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It's certainly been an "interesting" fortnight, and the weather has
definitely contributed to that interest. I know what you're thinking -
"Fair Isle weather equals wind and rain" - but we've actually had virtually
none of either. In fact, the last two weeks have been dry, calm
- and thus relatively warm for Fair Isle
- altogether excellent for getting the garden sown and for lambing .. but
it has also been FOGGY at strategic times!
The disruption seemed to
start immediately people planned to go out that first weekend to take part
in the Shetland Folk Festival - no planes either Friday morning or afternoon
because of low stratus and then Saturday followed with more of the same.
Luckily a Community Charter of the Good Shepherd was able to
solve that problem, the boat still being officially on its winter timetable,
and the Relief Nurse was also relieved, I expect in more ways than one.
The Hill Lambing Rota,
gardening, fertiliser-spreading to encourage an early bite of grass all
featured during the following week. The Fair Isle Choir had the last of
its handful of practices for "Carmina Burana", striving desperately to keep
up with the CD we had which tackled everything at a tremendous lick. Nine
of us prepared ourselves to go out on Friday's planes, with another already
out and two more to follow on Saturday's boat, but .. you've guessed it ..
the FOG rolled in again! I had been up early for the morning plane but
then had to sit about disconsolately all day on phone duty as the
stratus/fog (effectively indistinguishable!) lifted then lowered or rolled
in then out. Eventually the afternoon plane did manage to grovel in
and those booked on it were lucky enough to fly out, but we morning
passengers remained stranded when the cloud came down once more, preventing
a second flight. It would have to be the Good Shepherd for
the last seven of us.
I'm normally a lousy sailor
but that crossing couldn't have been bettered and Roy was at Grutness with
his big taxi to meet us, as was Florrie with her car. By now it was a
simply beautiful day and Shetland really looked at its best as we drove up
to Lerwick, but we couldn't have risked waiting for a plane. Islesburgh
House Youth Hostel seemed palatial compared to some others I have known, the
"lasses" being very comfortably ensconced in one of the attic dorms, while
the two couples had individual small rooms. Then it was off to the
Clickimin Bowls Hall, where we latest arrivals met our new colleagues in the
various voices for the first time and were made very welcome, Fair Isle
actually contributing a fifth of the total numbers in the main choir.
Luckily the conductor took the whole piece rather more slowly than in our
practices, much to my relief, but would it be the same at the evening
performance? Then it was back to Islesburgh for a quick snack and a change
into our assorted black outfits - with bright scarves for the women and
white shirts with bright ties for the men.
The Bowls Hall was
well-filled and the audience enthusiastic. "Zadok the Priest" we tackled
almost unseen, but it wasn't difficult and was very loud and fun. The
Saturday Music Club Orchestra gave us a variety of short pieces with
different young people taking the lead. Then the baritone (from Zimbabwe)
and the tenor (from Orkney) contributed a number of solos - I particularly
enjoyed "Linden Lea" - before the Lerwick Choral Society sang Leonard
Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms", which were lovely, with an outstanding solo
from one of the children. However, since I can't read music, we'd had
extremely limited rehearsal time available and the words are, I think, in
Yiddish, I'm sure I did right not to tackle the piece.
Now it was the interval and
then came our BIG MOMENT! Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" or "Cantiones
Profanae" is a substantial work. As well as the main choir it calls for a
small choir, a children's choir, three soloists plus - in our version - two
pianos (for volume) and percussion, played by five students from the Glasgow
Academy of Music. The texts he used are in Latin and Old German - which
don't make them exactly slip off the tongue - though I believe it's just as
well we didn't understand the words anyway, as some of them are decidedly
risqu! Several numbers are well-known, having been used as incidental
music in different radio and television programmes, usually without
acknowledgement of their origin. To pick out some of what I most
enjoyed: there's a rollicking drinking song for the men in the tavern and
a hilarious - partly falsetto - tenor solo as a roast swan bemoaning his
fate, the Sandwick High School Choir children - among whom the mighty opus
was familiarly known as "Caramel Banana" - were confident and brilliant and
the soprano's solos contained incredibly high notes which that singer (a
Shetland resident) managed with ease. "Tempus est iocundum" ("Now is a
jolly time")is my very favourite number, involving as it does both the
baritone and soprano soloists and the children as well as the main choir.
Each repetition starts slowly and relatively quietly, gradually getting
faster and louder, the castanets contributing to the build-up - absolute
magic!
Finally we reached the
climax number , "O Fortuna" - which also starts the work - but this time it
was serious! It was THRILLING - the pianos started to thump, the
kettle-drums to roll, the cymbals to crash, probably the bodrun,
glockenspiel, xylophone, even triangle too, though I couldn't hear them.
The tempo and volume increased .. the pianists and their pianos began to
leap up and down .. the kettle-drums, cymbals and other percussion
instruments were simply deafening .. we were all singing as loud as we
possibly could .. huge breath .."AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AH-AH!!!" - and it was all
over! The audience were stunned and reeling from the noise. I think they
liked it? We certainly enjoyed singing it.
There was a bit of a party
afterwards as we all gradually wound down from our high. We roundly
congratulated all the "soloists", not only the singers young and old, but
the two pianists who had striven manfully and womanfully, the young
percussionists, and above all Ruth Sharville, the conductor who had worked
so hard to bring it all together. Lise presented her with one of Patrick's
glass roundels as a thankyou from Fair Isle and her local members gave her a
huge bouquet. Winning two prizes in the raffle, Lise also passed on a
bottle to the percussionists - to great cheers. There were thanks to all
the "backroom boys" of the Society too. I understand some of our party had
the energy to go on to a house-warming, getting back to bed in the small
hours, but I was very tired after a long day and only too glad to return to
Islesburgh and mine around midnight. The following morning we all attended
St. Magnus church and sang Neil's "Hosannah Jesu", before going our
different ways to spend the lovely, sunny - relaxing - afternoon in
different parts of Shetland, only regathering in Islesburgh at night.
Monday morning and -
inevitably - the FOG had returned to hamper us. To make matters worse,
there were no fixed-line phone communications with the Isle for three hours,
probably due to that fog. Luckily Dave has just acquired a mobile phone,
which saved the day. Later the fog did lift and the morning air passengers
finally got home early in the afternoon, with we afternoon ones at the
scheduled time. It had been hard work but also extremely enjoyable.
Thanks are definitely due to all those who stayed behind and "held the fort"
to allow us to go and have such a great time, though I for one was certainly
glad to be home. And the rest of this week? It's been pretty humdrum
with all the usual chores, more gardening, the ewes and lambs to dose, but
I've had enough excitement for a while. There has been virtually NO FOG
either! On Wednesday evening at "choir time" we all went up to Kenaby to
give Lise a thankyou bouquet. I recall that Ruth Sharville did mention the
possibility of Rossini's "Petite Messe Solennelle" as next year's goal -
apparently neither small nor solemn. I wonder whether we'll be up to
tackling it - could be challenging but definitely fun!
JANE
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