Ne'ertofore so well carolling Nowell
Dec. 18th, 2018 07:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shewhomustNorthbound on a busy evening train. But first there were two musical evenings (and two quiet days).
The Carol Evening is the reason for our annual pre-Christmas visit to London, and I've written about it before: the Bears have been holding it annually for decades, and it is always the same and always different. A big difference this year was that A. was not present, not because of her recent bereavement but because she was doing something else, a concert that she had booked some time ago. It is A. who each year quietly corrects the typing errors, the misspellings and misplaced apostrophes her folder of carols, and by now she has worked her way through most of them. But on Sunday someone did find a rare, uncorrected copy, and their suggestion that they should do the job in A.'s place was shouted down.
I thought we were in good voice, and I thought the mulled wine was particularly good: I don't know if there two things were related. Getting the Wine Society to deliver had been more complicated than we anticipated, but I forgave them quite a lot, because their suggestion of a Chilean carmenere was a good one. I had started the mulled wine early, leaving the spices (cinnamon sticks, fresh ginger, nutmeg and cloves, of course) and the sliced oranges and lemon to steep in the wine for an hour before applying heat (and honey!). Doing all this ahead meant that F. arrived in time to supervise the final adjustments, so that was a win all round. We only sang two While Shepherds - Cranbrook and Sweet Bells - plus Shepherds Arise!, skipping the version we sang at school, which is fine by me, though I know it has its fans.
Down in Yon Forest was as spooky and magical as ever, and when it ended that was my signal to go into the kitchen and put the mince pies and cheese scones into the oven. Every year there is more demand for the cheese scones and less for the mince pies, though we do manage to demolish a fair quantity of mince pies. And of course this year there were none of A.'s spice biscuits in seasonal shapes.
GirlBear is our archivist, and had noted that last year someone who was not with us this year had suggested we divide the dialogue of Good King Wenceslas, with people deciding whether to sing as king or page; it had worked well, so we decided to do it again, though this year there was much more discussion about whether that should be a division by gender. We were clear that it shouldn't, though at least one singer demanded to be gender-fluid anyway (and at least one sang both parts, regardless). I like it because it breaks up what I otherwise find quite a heavy song. I just had time to reflect that In Praise of Christmas is, exceptionally, an entirely secular carol, and then it was all over for another year.
Yesterday a friend of the Bears was in town for the day (she lives in Brighton) and we went out to lunch at the Rabbit Hole Café, which is only a short walk away. They offer a whole range of all-day breakfasts, some vegetarian, some not, but to my surprisedurham_rambler followed me in choosing chakchouka (that's not how they spelled it, but it's the spelling I know) with a side order of chips. Neither of us has any regrets.
In the evening we were delighted - and honoured - to be invited to a singaround as guests of the St Pancras Cruising Club in their magnificent clubhouse, the Waterpoint. GirlBear walked us there through the Christmas lights of King's Cross (there may be photos later, but not on LNER wi-fi!), which is a good way to approach the building. Inside it is less palatial, but it is decorated to within an inch of its life, and despite warnings , the gas heater was working, so it was very comfortable.
It's a small gathering, which happens because the Vice Commodore wants it to, and the club members were outnumbered by guests (ourselves and Dorten Yonder) but only just. None of which is a problem. The atmosphere was very accepting: you could pass if you wanted to, or ask for everyone to sing a particular carol, or rely on people to be patient if you were a hesitant performer. Any gathering in which Pretty Boy Floyd is classed as a Christmas song is all right by me - and this time we did get to hear Dorten Yonder's Christmas repertoire, so that was good.
One of the carols requested was Good King Wenceslas, with the dialogue divided, woman to sing the page and men the king; there was some muttering, but we complied. I found the high notes of the page's lines much harder to reach than I had the previous evening, which is odd, because, asboybear pointed out, we were singing in exactly the same key. Nonetheless, I did. Other highlights included a rather fine 'carol of the workers' brought along by one of the boaters who had learned it from a book of carols she owned as a child. And - but no, I think I'll save that for another post.
Anyway, I had a splendid evening. I've heard a lot about the Waterpoint since the Bears have been going there, and it lived up to all of it.
And today was quiet, sleeping late and wrapping presents and packing the suitcase. Since Dorten Yonder had a gig this evening near King's Cross, the Bears came with us to the station, and we had something to eat at the Parcel Yard before they went to their gig and we caught our train.
