As you all know, Wednesdays are busy, but they tend to be fun and generally exciting for me too! Okay, to begin, I woke up and got to class on time, even a bit beforehand. When I got there, the class was about the types of sales that people do or how they advertise and was all quite fascinating as usual. Something interesting that made me smile quite widely was that we got our papers back. On my paper, I was expecting something around a C maybe, because I had rushed so much in writing this the night before it was due. What I found instead to my delightful surprise was an A-, which believe me was a very welcome sight. On the end comments that the professor wrote was ‘a delightful read, thanks’. I was very happy to see this little note, because I was so upset the week before from my music class. Now the thing is, I really don’t care about grades that much, especially lately, but it is still very warming to see a good one from time to time. I guess that is the interesting thing about being here, I have really learned to care even less than I did before about grades and realise that their significance is much lower than I had thought before.
Anyway, after this class, I went to Liverpool Street station to meet my class (near the city of London proper and East London) and waited about a bit for them to show up. When they did, it seemed much smaller than it had been at the beginning of the year (I have noticed this with all of my classes mind you). Also, in the station since it was partially exposed by the elements outside, it occurred to me for the first time how cold it was here in London. I know it has not been below freezing, but being the Colorado boy that I am, I surely felt the cold in its humidity form, cold wet bastard that it is. I was trying to keep warm the whole time, and as we went on our little walking tour I was happy to see everything but still quite cold and miserable resultantly. We walked all over, we went to Spitalfields, where one of the Jack the Ripper murders took place, and we walked by the Ten Bells, the JtR pub. This was not meant to have anything to do with him, mind you, it just kind of happened this way. Also, we walked by the Gherkin, (a large recent building by Norman Foster) and we walked near an old market that was built in the 1880's this was extremely charming and I do hope to get back there soon to take a picture. It was across from the Lloyd’s building and that in itself was very fascinating too, it looked much like the Pompidou centre in Paris (in a way, and I think it was the same architect). All of this we saw and then I went back to class.
When I got to the place where my next class was supposed to be, I was in the room 40 or so minutes before everyone else and let me tell you it was so nice and warm, I nearly wanted to go to sleep, in fact I did for about 5 minutes. When the prof came in the room, he mentioned the heat, but made no move to open a window or anything so I was very happy about that. Anyway, then came in another girl from the class (one of those East coasters I was talking about) and she mentioned the temp as well and opened a window after that, and I silently froze thereafter... okay a bit of a hyperbole, but it was certainly less comfortable to me. During the class, we talked about Beethoven, and we watched a little docudrama on his life about his gaining deafness, which I thought was good, and it was certainly more entertaining than the normal class. We listened to the pieces we were going to hear from the concert that night and it was all quite good. After class I just stayed at school and got a little work done and then took off to go to the Barbican where the concert was with the LSO or London Symphony Orchestra, one that I reckon to be probably the most famous in the world. And without further ado here is the weekly description of the concert, enjoy.
16 November 2005: London Symphony Orchestra playing at the Barbican
Tonight, we went to the Barbican to watch the London Symphony Orchestra play three pieces by Beethoven. The hall itself, before I get too much into the concert was very enjoyable and it was my second favourite hall to be in, besides from the Royal Albert Hall. It was huge and modern, but aesthetic in spite of this. It had a lot more wood on the interior than I had expected but still nice all the same. As to the concert, we first listened to Overture No. 2: Leonore, which was rather good, and as all Beethoven seems to, roused the passions to match his temper in writing it. The next piece we heard was his Violin Concerto, which again was good, but not as good to me as the piece before and after it, not in the orchestration of it mind you, but just in the piece itself. The final piece we listened to after intermission was Beethoven’s 7th Symphony, which was great in my mind, all the movements of it really quite stirred me, and I had the tune in my head long after the concert had finished. I do not know if this indicates good writing in music, but I did think it was well written, and it was genuinely a Beethoven piece, quite distinct from most others. Thus was my belief on tonight’s concert.
After this little concert, one of the girls, Elizabeth, and I walked back to Barbican station, and took the Hammersmith line together until King’s Cross where she got off. When I returned home, I did not do too much, save to talk to a few people and that was about it. Thus was my day, I hope it was entertaining, now to the land of floppy instruments and skirts, and I’ll wager the prettiest city in the UK!