Ill never be young again | Christine Lucas

Saturday 1st June (half way through 2013 and nothing to show for it.) I was up at 5.35am with David who went walking in Cumbria with his work colleagues. I on the other hand was stuck at home but enjoyed the sunshine although it was too cold to sunbathe, ordered a vegetable Shahi from my favourite Indian restaurant Saffron and enjoyed a whole bottle of JP Chenet Chardonnay-Sauvignon. 😀 Bliss!

During the day I was busy creatively as I mixed my ‘theme tune’ Gustav Mahler’s 6th Symphony: the Andante with Jonathan Firth’s readings of Daphne du Maurier’s audiobook I’ll Never be Young Again. I had to be extra careful as I did not want to destroy my favorite music.

I think I achieved something better than the Mahler’s 10th mix I made earlier in the year. I think the readings suggesting nature and the music by Mahler complimented each other perfectly. I am very happy with the result.

What do you think? I would love some feedback? 🙂

Recently I was listening to an audio recording of Jonathan Firth in William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. In it he plays Orsino the duke of Illyria. The play opens with his most famous soliloquy ‘if music be the food of love, play on.’ This got me thinking! The first composer that came to my mind was Gustav Mahler. Then a ‘flash’ hit me! An idea was born! Why not try and blend Jonathan’s wonderful readings with Mahler’s 10th Symphony?

I had not long since been given a download of the audio mixer ‘Audacity’, so I attempted to weave some magic into Mahler’s 10th. Where I think it really worked was when I used a clip from Daphne du Maurier’s I’ll Never be Young Again. I think the recording is one of Jonathan’s finest audio work and the clip I intersected with Mahler seems (or so it seems to me) to be a wonderful pairing, very emotional!

Where I didn’t feel so confident is near the end, where I used a clip from William Woodruff’s Shadows of Glory. Though not a bad narrative, I don’t think it portrays the emotion that Du Maurier’s work does. I shall let you all decide.

A word on the cover photo. I was listening to a recording of Mahler’s 6th Symphony on YouTube, it was by the Vienna Philharmonic/Bernstein. I loved the cover artwork so I print screened and pasted it into Paint Shop. I changed the picture of Mahler and added a recent one of Jonathan. I am really proud of myself as I think it looks lush! I am not renowned for my artistic prowess. 🙂

I hope you enjoy the music! 🙂