn't penetrated my addled mind that we'd hit the pollen season...  Better stock on the antihistamines!

 

[Tony_S]

25 minutes ago, pH said:

“Country” and “Western” are themselves broad ranges. There are sub-genres such as ‘alternative country’, ‘country rock’, ‘swamp rock’, ‘western swing’, ‘outlaw country’ etc. Not all country songs still involve pickup trucks, runaway dogs and broken relationships. There are even songs involving trains e.g.

 

https://youtu.be/p8eR0v3lqyY?feature=shared

https://youtu.be/GtlXwj80OWM?feature=shared

 

https://youtu.be/VSK18G55xP4?feature=shared

 

https://youtu.be/vqSOiawh0vI?feature=shared

https://youtu.be/npO9ilYP5mw?feature=shared

 

 

I only own two of those tracks…, the Billy Bragg and the John Fogerty tunes. 

[iL Dottore]

42 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

I didn’t really fancy opera. A few forced listens at school didn’t help. However we watched a lot of really good opera during Covid lockdowns. The New York Met transmitted some classic operas that had been on subscription channels. The productions were amazing. I never intended to watch but did. 

 

Opera certainly has an image problem in the Anglo-Saxon countries where it is perceived by many as being music only listened to by the well off. The music of the upper middle class and “the elite“, so to speak. And this perception of an art form belonging solely to the well off and the upper class now seems to also extend to classical music (this recent article laments how classical musical is being run down and marginalised in the UK: https://thecritic.co.uk/the-love-that-dare-not-speak-its-name/)

 

This inverse snobbism is not seen in the spiritual home of opera: Italy. In Italy, love of opera is driven by musical taste and not by social status and the desire to be seen attending expensive concerts. Certainly, even in Italy, opera IS an expensive evening out – it takes a lot of money to stage an opera and pay world-class musicians and singers (not to mention the highly skilled theatre professionals behind the show) a decent wage. But it is an evening out enjoyed by people from all social classes.
 

Since the days of Maria Callas (if not before) the audience “in the Gods” (the most inexpensive seats to the back and to the top of the auditorium) at La Scala Opera House in Milan, were known to be incredibly hard to please and were regarded with some trepidation by all who performed there. this audience “in the Gods” was (and is) composed of people, such as taxi drivers, railway workers, students and factory workers, who – in the UK – would not be expected (or encouraged?) to attend an opera performance.

 

I am firmly of the opinion that the worst thing you can do for classical music, opera and classical theatre (such as Shakespeare) is to “teach” it in schools as what should be an enjoyable, and often thought provoking, look at the world through the medium of music and theatre is reduced to something that “has to be learned” and exams on it to be passed.

 

Edited March 29 by iL Dottore
Typo

[jamie92208]

I like a lot of C and W especially when I was in the States.  One of my favourite bands is the Highwaymen and of course Johnny Cash sang a lot of songs with train references. 

Meantime my modelling skills got me so much needed brownie points today. Beth's spare pair of glasses had broken with both hinges kaput.  I filed some new hinges from some square brass bar the set out to drill a couple of holes in the side arms to bolt them on. My drill wouldn't even scratch the metal.  I thought of araraldite but then thought solder.  The iron was wielded and hey presto the glasses are good to go.

 

I may not yet be back in the good books but she is wearing the glasses. 

 

Jamie

Edited March 29 by jamie92208

[Winslow Boy]

41 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

I like a lot of C and W especially when I was in the States.  One of my favourite bands is the Highwaymen and of course Johnny Cash sang a lot of songs with train references. 

Meantime my modelling skills got me so much needed brownie points today. Beth's spare pair of glasses had broken with both hinges kaput.  I filed some new hinges from some square brass bar the set out to drill a couple of holes in the side arms to bolt them on. My drill wouldn't even scratch the metal.  I thought of araraldite but then thought solder.  The iron was wielded and hey presto the glasses are good to go.

 

I may not yet be back in the good books but she is wearing the glasses. 

 

Jamie

Just don't take her into Specsavers that's all I can say.

