Reflecting on Les Miserables

On Saturday, we took our sons to see Les Miserables in London. For my husband and me, it was the third time of seeing the show. For the boys, it was the first. And it had been at their request that we went. They knew the music because I play it on my iPod in the docking station in the kitchen... and because I sing it endlessly. They have often asked questions about the story line and so on, and I was delighted when they asked to be taken to see something so cultured!

They both thoroughly enjoyed the experience and have been talking about it ever since. They raise points that take me by surprise and impress me no end. They noticed things about the staging and the lighting that your average theatre goer does not notice. My elder son spoke at great length about how each character who died was immediately picked out in a bright, tight beam white spot... except Javert, who fell into darkness. I hadn't noticed that. Good one kiddo.

Then tonight he pitched me a curved ball.

"Mom, in Les Mis, whose story do you think was the saddest?"

Wow! They were all pretty sad.

• Jean Valjean who is imprisoned for 5 years for stealing bread to feed his sister's family, and then a further 14 for trying to escape... and who then spends most of his life on the run, having broken parole, in the process of trying to take care of Fantine's Cosette.
  
• Fantine who falls in love, loses her virtue and is literally left holding the baby. In her desperation to provide for her daughter, she turns to prostitution and dies of the pox.
• Javert, who sees life in black and white, only to have it all blow up in his face, when he is denied a heroic death, shown mercy by someone he believes to be sin personified.
  
• The revolutionaries who believe that the people of France will join them, if only they set things in motion, only to find that they are alone... and to die at the barricade for absolutely no gain.
• Eponine who starts out as her parents' little princess and winds up a street urchin in love with a student who is in love with someone else.
• Gavroche, streetwise and defiant, who wields more power than one would expect from one so young, only to die at the barricade trying to collect bullets from the fallen soldiers to take back to the revolutionaries.
  

It goes on and on.

Do you know the story? Who do you think has the saddest story and why?

A stirring video

I have John Zurovchak to thank for the link to this video. A well known song, but just see how the choir has used their bodies to recreate an African storm at the beginning. So creative.

I was deeply touched that the piece made him think of me! It fair choked me up.

No applause, please, we're posh

Now that we're in the height of summer, a great English tradition is getting underway. Friday sees the start of the BBC Proms season. This is a series of classical music concerts held around the country which has been running for 115 years, now. The prices are low, and include standing room tickets. There is no dress code and, while children under the age of 5 are not permitted within the auditorium, parents of older children are encouraged to bring them along.

For the past 14 years, the programme has included Proms in the Park which takes place in the open air of London's Hyde Park, in which the programme is extended to include more contemporary pop music.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the idea is to widen the appeal of serious music. To take this music to John Commoner who might not otherwise get to hear it and, even if he does, can probably not afford to attend performances very often.

I think it's a lovely idea.

This morning I discovered that there are those who object to it. One man in particular, whose name I (fortunately) missed, was being interviewed on the radio. He objects to the gaucheness of the inexperienced audience. He didn't quite put it like that, but that's what it amounts to. He finds it unacceptable that they applaud between movements and then don't allow a moment of silence before applauding at the end of a piece. To make things even more complicated for the earnest soul who would like to get it right so as not to offend the cognoscenti, it seems that it is in fact fine to burst into applause at the end of a spirited piece. It is only at the end of a more reflective piece that one should take time to allow the music to die away completely before applauding. The man was of the view that the silence at the end of such a piece is very much a part of the music. He's probably right.

I've never really paid conscious attention to my own applauding habits at a recital, but I'm pretty sure I break some of the rules.

The presenter had the courage to suggest to the man that he being was a bit of a snob. I'm with him.

Perhaps that moment of reverential silence at the end of a piece is the result of a deep appreciation for the beauty of the piece, the emotions it evokes, the skill of the musicians. But how can we learn that appreciation if we are never exposed to such works? And in the early stages of our exposure, our appreciation must still grow.

Perhaps our man has no appreciation for Chinese folk music, for example, because he has no insight into it. So, how would he respond the first few times he hears a performance? Will his behaviour meet with the approval of long-standing fans? If not, should he just stay away so as not to cause offence?

Let's pretend you and I are the cognoscenti of... oh, I don't know... learning, for argument's sake. Let's pretend some members of our audience simply have no regard for the 'proper' way to learn, the right way to use a learning resource, the deep, rich experience that is learning.

Well?

Are we to take a leaf out of this man's book and find fault with them? Are we to deride their lack of sophistication? Or are we to delight in the fact that they are making an effort to broaden their experience, to recognise that we are in a very privileged position and to determine to do our very best work so as to awaken in them a passion they didn't even know they had?

Ending on an up

I've just taken a body blow in the form of an email purporting to contain 'constructive criticism'. The thing is, it wasn't criticism of my work. It was criticism of me, suggesting that I become less like myself in the future. But then Garry Platt's comment on my Musical Mash-up post came through, with a link to a video clip I had wanted include in that post, but had been unable to find.

To my delight, I found that PS22 (does that stand for Public School 22?) has put out several such videos. Since you have already had Viva la Vida this week, how about a taste of something else? Something with a title I need to own right now!



But head over to YouTube and search on PS22. There are several others to choose from. Just watch how every child sings as if it is a solo performance. Heart and soul. Learn more about them and their wonderfully enabling teacher here.

A musical mash-up

You may or may not be familiar with Taylor Swift's song Love Story. It's a modern take on Romeo Juliet and the lyrics are quite clever, in my opinion. I rather like it.



You are more likely to be familiar with Coldplay's Viva la Vida, which includes the line "when I ruled the world". I recently saw a video of a young man with a guitar leading a group of ordinary kids in a school hall singing this song and it moved me profoundly. I wanted to share it on here, but it wasn't a YouTube video and I couldn't find the source to do so. You'll have to 'settle' for the original artists ;o)



Can you hear it? The rhythmic similarity? Jon Schmidt picked up on it, and created this mashup for his seven year old daughter who loves the Taylor Swift song. This is the result.



This fills my mind with half-formed analogies for learning that I can't quite verbalise. Things relating to the lyrics and the titles of the songs, to the seamlessness of the integration, to the way the piano and the cello work together: so different, so complementary, to the overlap between these two songs that it took a fine ear to pick up in the first place. My mind is roiling.

Watch the videos and, if nothing else, be inspired and uplifted by the music.

pic of the day - music, maestro!

For the second night in a row, we went to eat out tonight. Not at a restaurant, but at the home of a friend. John was put in charge of music selection, a role he took on with much gusto!

Shawn Phillips

Sue Thomas just twittered

longhaired girl in black wetsuit skateboards down the middle of my empty suburban street holding the lead of a dog running along beside her

I remarked that it read like the beginning of a poem or the title of a Shawn Phillips song. Sue agreed on the poem, but asked "Who is Shawn Phillips?" This prompted me to share a little about him here, since many of you seem to share my taste in music, if you haven't heard of him before, he might prove an enjoyable discovery.

Wikipedia describes Phillips as "virtually forgotten except by his cadre of loyal fans". I guess I must be one of those, then!

I first discovered his music when my best friend at college accidentally bought his Second Contribution album, thinking it was something else. We both fell heavily in love with it and I, for one, have never recovered.

Here he is singing the most ridiculously named song in the whole world, which is my favourite (the title notwithstanding!): She Was Waiting For Her Mother At the Station in Torino and You know I Love You Baby But It's Getting Too Heavy To Laugh.

There is a load more of his stuff on YouTube. Check it out.