The Music in my Life

Many years ago I was, for a brief period, a music student. My first instrument was voice, my second was French Horn and a very poor third was the piano.

I spent a year at the University of Hull, realising day by day that although I had a good voice and was good at the History of Music, I was not making the grade with the other required elements of my degree, particularly where playing ex-tempore from a figured bass was concerned. One of the most embarrassing moments of my time at Hull was the First Year viva voce exam;  I was expected to accompany a flautist who, by the time I had figured out where my hands should go on the keyboard, was merrily tootling away several bars ahead.

None of this was a surprise - knowing that I had made a mistake, I tried to change degrees to a BA in English Literature a scant six weeks into my first term but the course was over-subscribed. At the end of my first year, I decided to stop wasting my parents' money and my time. I gave my (required) year end recital and left.

It was a pity that I didn't play the piano well, otherwise I might have chosen to go to the Royal College or the Royal Academy instead and focussed on my voice; however, good keyboard skills were a requirement of entry. I had been told at my interview at Hull that my deficiencies with regards to the piano would not be a problem, so when I was offered a place there, I accepted.

I left Hull in 1976 and after a brief spell working at Terminal One, Heathrow (a previously-arranged student summer job), I went to live in Copenhagen for a time.

Looking back at that year at Hull, I don't regret it for one instant. I got to sing and play some wonderful music with the University Orchestra, the Chamber Choir and the University Choral Society. I met some lovely people, studied Drama with a very young Anthony Minghella who had us re-writing 'A Confederate General at Big Sur' for the stage, met my first real boyfriend (who was Danish - hence the time spent in Copenhagen) and was part of the choir that performed Verdi's Requiem. Finally, the fact that I didn't complete my degree was the catalyst for my decision to study with the Open University.

The years have passed and the last time that I sang in public was a solo at my brother's first wedding in 1984.

And I MISS my music.

 Listening is one thing, but performing......being part of a choir or an orchestra is the experience that I crave. So when it became clear that we would be moving to the West Country, I started looking for choirs that I might join and it looks as though there are some that might welcome me.

I do hope so - there is still so much music that I have never sung!