Double Dutch Date

May 24, 2010

My mornings all begin about the same. I usually wake up long before my roommates. I’m a bit of an early riser. I like my mornings. I like to be productive in the morning. So, I always get up even if I was up late the night before. Sleep is always the easiest thing to sacrifice in a busy schedule. This morning was fairly relaxed though because we didn’t have anywhere to be until 10:45. We were scheduled to observe another rehearsal of the BBC Singers. Instead of meeting at the church where we watched their last rehearsal, it was held in the studio for the BBC. It was an interesting building. It was built in the 1960’s as a roller skating hall. Apparently it didn’t do very well and the BBC purchased the building and have had their music studios there ever since. There were pictures on the wall of all kinds of famous musicians who had performed or recorded there. Everyone from Pierre Boulez to Sting was on the wall. It was neat to be there, hanging out where so many famous musicians have come through. The rehearsal was good to listen to. It was a different set of voices than we had heard before. They were working on a work by William Schuman for 16 voices. It was an incredibly difficult work. I couldn’t imagine trying to piece it together, especially with one person per part as they were attempting. Each part was so incredibly difficult; it really requires superb musicianship from each member of the ensemble. Despite the difficulty of the work, I found myself more annoyed at the sound they produced. The aesthetic the group reaches for is that of a group of soloists. It was so apparently so. There was little in terms of blend present in the sound. When the group was below a forte level, each individual voice quality could be identified and scrutinized for its inability to blend with the other voices. However, when the group was at forte or above, the sound was so large that it produced, for me, a high pitched hissing sound that was very unpleasant. It was simply too much. This high pitched hiss is present when speakers are played too loud and at rock concerts. In my opinion, it totally crossed the threshold of beauty which was so unfortunate because each member is so individually talented. It was exciting and frustrating all at once. Michelle and I left during the lunch break since we weren’t required to sit through the second half. Outside, the weather was so glorious. We had to take advantage of it. We’ve heard that it’s legal to swim in the fountains at Trafalgar Square and also in the Serpentine which is the pond in the center of Hyde Park. So, we went to Hyde Park to check things out. We found the swimming hole and hurried back to the flats for our swimsuits. It was nearly 80 degrees that afternoon. Who could blame us for ditching the cultural beauties of London for a little vitamin D? When we got back we had a difficult time finding a patch of grass. There were so many sun bathers. We nearly found a place, but then discovered a woman who was sunbathing topless. So, we obviously found another location. Sitting out on the grass taking in the sunshine was so great! I love spending time with Michelle. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing. Swimming in the Serpentine was a little bit gross. The water was quite green from algae. We didn’t stay in too long, but long enough to time each other racing from one end of the pond to the other (I think Michelle was too scared to go toe to toe with me in an actual race). We dried of in the sunshine and finally left in time to eat dinner together and leave for a rehearsal that evening of the London Philharmonic Choir. Their rehearsal was really interesting to watch. They were by far the worst sight-readers we’ve seen in any choir rehearsal (excepting the college choirs at Oxford who are composed of untrained volunteers). The conductor was good at guiding them through the music though. He was quite adept at running the rehearsal. Their sound wasn’t particularly impressive either. All of these struggles made us chuckle just a little bit when several members of the choir came up to us during the break talking about how awesome it is for them to be part of a world-famous choir. World-famous for sure, but maybe not world-class. They were really nice though. They even gave us copies of the music so that we could sing along during the second half of their rehearsal. It was pretty fun. After their rehearsal, we had time to grab a bite to eat. I went with Michelle, Logan, Robert McLellan, and Robert Crappo. We went to the Dutch Pancake House which is becoming a favorite for many of the study-abroaders. Michelle and I each got a pancake that we shared. She got a savory pancake called the Amsterdammer, which was actually the one that I wanted (isn’t she so cute?), and I got a sweet pancake filled with bananas, nutella, nuts and ice cream topped with chocolate sauce. Since we both paid for one pancake each, we coined the evening a Double-Dutch Date which is quite punny if you think about it. The only bad part of a Double Dutch Date with 3 other guys is that you might have to compete for the attention of the girl, even if she’s your girlfriend. Logan was giving Michelle a hard time and started flirting with her by quasi-beating her up. When Michelle cried out wondering why I didn’t help her I teased her a little bit saying that I wouldn’t help save her if she was going to be flirting with other guys. She’d have to get herself out of the situation she’d gotten herself into. It was pretty funny. Michelle is a flirt. That’s one of the reasons I like her so much.