CURATED MUSINGS: Disney

YouTube: A Choral Goldmine

I apologise for the back-to-back choral posts, but this place has been on a hiatus for long enough. If no one will post, then I shall. And it will be about the incandescent beauty of voices in unison.

So, where to begin but on YouTube once more. As a subscriber of the Oxford Union addresses, I was thrilled when I saw the above video in my feed. Eric Whitacre is one of the doyens of today's choral scene, and in my opinion, the most easy on the eye. His trademark cluster chords, as mentioned in his address, are infamous in choral circles, and can put one into a vocal-induced coma.

I still remember my first Whitacre piece. It was an SSA composition called She Weeps Over Rahoon, adapted from the poetry of James Joyce. When mine ears did hear it I was transfixed. The ending is particularly haunting. Choristers either sing in pianissimo or whisper the words at varying tempos, mimicking the effect of rain aurally. Have a listen to the recording for reference.

Perhaps what Whitacre is most known for is his 'Virtual Choir', which started as a small project to sync the recorded voices of individuals across the globe, essentially forming a choir. It's currently in it's fourth version, I believe with over a thousand singers from 100 different countries. I can't even find the words to describe how infinitely sacred and transcendent this experience is. My eyes and ears are peeled for any news of a new version because hell yeah I'd send in my recording. Anyway, this is the inaugural Virtual Choir singing Lux Aurumque or 'Light and Gold'.

Okay, I have to include one more video just because. Really though, if I had to pick a piece that I'd like to sing as part of a future VC, I'd pick the one below. For sheer creativity, chording, effects, text and difficulty, I'd really want to push myself, though I'd probably still suck haha. You have to listen to this though. The dissonant cluster chords send literal chills down my body, and from 6:12 into the video, I think I reached nirvana.

Moving on, it is burdened on me to share the following pieces of incredible music. I can't believe I totally forgot about them in my previous a cappella post. I totally slapped myself with a cactus for that. The first video was a serendipitous find in 2014, and my socks, shoes, all other forms of bodily garments were utterly blown off. I think half the views are by me because this medley is one of the most amazing things in the history of mankind.

Introducing The Magic of Voices and their Fly Medley. The arrangement is so sick. The Altos. My goodness. Why nobody ever gives credit to them is a mystery. Yes, I'm a Soprano, but I was an Alto for a while when I first joined choir. I'm telling you, without the Alto part in the piece, it wouldn't hit the sweet spot. And can we just talk about the lady in green. She slays. I believe her name is Jackie Stressman, and I can't even. It's easy to blast a high note at maximum volume, but giving the same note at a softer level requires a heck load of technique and control. And hell yeah can she sustain. I know good breathing technique when I ~~see~~ hear it.

Okay, enough of my yakking. Just listen. And bonus points if you know where ALL of the songs are from without reference. Your childhood is awesome.

Another video for your enjoyment. Featuring an absolutely stunning Alto solo. I would trade my High Cs for that glorious range. And the chords are sealed as tight as above. Jackie (Lady in yellow) showing us how it's done once again.

I swear, just one more video and I'm out. This version of Once Upon A Dream/I Wonder is a cut above the rest. I'm never listening to Lana Del Rey's rendition ever again, as much as she's pretty awesome herself. Jackie Stressman again gets a lot of love for her sublime pipes and effortless ending, but it's nice to see the other Soprano get some credit as well. And Tiffany Coburn's solo is so lovely. I want to sing like her. If they made a Disney princess with her voice, instead of the typically nasally sound they go with, she would seriously be my favourite. Her swelling crescendo at 2:18 is magnificently rich and the switch at 1:19 is so seamless and clean that I got a 'toner' (more bonus points for that reference).

Woe unto me for forgetting about such greatness. Three videos featured and blog publicity should suffice as atonement. Well, that's all for now. Really, this post was made to fill the void of procrastination that has befallen this blog. But you know me, I had to show some love for the unsung heroes (I think I'll fine myself if I come up with any more puns) of a more obscure music scene. Maybe you should show them some love too. Go to YouTube and double each of the video's view count.

