Silent plunge of the lemmings

May 8, 2010 by Ro.

May 8, 2010

We begin work yet again on the “William Tell Overture.” We have begun work on this piece several times before, but no one can remember how to sing it at all, so we have to start all over again each time. The only way we know we have tried it before is that there are pencil notations in the music, made by Steve’s very hand.

But this time we are determined to learn it once and for all, so we plod gamely through it, in excruciatingly slow tempo, for several weeks, each time adding a few more pages that have been scribbled upon. It is a hectic piece, almost entirely eighth and sixteenth notes that dance dizzyingly across the page. Couple that with numerous page turns that happen at just the trickiest vocal parts and a multi-page repeat plus a nasty coda and you have yourself quite a challenge to our moderate brightness. We work diligently.

At last Steve is confident that we can pick up the tempo, so like Captain Kirk ordering “warp speed,” he kicks up the metronome. We sail at breakneck speed through the first four pages, huddled over the music in intense concentration, through all the tricky repeats and page turns, vainly trying to gasp a bit of breath during the rare sixteenth note rests. We fly through page five all the way to the bottom of the page. And suddenly and simultaneously, we stop. There is profound silence. Steve has forgotten to turn the page.

We all stare mutely at the measure we have just sung, with no clue whatsoever what comes next. After a heavy silent beat we all look at each other and burst into our patented hilarity as we all try to describe what it felt like. The best description is that it was like a pack of lemmings scrambling hellbent for the cliff, with the “William Tell Overture” as their soundtrack, and on reaching the edge, launch themselves headfirst, tiny lemming feet splayed, their mouths agape in silent screams as they plunge to their deaths.

We then spend quite a bit of rehearsal time mimicking the hapless lemmings, with snippets of “William Tell Overture” thrown in as the lead-in to their silent deathly plunge. Ba-da-bum ba-da-bum ba-da-bum-bum-bum AAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHH!

It was funny. It really was.

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