The Carol Evening is the reason for our annual pre-Christmas visit to London, and I've written about it before: the Bears have been holding it annually for decades, and it is always the same and always different. A big difference this year was that A. was not present, not because of her recent bereavement but because she was doing something else, a concert that she had booked some time ago. It is A. who each year quietly corrects the typing errors, the misspellings and misplaced apostrophes her folder of carols, and by now she has worked her way through most of them. But on Sunday someone did find a rare, uncorrected copy, and their suggestion that they should do the job in A.'s place was shouted down.
I thought we were in good voice, and I thought the mulled wine was particularly good: I don't know if there two things were related. Getting the Wine Society to deliver had been more complicated than we anticipated, but I forgave them quite a lot, because their suggestion of a Chilean carmenere was a good one. I had started the mulled wine early, leaving the spices (cinnamon sticks, fresh ginger, nutmeg and cloves, of course) and the sliced oranges and lemon to steep in the wine for an hour before applying heat (and honey!). Doing all this ahead meant that F. arrived in time to supervise the final adjustments, so that was a win all round. We only sang two While Shepherds - Cranbrook and Sweet Bells - plus Shepherds Arise!, skipping the version we sang at school, which is fine by me, though I know it has its fans.
Down in Yon Forest was as spooky and magical as ever, and when it ended that was my signal to go into the kitchen and put the mince pies and cheese scones into the oven. Every year there is more demand for the cheese scones and less for the mince pies, though we do manage to demolish a fair quantity of mince pies. And of course this year there were none of A.'s spice biscuits in seasonal shapes.
GirlBear is our archivist, and had noted that last year someone who was not with us this year had suggested we divide the dialogue of Good King Wenceslas, with people deciding whether to sing as king or page; it had worked well, so we decided to do it again, though this year there was much more discussion about whether that should be a division by gender. We were clear that it shouldn't, though at least one singer demanded to be gender-fluid anyway (and at least one sang both parts, regardless). I like it because it breaks up what I otherwise find quite a heavy song. I just had time to reflect that In Praise of Christmas is, exceptionally, an entirely secular carol, and then it was all over for another year.
Yesterday a friend of the Bears was in town for the day (she lives in Brighton) and we went out to lunch at the Rabbit Hole Café, which is only a short walk away. They offer a whole range of all-day breakfasts, some vegetarian, some not, but to my surprise
durham_rambler followed me in choosing chakchouka (that's not how they spelled it, but it's the spelling I know) with a side order of chips. Neither of us has any regrets.In the evening we were delighted - and honoured - to be invited to a singaround as guests of the St Pancras Cruising Club in their magnificent clubhouse, the Waterpoint. GirlBear walked us there through the Christmas lights of King's Cross (there may be photos later, but not on LNER wi-fi!), which is a good way to approach the building. Inside it is less palatial, but it is decorated to within an inch of its life, and despite warnings , the gas heater was working, so it was very comfortable.
It's a small gathering, which happens because the Vice Commodore wants it to, and the club members were outnumbered by guests (ourselves and Dorten Yonder) but only just. None of which is a problem. The atmosphere was very accepting: you could pass if you wanted to, or ask for everyone to sing a particular carol, or rely on people to be patient if you were a hesitant performer. Any gathering in which Pretty Boy Floyd is classed as a Christmas song is all right by me - and this time we did get to hear Dorten Yonder's Christmas repertoire, so that was good.
One of the carols requested was Good King Wenceslas, with the dialogue divided, woman to sing the page and men the king; there was some muttering, but we complied. I found the high notes of the page's lines much harder to reach than I had the previous evening, which is odd, because, as
boybear pointed out, we were singing in exactly the same key. Nonetheless, I did. Other highlights included a rather fine 'carol of the workers' brought along by one of the boaters who had learned it from a book of carols she owned as a child. And - but no, I think I'll save that for another post. Anyway, I had a splendid evening. I've heard a lot about the Waterpoint since the Bears have been going there, and it lived up to all of it.
And today was quiet, sleeping late and wrapping presents and packing the suitcase. Since Dorten Yonder had a gig this evening near King's Cross, the Bears came with us to the station, and we had something to eat at the Parcel Yard before they went to their gig and we caught our train.
no subject
Date: 2018-12-19 03:52 am (UTC)By "chakchouka", do you mean a dish of peppers, onions, and tomatoes topped with fried or poached eggs?
no subject
Date: 2018-12-19 10:54 am (UTC)We're thinking of the same dish, though I'd expect the eggs to be baked in the vegetable mix. The Rabbit Hole's version had as many mushrooms as peppers, quite finely chopped and well spiced. It was delicious.
Reunited with my desktop, I have access to my photos:
no subject
Date: 2018-12-20 01:29 am (UTC)