-Jac

Tuesday, June 23, 2015
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Of Lavenders Blue

2015

Just got back from the cinema so while I'm still fresh I thought I'd share some musings before my inspiration dissipates.

So the film in question was Cinderella and, nothing short of a movie review, I liked it. A commendable take on a beloved fairy tale, modern without straying from the romanticism, with solid acting from the likes of Cate Blanchett (her interpretation of the stepmother, while not my favourite passive-aggressive style, was smashing) and Lily James (most Cinderellas, by virtue of their goodness, become too bland and irritating, but she's refreshingly earnest). The adaptation also neatly works its magic in being mildly and unassailingly feminist. Cinderella is no insipid damsel; she's realistic, with believable emotions and an authenticity that charms the prince. Her mother is given a short but sufficient back-story. Lady Tremaine isn't one dimensional. Yet it doesn't shade male characters entirely with in-your-face female dominance. The cast has a good masculine ensemble, a loving father, a wise king, a doting son, a scheming duke, etc. It's just that the strong female presence is a good counterbalance. There's also stellar visuals and a nice message that isn't forced down our throats. Quite a success.

But the one thing that I really want to talk about, the one thing that spoke to me personally, and of course the main thing that correlates to this blog, is the score. In particular, the recurrent use of one of my favourite nursery rhymes.

I'm obsessed with childhood stories and nursery rhymes. My 20 or so hardcover anthologies and antiquated CDs will attest for that. So when Lavender's Blue was used in the film, I could not have been more thrilled. This 17th century lullaby is used noticeably but not overwhelmingly in the score. Ella's mother sings her to sleep with this tune, and it comes to represent a beautiful childhood that is loving, good, and carefree. Even when it is preserved as but a distant, vignetted memory, Ella clings to it, as if singing it will intone all the values that her mother espoused and that were encapsulated in her adolescence, even as it is increasingly difficult to defend them. So when Ella enters the ball and all appraise her with jaw-dropping awe, Patrick Doyle's genius to weave in this age-old melody into the rousing crescendo of track 14 "Who Is She" is not only a moving homage to the mother whose courage and kindness resides abundantly in her child, but a fitting ode to one of the stalwarts of classic fairy tales.

Finally, the ending. This might be an appropriate time for a *spoiler* heads-up. So please skip where necessary.

I'm not sure if I'm the only one who picked this up but in the original 1950's animation, Cinderella is identified not just by fitting the shoe she left behind, but by producing its counterpart as hard evidence. In this production, Lady Tremaine is much sharper in detecting Ella's dreamy daze, and she promptly smashes the slipper into smithereens. She then triumphantly mocks the latter that she no longer has any verifiable proof and that the lowly truth of her servitude will no less serve her ill. Indeed, we think the game's up for Ella, but just as the search party is about to leave, evil meets its coup de grâce. Ella ever undaunted and never dispirited, is singing her trusty number when her voice is carried to the party below, which unsurprisingly comprises a disguised Kit a.k.a Prince Charming. This is the ultimate clincher, the climax of the metaphor. With or without the glass shoes, the prince chooses Ella because he recognises, and more importantly, loves her not just cursorily but characteristically. From their first encounter, beyond her sweet exterior, her maxim of having courage and being kind was always embodied. In the end, the song, the creed of bravery and kindness, became a poignant symbol of not only her reunion with Kit but of her legitimacy. There could not have been a more compelling verification of her identity.

*Spoiler ends*

As I close, I will just say that the film itself was swell, but it was the shrewd, delicate touch of the well-loved Lavender's Blue that won me over. Kit ascends as king with Ella as his queen, and if any were to doubt his choice, we need only look to the prophetic lyrics, "Twas my own heart, dilly, dilly, that told me so". After all, it's the heart that truly matters.

Until next time,

Jac

Monday, April 13, 2015
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