Impromptu Singing

[Lat-Literal]

George Orwell said that the only people he ever heard singing in the BBC buildings were the women cleaners. I used to sing a lot between 1970 when, aged seven, I would try to ape Lee Marvin and the early 2000s when I could do a very passable Solomon Burke. Since then, no, and it strikes me that I rarely hear other people singing or even innocuously whistling.

Certainly not anyone who earns more than the minimum wage. Even the tradesmen these days don't do song. Are there exceptions? Yes. I have heard the occasional black woman singing a hymn on the street. Secondly, a few girls on a bus doing something by Beyoncé but not so much singing, I feel, as making their presence known as some kind of statement.

Thirdly, there have also been moments when those who have accompanied me have commented on someone singing along the lines of "well, he seems to be enjoying himself". There the inference has been that the man was mentally ill, whether he was mentally ill or not and who can say. Maybe the idea is such singing by definition is now a symptom of irregularity.

We all know that not many people laugh these days - at least, not in a nice way.

Is the absence of impromptu singing another aspect of society's loss of soul? Or is it that many people in your area bounce out of their houses on a regular basis bursting into song?

[vinteuil]

We all know that not many people laugh these days - at least, not in a nice way.

... we know no such thing. Laughter of all kinds is as prevalent hereabouts as it has always been.

Lats - you seem to be currently in a phase of thinkin' everything has gone to the dawgs, that what attends the yoof is disaster, that everyfink is tendin' to rubbish.

This is not the case. Not more now than it has ever been.

And there is No Conspiracy By Them As Is In Power.

Just sayin'....



.

[Lat-Literal]

... we know no such thing. Laughter of all kinds is as prevalent hereabouts as it has always been.

Lats - you seem to be currently in a phase of thinkin' everything has gone to the dawgs, that what attends the yoof is disaster, that everyfink is tendin' to rubbish.

This is not the case. Not more now than it has ever been.

And there is No Conspiracy By Them As Is In Power.

Just sayin'....



.

I don't think I agree.

Even your English has gone downhill since you joined the forum and I could never have anticipated that.

It's not as if you are a young person either.

[cloughie]

George Orwell said that the only people he ever heard singing in the BBC buildings were the women cleaners. I used to sing a lot between 1970 when, aged seven, I would try to ape Lee Marvin and the early 2000s when I could do a very passable Solomon Burke. Since then, no, and it strikes me that I rarely hear other people singing or even innocuously whistling.

Certainly not anyone who earns more than the minimum wage. Even the tradesmen these days don't do song. Are there exceptions? Yes. I have heard the occasional black woman singing a hymn on the street. Secondly, a few girls on a bus doing something by Beyoncé but not so much singing, I feel, as making their presence known as some kind of statement.

Thirdly, there have also been moments when those who have accompanied me have commented on someone singing along the lines of "well, he seems to be enjoying himself". There the inference has been that the man was mentally ill, whether he was mentally ill or not and who can say. Maybe the idea is such singing by definition is now a symptom of irregularity.

We all know that not many people laugh these days - at least, not in a nice way.

Is the absence of impromptu singing another aspect of society's loss of soul? Or is it that many people in your area bounce out of their houses on a regular basis bursting into song?

Impromptu singing is something I do frequently - very good to exercise the vocal chords with a tune that comes into my head, a classical theme or a popular song, trying out songs to sing later in the pub or at a gig. Singing and/or whistling very much a part of my life, sometimes the tune or harmonising above or below it. I hinted on this in another thread and was surprised that more people did not sing along out loud to scores or in fact followed tunes in their heads. To me very much in integral part of the enjoyment of music.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I don't recognize Lats' description amongst the people I know, either: generally cheerful, tuneful folks - and with nice laughter abounding.

Perhaps it's just the effect I have on people.




(It's mutual - frequently when I ask a favour they tell me I can go whistle.)

[Lat-Literal]

Impromptu singing is something I do frequently - very good to exercise the vocal chords with a tune that comes into my head, a classical theme or a popular song, trying out songs to sing later in the pub or at a gig. Singing and/or whistling very much a part of my life, sometimes the tune or harmonising above or below it. I hinted on this in another thread and was surprised that more people did not sing along out loud to scores or in fact followed tunes in their heads. To me very much in integral part of the enjoyment of music.

