Tablet Tango from Seven Ages of Man (2020) [3 minutes] Video made during lockdown
Seven Ages of Man After several years of running community choirs limited to a secular repertoire (Tonic Choir), Bryan and I realised that without the opportunity to tackle any of the standard choral repertoire (due to its complexity or religious subject matter) we were almost entirely confined to singing individual songs or medleys.
As our choirs improved we felt they needed something more 'meaty'. We wanted them to experience the satisfaction that comes from tackling a substantial work.
Seven Ages of Man, a 30 minute cantata for choir and soloists, takes as its starting point the ‘All the world’s a stage’ speech from Shakespeare’s As You Like It. This was used as a jumping off point to consider aspects of each of the seven ages as they apply today. To this we added a prologue and epilogue. First performances were in 2014.
The Fifth Age - One day soon No longer a baby, a schoolgirl, a lover For work I am just past my prime Retirement beckons, a new life begins And finally I have some time
I’ve long wished to travel to places afar, And to learn how to play the bassoon, To have time for reading and master new skills, Like dog-making from a balloon.
But then the phone rings, it’s my daughter who wants To save me from wasting away She’ll go back to work, just for three days a week And leave baby with me — OK?
Of course, stammer I, seeing my seven days Reduced in an instant to four Still that’s plenty of time to do what I want And then there’s a knock at the door
The parents arrive, in a terrible state Needing help that I cannot deny, It’s going to take me two days a week I manage to stifle a sigh.
There’s housework and shopping - a day and a half And gardening, paperwork, too, Which leaves me, I calculate, no time at all For what I was planning to do.
The Sixth Age - The Tablet Tango I’m at that time of life, When together with my wife And all the older people of the nation That our days are now defined, Not by calm and peace of mind But by worrying about our medication
I just hate the blister pack, Took me years to learn the knack It’s not easy with a hand that always shakes The drugs to make me stronger, A list that’s growing longer I find that I am making more mistakes
After days on a new pill, And feeling very ill I try to read the vast documentation But the type is very small, I can’t fathom it at all Even with my utmost concentration
With a magnifying glass, I continue with this farce Reading side-effects that shake me to the core, Most of which I’m sure I’ve got, Pretty soon I’ll have the lot And then I spill the contents on the floor.
Feeling ever more unwell, My feet now start to swell With the doctor I might need an altercation And then to my disbelief, Find the label underneath And discover this is not my medication