How do you know that your English wife is dead?

I pushed myself ahead and showed up for an audition at the London Philharmonic Choir (LFC). It took one minute to raise a verdict: lack of strong and confident voice. Need vocal training. DENIED.

I attended the rehearsal before the catastrophe _An impressive rehearsal, the guy next to me, to my right, was a trumpet-voice, used to sing in the Phantom of the Opera, they say. He was very kind, all of them were kind. In 3 weeks time they will be singing the Das Klagende Lied ("A Plaintive Song"), the original piece (no later revisions) Gustav Mahler composed in 1880, when he was 20 years old! Apparently, it was published and sung for the first time in 1997 in Manchester, UK.

The piece of music is extraordinary, enjoyed it! It is a story rooted deeply in the primordial fraticidal sin. Two brothers intend to marry a bliss woman who would not marry anyone, except he who finds a special flower (red flower, if I remember right). The good brother finds it, put it in his hat and puts himself to sleep. The bad brother finds him and kills him. Then, he buried him. So he can court the woman and everyone gets ready for the marriage.

However, one of the bones glitters at the light of sun and a peasant discoveres it and makes a flute out of it. A very plaintive child's voice tells the story with a strange and sad music. Then, the peasant goes to the wedding and plays the flute and brings disgrace and woe to the king. The last words of the lyrics (written by Mahler, as well) are "O, Leide" ("O, agony").

It is ironic, isn't it? I got a very plaintive experience after (trying) singing a very plaintive story.

The man to my left told this joke during the break: "How do you know that your English wife is dead? Well, the sink is full of dishes, plates and hotplates and pans... But the sink is better".