That's very good, cloughie - thank you very much.

I would like to hear other people's examples of impromptu singing they have heard.

For example, on streets.

[vinteuil]

Perhaps it's just the effect I have on people.

(It's mutual - frequently when I ask a favour they tell me I can go whistle.)

... snap! - except praps here that laughter I hear follows from the effect I have on people...

.

[vinteuil]

It's not as if you are a young person either.

... o me, I'm positively ancient!

What surprizes me, is when I calculate how young our Lats is...

[Lat-Literal]

... o me, I'm positively ancient!

What surprizes me, is when I calculate how young our Lats is...

And your examples of impromptu singing on streets, please.

People who have just left the bakers congregating on the pavement for a rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus.

A dustman singing "Singing in the Rain" in the rain.

That sort of thing.

[vinteuil]

.

... was it of Verdi or Puccini that it was said that his toons were bein' whistled by errand-boys the days followin' a performance at la Scala?

I blame the Second Viennese School.


.

[Lat-Literal]

.

... was it of Verdi or Puccini that it was said that his toons were bein' whistled by errand-boys the days followin' a performance at la Scala?

I blame the Second Viennese School.


.

Interesting - but not recent.

My theory was that the wars encouraged impromptu singing - "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag" etc - but Orwell's observation suggests that might not have been the case.

Unless those in the BBC and similar establishments felt that to do such a thing would be to drop below a standard.

[jean]

What surprizes me...

I bet you didn't spell it like that when you first joined the Forum...

[Stanfordian]

.

... was it of Verdi or Puccini that it was said that his toons were bein' whistled by errand-boys the days followin' a performance at la Scala?

I blame the Second Viennese School.


.

Hiya vinteuil,

Or the New Music Manchester Group from the 1950s. I just can't imagine Salford/Manchester errand-boys whistling tunes from PMD's 'Eight Songs for Mad King'.

[vinteuil]

I bet you didn't spell it like that when you first joined the Forum...

... o, I know that Hart's Rules * recommends surprise. But I have often enjoyed using the spelling preferred by Shakspere, Swift, Browne, Evelyn, Dryden, Addison, &c...



* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hart%27s_Rules


.

[Serial_Apologist]

Hiya vinteuil,

Or the New Music Manchester Group from the 1950s. I just can't imagine Salford/Manchester errand-boys whistling tunes from PMD's 'Eight Songs for Mad King'.

Of course Arnold Schoenberg is noted for having proclaimed "One day people will be whistling my tunes in the street" - doubtless our much-missed Third Viennese School was inspired by AS, with his own oft-mentioned 12-tone tunes. I remember reading what a contemporary so-say classical composer said back in the 1970s when asked about his then-recent collaborations with rock musicians, which was something along the lines of, surely the most avant-garde composer must wake up one morning, put on the radio, hear Stevie Wonder singing, and think, oh how lovely it would be, just to be able to compose something uncomplicated like that. Possibly it was David Bedford.

Does anybody remember Candid Camera? One sketch asked how credible were scenes in popular musicals in which, far from being carted away by people in white coats, leading characters bursting into song in the middle of a crowded street would be joined by complete strangers for a joyful prance down the thoroughfare, arms linked. This was then tried in the high street in Putney, or somewhere in south London, and in no time the evidence turned out that this could indeed be the case!

The other day one of the shelf fillers in the local St Sprees was coming up with a pretty good Stevie Wonder-type rendition, prompting Yours truly to complement him and say that he should be trying for auditions. "Just trying to keep myself cheerful" was his reply.

I do often seen groups of schoolgirls here giving energetic if often out-of-tune renditions of comtemporary hits, presumably hits, as they wait for the bus, and often rapping in unison too. There certainly seems to have been a massive diminution in the incidence of people whistling in the street or, for that matter, anywhere, to a degree that would delight a local Taleban: one which one can probably put down to the influence of musical abstraction on hip-hop's multitudinous offshoots, because if composing a singable or at any rate whistleable tune has become a past art, or now restricted to movie theme tunes, the results of this process of gradual de-familiarisation will be apparent in the social soundscape. That said, though, what exactly does one mean by "whistleable" or "singeable"?