As a Church organist for several years, I was always confronted by the Pastor’s wife at Christmas who insisted upon singing “Oh Holy Night”. I had the chords all figured out in C, but every year she would want to do it in a different key. And, just to keep things interesting, she kept CHANGING her key every year and not telling me till the last minute. I think this was because she had an untrained voice, and would break on the high note at the end. So, she would keep lowering the key, thinking it would make a difference. Of course, it wasn’t the pitch that was a problem, it was the INTERVAL, which for some reason, she couldn’t Handel.
Every year, she would come Bach with a different key, and every year, I would struggle to transpose it on-the-fly.
I got quite skilled at transposing, But it always caused me to do a slow Burn-stein. That dame was definitely on my Lizst, and sometimes I felt like Chopin her head off.
Every year, she would come Bach with a different key, and every year, I would struggle to transpose it on-the-fly.
I got quite skilled at transposing, But it always caused me to do a slow Burn-stein. That dame was definitely on my Lizst, and sometimes I felt like Chopin her head off.
LOL...you are so punny! ;-}
That high note and the little run of eighth notes that follows is the trap that the composer set for the unwary. I would expect a congregation to mess that up -- I've watched it happen -- but when a soloist messes up, it's one of those "Don't giggle in church" situations. It's especially bad when it's the pastor's wife who messes it up.