11. Feb, 2017

Music Critics

My grandma's rosewood piano used to live in Hull, in a bone cold front room, chilled by the wind from the Humber and relieved, by then, only by occasional use of the two bar electric fire.  It was her pride and joy, bought in 1921, when she married.  She played music hall songs on it mostly, accompanied by her mezzosoprano, not as pure as it had been by now.  The ceremony was to open it and carefully roll up the green felt cover that protected the keys, lift down the music stand, and start with something like " The Man who Broke the Bank at Monteca - a - arlo."  Occasionally my grandad, who hadn't a note, sang one of his two perennials (first lines only), "When it's Spring Time in the Rockies, I'll be coming back to you", or "She'll be Coming Round the Mountain When She Comes", with much drawn out tuneless bellowing.

It was only later, that I learned it had also been the centre of many a family singsong throughout my mother's childhood, especially at Christmas, the source, to her, of some less than convivial evenings, from which she was glad to escape to University.

The piano was always intended to be for me when I arrived and had lessons and in due course, it came from it's next life in the family front room in Halifax, to the back of the living room in Manchester, where it still resides.  It's hard to keep it in tune due to central heating and an attack of moth saw off the green cloth and affected the dampers under  the keys, some of which stick. I keep a bowl of water on the go nearby on the advice of the piano tuner.

My playing, a little out of practice it's true, though I could still play some of the easy Mozart pieces I learned with quite easily, got a mixed reception

My former neighbour, an old lady, I realised was not coincidentally coming out to repeatedly slam rubbish into her wheelie bin just outside but using it as a vehement criticism that I was inflicting "noise" upon her, rather than, as I fondly fancied, a bit of nice piano music.  

The treasured piano itself was assessed by the tuner as quite a nice standard upright, and as I have always done, I know I should practice more, but fail to do so.  One day!  Now it is badly in need of renovation and it is a pricy do which will require a ship, or a small fleet of them, to come in before I can afford it.  I will though.  It's an heirloom after all.