This past Thursday we went to
the Club Regent Theatre in Winnipeg to watch ‘A Prairie Christmas’ with the #Nadeau
Emsemble. Two women played the harp and a man played a variety of old string
instrument that looked quite complicated. One of them sounded like the Scottish
bagpipes. What a great performance! No screaming voices and no blaring steel
guitars that make your chest vibrate and your eardrums wanting to burst.
The women didn’t just play
the harp, they also sang along. Both women had lovely, sweet voices that
blended perfectly with the sound of the harps. It was a wonderful and enjoyable
evening. I never knew a harp sounded very much like a piano.
Too bad the show wasn’t sold
out. People don’t seem to be interested anymore in these kind of performances,
where you can sit back, close your eyes and be transported into a world of
peace and quiet solitude. They’d rather flock to shows performed by bands like the
Tragically Hip and similar groups. I’ve never enjoyed shows where you can’t
understand the words, because they are screamed into a microphone and where the
instruments are played so loud you can’t hear yourself think. I don’t like
people waving their hands in the air in front of me so I can’t see the stage
anymore.
We went to a Winter Concert
from School. They used to call them Christmas Concerts. Not anymore. In this
political climate we are living in, we mustn’t offend all those minorities that
don’t believe in Christmas. They played one ‘Song’ with drums I thought would
never end, one with nothing but electronic music, and one song by Zeppelin with
loud instruments and a guy singing. According to my son he did a great imitation.
I couldn’t wait for the evening to end to give my ears a rest.
Whatever happened to those singers
with the melodic, resonant voices instead of those flat voices you hear these
days?
It seems to be a sign of the
times. Nobody has time anymore to sit and relax, to contemplate life and enjoy
the silence; to listen to their inner voice. Everything has to be loud and hektic.
You hear it in the music and in every part of life. When I watch people walking
around with their I-phones in their hand, constantly checking for who knows
what, texting while they cross the street, while they stand in line at the cashier,
or sitting in a doctor’s office. I’ve seen them playing games on their gadgets while
fishing. I watched a man with his two children in a restaurant. Instead of
paying attention to his children, he was occupied with his cell phone,
completely ignoring his kids. What is happening? Where are we heading? People
seems to be more nervous than ever; they suffer from mental problems and from
stress. Perhaps putting away their phone and just having a nice conversation with
the people they are with might help a lot or going to a concert like the one we
just enjoyed.
Many people reading this will
not agree with me. My son is a fan of the Tragically Hip. I guess I’m just an old-fashioned
guy, a dying breed. Maybe in a hundred years, if we haven’t managed to destroy
this worlds with everyone on it, things will be different. Perhaps people will enjoy
classical music again and appreciate voices and music performed by groups like
the Nadeau Ensemble.
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