Sing out!

From CBS Sunday Morning:

Steppin' Out

Thanks to LB and her video clip of Get Happy, I just spent an hour on YouTube (Yes, I Blame You). Just thought I'd share another of this year's chorus songs, as danced by the incomparable Fred Astaire.

Music Monday - Thomas Morley (c.1557-1602)

While not terribly seasonally appropriate, "Now is the Month of Maying" was the first song The Monday Madrigal Madres sang together at the first ever meeting of the group. We may have to change the name should the co-op's one baritone commit to singing the bass part (you know who you are--otherwise one of the ladies will have to continue singing that part). This particular madrigal had the happy coincidence of having five parts for the five of us that showed up to sing, and it is probably the madrigal I am most familiar with, having listened to this recording on The King's Singers Madrigal History Tour CD many, many times in the past several years:



Thomas Morley is probably the best known English composer of madrigals. He lived at the same time as Shakespeare and has the distinction of being one of two composers of the period whose settings of Shakespearean verse still exist.

Ladies, you did a great job! Music readers and sight singers all, what a treat! I can't wait until next week.

Angelic voice

After this week's choir rehearsal, Barb and I were talking about singers of classical music we enjoy listening to, and I was reminded of how much pleasure I get from hearing Custer LaRue's pure soprano vocals. There were only a couple of YouTube videos that popped up when I searched for her name, but this video is a treat--beautiful photos of Ireland coupled with the plaintive sound of "Mine Eyes Are Now Closing to Rest," from LaRue's CD with Chris Norman and Kim Robertson, Lullaby Journey. The CD is filled with music guaranteed to induce somnolence without grating on one's nerves like other "relaxing" music I've encountered. (The other selections on this CD are not as mournful as this particular song, though the singer does seem to have a penchant for minor keys, which may be why I like her music so much, as I have the same predilection.) For a complete list of LaRue's solo cds and her recordings with The Baltimore Consort, visit Dorian.