[Winslow Boy]

46 minutes ago, iL Dottore said:

Opera certainly has an image problem in the Anglo-Saxon countries where it is perceived by many as being music only listened to by the well off. The music of the upper middle class and “the elite“, so to speak. And this perception of an art form belonging solely to the well off and the upper class now seems to also extend to classical music (this recent article laments how classical musical is being run down and marginalised in the UK: https://thecritic.co.uk/the-love-that-dare-not-speak-its-name/)

 

This inverse snobbism is not seen in the spiritual home of opera: Italy. In Italy, love of opera is driven by musical taste and not by social status and the desire to be seen attending expensive concerts. Certainly, even in Italy, opera IS an expensive evening out – it takes a lot of money to stage an opera and pay world-class musicians and singers (not to mention the highly skilled theatre professionals behind the show) a decent wage. But it is an evening out enjoyed by people from all social classes.
 

Since the days of Maria Callas (if not before) the audience “in the Gods” (the most inexpensive seats to the back and to the top of the auditorium) at La Scala Opera House in Milan, were known to be incredibly hard to please and were regarded with some trepidation by all who performed there. this audience “in the Gods” was (and is) composed of people, such as taxi drivers, railway workers, students and factory workers, who – in the UK – would not be expected (or encouraged?) to attend an opera performance.

 

I am firmly of the opinion that the worst thing you can do for classical music, opera and classical theatre (such as Shakespeare) is to “teach” it in schools as what should be an enjoyable, and often thought provoking, look at the world through the medium of music and theatre is reduced to something that “has to be learned” and exams on it to be passed.

 

There's quite a bit of truth in what you say. I think part of the problem is that a lot of an-drams or amateur dramatics seems to have fallen by the wayside. So there's a lot less appreciation of the skills that are required. Whether that's down to there being more pressure on people's time or other factors I don't know.

[BR60103]

I classify songs by the mode of transportation

 

Cars means it's rocky roll.

Trucks are country.

Horses are western.

Trains are folk.

 

 

[J. S. Bach]

3 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

 ...snip...I am firmly of the opinion that the worst thing you can do for classical music, opera and classical theatre (such as Shakespeare) is to “teach” it in schools as what should be an enjoyable, and often thought provoking, look at the world through the medium of music and theatre is reduced to something that “has to be learned” and exams on it to be passed.

I took a music appreciation course in high school thinking that it would be an easy slide. Oh, no! The teacher was a young black guy almost just out of teaching school and was a slave-driver! All I can say is that he must have done his job properly as I still have a love of classical music. Not the vocal part of opera, though.

[J. S. Bach]

Night Owl from the Piedmont.

[zarniwhoop]

55 minutes ago, BR60103 said:

I classify songs by the mode of transportation

 

Cars means it's rocky roll.

Trucks are country.

Horses are western.

Trains are folk.

 

 

Trains are also Blues or Blues-Rock or Rock or maybe even Rock'n'Roll oh, and Jazz, Reggae, ...

 

I was going to quote a few titles from searching my index of the flac files I've got, but there are just too many!

 

As far as my music goes, horses are probably Heavy Rock or Progressive although I've got one track on a live outdoor recording of Bach's Brandenburgs, 'Driving in the Horse-Drawn Carriage to Coethen' which I did not assign a genre to (it's just an intro before the music, which apart from the fireworks is Baroque Orchestral).

[AndyID]

3 hours ago, J. S. Bach said:

I took a music appreciation course in high school thinking that it would be an easy slide. Oh, no! The teacher was a young black guy almost just out of teaching school and was a slave-driver! All I can say is that he must have done his job properly as I still have a love of classical music. Not the vocal part of opera, though.

 

Oh, I dunno. A lot of the lyrics by Gilbert and Sullivan are pretty funny 🤣

 

And, before anyone suggests that is not "real" opera, they better have a good argument. 😄

[iL Dottore]

4 hours ago, BR60103 said:

I classify songs by the mode of transportation

 

Cars means it's rocky roll.

Trucks are country.

Horses are western.

Trains are folk.

And by what you are doing at the time!

 

So, would TNM be Death Metal???

