To Miao or not to Miao, that is the question

If Shakespeare had never lived, as David Jenkins informs us on Timeout.com, Milton would be the national poet, leaving Britain a “thoroughly Protestant nation and more rebellious to boot”. So now we have someone to blame for all the traffic disruption in London caused by the Pope’s visit. Damn you Shakespeare! But on the plus side, Shakespeare has contributed hugely to Britain’s cultural milieu by giving us a reason to visit Stratford-on-Avon, the phrase “blinking idiot”, and (most importantly) a reason for Oriana to get together and sing in St Martin-in-the-Fields on October 14th. We will be singing settings of Shakespeare songs from many and varied composers, and trying hard not to feel like blinking idiots as we “cookoo”, “bubble bubble” and “miao” through them.

We were cookooing and miaoing a lot on Wednesday as we were practicing Applebaum’s versions of the “Witches Song” from MacBeth and “Spring” from Love’s Labours Lost. Those of you who read the blog fervently every week (and apologies for the lack of blog last week by the way – I was having “technical difficulties”) will remember that last time we were practicing Mäntyjärvi’s version of the “Witches Song”. So I was musing a lot this week, in the quiet moments when David-the-Conductor was busy yelling at the other sections of the choir, which of these settings Shakespeare himself would prefer. Do you suppose he’d be swayed by Mäntyjärvi’s blend of Finnish folk and traditional choral sound, or would he prefer Applebaum’s “strongly tonal, though tinged with a jazz sensibility” style of music? Given Shakespeare’s modernist rock-star bent I was leaning very much towards the latter. But then I read Applebaum’s website, where he describes his music in a slightly smug manner as “somewhat challenging for amateurs to learn”. This distinctly put me off him, so I began trying to make a case for Mäntyjärvi. There aren’t many connections between Shakespeare and Finland but what the hell, I can easily make some up. Did you know Shakespeare was half Finnish? Fact!* This is why Hamlet was set in Elsinore, which is almost in Finland (if you ignore Denmark, Sweden and the Baltic Sea – and who among us doesn’t?). And Ophelia was a moomin as well. So the case is clear; Shakespeare would have enjoyed Mäntyjärvi’s Finnish-inflected “Witches Song” the most. Take that Applebaum and your complicated music for amateurs!

You can of course judge for yourself by coming along on October 14th – I believe we will even have score cards for you!

*Not true at all.