Posted by Martin Wilson on December 22, 2003 at 14:19:32:
In Reply to: Re: Xmas Carol Service posted by Peter on December 21, 2003 at 22:18:00:
mmm! Let's cast these Xmas spirits out!
What I can't work out is WHY the orchestra sounded so bad. I have drawn a bow across the strings of a violin but I have never managed to replicate that mewling atonal screechy sound that made the St Augs orchestra so distinctively awful.
Incidentally in my first year I asked Mr Jesset if I could learn to play the clarinet. I thought it would be quite a cool instrument to learn(and easy to insert in my briefcase)
But no - the bastard made me learn the French Horn which weighed a ton, obviously made you an immediate target for being beaten up (the aforementioned weight making it impossible to run away), left a permanent metallic taste in the mouth, and was just a horrible instrument to learn.
It was also very easy to leave on the 44 bus on the way home which of course also got me into trouble as I had to get my dad to get in his car and chase every 44 bus en route between Manchester and Wythenshawe until he had tracked down the bus carrying the offending large black package.
After a year of learning I summoned the courage to approach Jesset to tell him that I didn't want to learn the instrument any more. Whilst this may sound innocuous I can assure you that having to impart this information to Jesset was (for a 13 year old) on a similar level to admitting that you cannibalised small children.