Frozen Chickens
2006-02-02 16:44:50
music
Today I played with the City Chamber ensemble in their lunchime concert at St Olaves. Built circa 1450, interred in the Church's grounds is none other than Mary Ramsay, reputedly the woman who brought the Plague to London, and an eccentric Elizabethan known as 'Mother Goose', who used to knit little boots for her geese so that their feet wouldn't get sore as they were herded to market. The arch over the churchyard's entrance has a cluster of sculls, and a Latin inscription which translates as 'death is a light to me'. Charles Dickens was much taken with this inscription, and in his 'Commercial Traveller', he refers to this Church as 'St Ghastly Grim'.
Anyway, the point is that it's certainly haunted, as no one could manage to turn on the heating while we were there. Being extremely cold (a top of 0 degrees celcius today) meant that the piano - to which we tuned - was extraordinarily sharp, and my flute very flat. This made for some interesting intonation experiments, especially when we were playing Haydn's 'La Poule' (translated as 'The Chicken') Symphony, and the oboe and I took turns at being the solo chicken. We had to apologise to the audience and play in our coats and scarves! My fingers are only just recovering from the ordeal.
Anyway, the point is that it's certainly haunted, as no one could manage to turn on the heating while we were there. Being extremely cold (a top of 0 degrees celcius today) meant that the piano - to which we tuned - was extraordinarily sharp, and my flute very flat. This made for some interesting intonation experiments, especially when we were playing Haydn's 'La Poule' (translated as 'The Chicken') Symphony, and the oboe and I took turns at being the solo chicken. We had to apologise to the audience and play in our coats and scarves! My fingers are only just recovering from the ordeal.