[AndyID]

4 hours ago, BR60103 said:

I classify songs by the mode of transportation

 

Cars means it's rocky roll.

Trucks are country.

Horses are western.

Trains are folk.

 

 

 

I quite like Yacht Rock on SiriusXM 😁

[jamie92208]

5 hours ago, BR60103 said:

I classify songs by the mode of transportation

 

Cars means it's rocky roll.

Trucks are country.

Horses are western.

Trains are folk.

 

 

So where does Amoureuse by Kiki Dee fit in. 

 

Jamie

[iL Dottore]

G&S definitely wrote operas, albeit so called “light opera” (aka operetta) - which is a distinct sub-genre with light-hearted themes and (no surprise) satire and pointed observations on (the then) current affairs. Wiki has a good entry on the genre.

 

”Classical” Music can sometimes be so far up its own backside that it’s peering past its tonsils (some of the music of Benjamin Britten comes to mind), but sometimes it does take things a lot less seriously.
 

Peter Schickele came up with the wonderful creation: PDQ Bach. I found two things on YouTube for your amusement. The first is a full length concert (and well worth sitting through)

The second is with Itzhak Perlman playing a PDQ Bach piece:

Although there are a lot of classical music “in jokes”, the humour is broad enough that even non-aficionados get many of the jokes.

 

Interestingly, one of the comments below the YouTube video was from someone who played in an amateur orchestra and who had suggested that the orchestra perform some PDQ Bach pieces - to which the orchestra leader replied “we’re not that good”.
 

Peter Schickele, like Victor Borge, performed as though he could barely play, but playing music “badly” requires a lot of musical talent and skill (plus considerable knowledge of, and understanding of, classical music genres to write such clever pastiches)

[iL Dottore]

21 minutes ago, jamie92208 said:

So where does Amoureuse by Kiki Dee fit in. 

 

Jamie

Cleaning the bathroom?

[SM42]

6 hours ago, BR60103 said:

I classify songs by the mode of transportation

 

Cars means it's rocky roll.

Trucks are country.

Horses are western.

Trains are folk.

 

 

 

The car was definitely rocky roll yesterday.

 

I thought my eyes had gone funny till I realised it was the road. 

 

Who needs Millbrook. Just bring a new car out here and drive around. 

 

As for music, I have a broad tastes, a sort of like what I know and know what I like. 

 

Opera not so much, the chorus parts more than the soloist parts I find more appealing. 

 

Classical I enjoy generally

 

My appreciation has grown since one of our neighbours started a professional orchestra. 

Although  I don't recognise a particular piece or know where it finishes I love both the aural and visible spectacle of music being played by an orchestra. 

 

I grew up with the music of the 70s and mainly 80s with  the 1940s thrown in ( thanks dad) and the bits in the middle  have filled themselves in 

 

There's not much between  1987 and the now on my playlist in comparison bit probably more than I appreciate. 

 

Polish rocky poppy is also something I've come to appreciate (can't think why)  but Disco Polo definitely in small doses or with lots of vodka, good company and a dance floor. 

 

Good music is good music regardless of what genre it fits

 

Things aren't always the genre I think and I have no idea what some genres are.

 

Techno garage handbag anyone?

 

Andy

[DenysW]

10 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Opera certainly has an image problem in the Anglo-Saxon countries

And doesn't help itself by typically being sung in its original language thus making it even more remote from its potential public. Purists (annoyingly including my daughter the music graduate) believe that this ensures the words do fit as well as possible, but I'm not convinced. In fact, totally unconvinced.

 

Do the Italians pile into opera in the same numbers when it's sung in German, Czech, or Russian?

[Compound2632]

23 minutes ago, DenysW said:

And doesn't help itself by typically being sung in its original language thus making it even more remote from its potential public.

 

I would draw your attention to the operas of Benjamin Britten and of course the work of ENO, a company dedicated to producing opera in English translation.  But on the other hand, if one sticks with it, one gains a working knowledge of Italian, German, French, Russian, and even Czech - though possibly not the most useful vocabulary for everyday conversation.