Back on track. Not a snippet a Transition from The Boats. No tangents or Bonk Bonk! Christine Primrose. Sean Nós. Rockers who could do opera? Or opera singers who can rawk? Scots vs. Real Gaelige. Stand and Deliver or Park N’ Bark? Les Miz vs. Real Opera. Didling or Mouth Music? Popeye. Can Celtic music get jazzy?

Roger CortonLast time we got totally sidetracked, leading to our first complete failure. So now, we’re going to reconvene and we are going to talk about Transition V, subtitled ‘Walking In The Mountains)’.

Transition V (Walking In The Mountains)

JC HarrisYa know something I noticed…

RCStop it.

JCHStop what?

RCI can always tell when you’re about to go off and that is not going to happen this time.

JCHOh c’mon… just a couple. They’re teeny weeny.

RCSo, JC. Tell us about this piece of music.

JCHWhat a killjoy.

[…]

This was supposed to be a chat about another ‘snippet’ from The Boats, but it finally happened: our first failed Rant. Just too many tangents. Why Transition V and not IV? Explanations of Traveling music and Supernumeraries: in opera and nipples. The Man With The Golden Gun. Christopher Lee’s bare chest. Bond. Extras vs. Supers. Choir in opera. Some basics of staging explained. Pointless movie quotes.

Roger CortonLast time we talked you said that you were going to put it all together. But this snippet is called ‘Transition V’.

Transition V Should Go Here

JC HarrisAnd?

RCAnd… What happened to Transition IV?

JCHWhat do you mean ‘what happened to it’?

RCWhen I go to the Story page I see Transition I, Transition II, Transition III. You skipped one.

JCHI’ve skipped out on a lot of things in my time, pal.

RCI bet you have. But […]

I guess the last one wasn’t the last snippet from the new opera, The Boats. America. Permission to leave. Emigration. John Wayne is one funky, dude. Black beer. James Brown. Mega-snippet. How it all fits together. One combo platter, coming up.

Roger CortonWell, I guess that wasn’t the last snippet. Maybe this is the last snippet?

America

JC HarrisHey, don’t sound so thrilled with some NEW MUSIC!

RCYeah, yeah. Look, where have you been for the past month?

JCHHealth stuff.

RCIt never ends.

JCHTrue dat.

RCSo, first things first. I thought there were no more snippets.

JCHBookkeeping? (laughs) So, each of the three sons has their own aria–where they think about where they imagine themselves going to. I realized that I hadn’t included the aria for the youngest son, Cian.

RCYou remind me of when I was a kid. I wasn’t happy until I had every baseball card in […]

The last snippet from the new opera, The Boats: Tower Hill? Why is it taking so long (again)? No fun factor. Getting the band back together? Too Old To Rock & Roll. Trump Virus. The American Dream.

Roger CortonIs it possible? The last snippet?

Tower Hill

JC HarrisAnything is possible.

RCIt seems like it’s been going on…

JCHForever?

RCYou said it. I didn’t.

JCHI did say it.

RCI seem to recall at certain times we’ve done rants titled “Why is it taking so long.”

JCHI vaguely remember those. Like a bad fever.

RCSo…

JCHWell in twenty five words or less, there’s health and then there’s inspiration and then there’s the related ‘fun factor’.

RCFun factor, you say.

JCHYeah, we’ve beaten that to death. Look, when I work on ‘normal’ stuff, I’m working on stuff based on what I’m enjoying. But this opera is essentially […]

A snippet from the new opera, The Boats: I Will Try You. Dogs that won’t behave and hand clapping skills. The Smiths and How Soon Is Now. Emergency couples therapy, The Marriage Of Figaro and fishing boat captains. The inner voice revisited. La Boheme revisited. Bring on the soaring guitars.

Roger CortonPower chords.

I Will Try You

JC Harris

RCIt starts out with the hand clapping.

JCHSo it’s breakfast and Móirín and Ciarán are doing what lots of households do, having a fight whilst taking care of chores. In this case she’s calling in one of the dogs.

RCFrom the farm.

RCWell, it’s not really a farm. But yeah, the property where sheep graze. Sheep dogs. And the dog isn’t minding and it’s exasperating. So she’s clapping that pattern over and over. And that blends in with her telling off Ciarán. But his mind is off somewhere else. It’s just this background noise.

[…]