A swarm of trombones
is a sight to behold.
But it's tiresome to watch
all that puffing and pumping,
is a sight to behold.
But it's tiresome to watch
all that puffing and pumping,
and the noise that they make
will drive any man to drink.
will drive any man to drink.
And who ever thought
that adding more voices
granted permission
to sing every verse
of every anthem,
should be sentenced to.
a few years of hard labor.
that adding more voices
granted permission
to sing every verse
of every anthem,
should be sentenced to.
a few years of hard labor.
Moreover
if you've seen one tenor horn
then you've seen them all.
Hearing a horde of them
does not improve the experience,
and instead makes you wish
that you'd never seen none.
if you've seen one tenor horn
then you've seen them all.
Hearing a horde of them
does not improve the experience,
and instead makes you wish
that you'd never seen none.
For when music becomes an ordeal,
a quagmire from which there is no escape,
you can only hope
that you will endure the torment
a quagmire from which there is no escape,
you can only hope
that you will endure the torment
until the last note dies away.
This photo postcard
of a large outdoor concert
gives no time or place.
of a large outdoor concert
gives no time or place.
The brass band is easily
over 75 musicians,
all men in bowlers and straw hats.
And the choir arranged
on stepped bleachers
could be 350 singers or more.
over 75 musicians,
all men in bowlers and straw hats.
And the choir arranged
on stepped bleachers
could be 350 singers or more.
My best guess
is that the brass instruments,
and the chimney pots at top right, look British.
And the hats and the fashion look 1910-ish.
But the purpose of the event,
whether patriotic, religious, or temperance,
must remain unknown.
Yet for one gentleman and a young lad
this was one concert best forgotten.
is that the brass instruments,
and the chimney pots at top right, look British.
And the hats and the fashion look 1910-ish.
But the purpose of the event,
whether patriotic, religious, or temperance,
must remain unknown.
Yet for one gentleman and a young lad
this was one concert best forgotten.
This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday
where everyone is waiting
to see who will pay the pipers.
7 comments:
Love it. A different slant for you.
I never thought I'd read a criticism of too much horn. But I'm with you on singing every verse of an anthem. For some reason that escapes me, my State DAR leaders decided we should sing the 1st and 4th verses of the National Anthem. Honestly, I never knew there was more than one. What a mess as people tried to fit the words to the tune, holding a word too long or not long enough.
I wonder if these people could travel to our time would think of our "hatless-ness." Great post.
Poor dear people as audience, as well as those performing whatever it was.
Great spectator photographs, though that man at the front of your first photo looks as if he was anywhere but there, hearing “swarms of trombones” .
What an interesting photo - love the man in the first close up: "Enough with the horns already."
Your text reads like a free verse poem, and highlights the "action" - which by myself I wouldn't have appreciated.
I think it all depends on what you like. I think I would have been thrilled to be there. I love the sound of a band, and all those people singing! I love singing in a big group. Not that I'd want to sing every last verse of the "Star Spangled Banner", but I do miss a whole stadium singing it out loud instead of being entertained by a lone singer. Why did we stop doing that? Can you imagine 70,000 people singing the anthem together? Wow!
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