When the Queen was Speechless!

Blog entry posted in 'When the Queen was Speechless!', Mar 29, 2021.

5.00/5, 1 vote
One of my claims to fame (?) is that I have sung at the Royal Albert Hall. No, not at the last night of the Proms with everyone else, but actually on stage. :D At the age of 13, I was picked to sing Alto in a concert consisting of pupils from Senior Schools. We sang Handel’s Messiah and it was an experience that I will never forget. Following years, we moved to the Royal Festival Hall and sang Bach’s St Matthew Passion and also Hayden’s Creation, but being able to see “behind the scenes” at the Royal Albert Hall was rather magical. :)

It was originally going to be called the Central Hall and was the brain child of Prince Albert who had the idea that it was to be used to “promote understanding and appreciation of the Arts and Sciences”. It was to stand in the heart of the South Kensington estate, which was to be developed with the profits of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Sadly, when Prince Albert died in 1861, all plans ground to a halt. :( However, Albert’s collaborator on the Great Exhibition, Henry Cole, took up the baton (so to speak ;)) and work started again in 1867. Renamed The Royal Albert Hall in honour of the Prince, his widow Queen Victoria officially opened the building today, 29th March, back in 1871. However, Victoria was so overcome by emotion that her son, the Prince of Wales had to speak in her place.

Albert Hall.JPG

The roof under construction in 1869 - no Health & Safety then!​
  1. Bay Horse
    That's quite an impressive claim to fame! :)
    Auburn, Sandiep and Daft Bat like this.
    Bay Horse, Mar 29, 2021
  2. Daft Bat
    :D
    Daft Bat, Mar 29, 2021
  3. AnnB
    The nearest I can get to that is singing at my local town hall when I was in the school choir. I often wonder where that voice went.......
    Bay Horse, Chimp, Auburn and 4 others like this.
    AnnB, Mar 29, 2021
  4. Ma-dotcom
    I'm not telling.
    Bay Horse, Auburn, Sandiep and 2 others like this.
    Ma-dotcom, Mar 29, 2021
  5. Chimp
    I've never been able to sing. At primary school we put on a play, we all sang. The teacher came and tapped me on the shoulder and told me to mime. My sister was not happy with me for showing her up.
    Bay Horse, Findem, AnnB and 4 others like this.
    Chimp, Mar 29, 2021
  6. Daft Bat
    :D
    Half Hour likes this.
    Daft Bat, Mar 29, 2021
  7. Sandiep
    I'm with chimp, at primary school I was allowed to be in the choir so long as I only mimed!
    Findem, AnnB, Auburn and 2 others like this.
    Sandiep, Mar 29, 2021
  8. Auburn
    I love music but nobody wants to hear me sing- even the cat used to look alarmed when I sang.
    But my husband went to the Albert Hall to see Jimi Hendrix!
    AnnB, Bay Horse, Sandiep and 2 others like this.
    Auburn, Mar 29, 2021
  9. Findem
    At school I never wanted to sing on stage, I knew my limitations, besides that the songs were in my opinion rubbish, Nymphs and Shepherds, groans! That and two other songs, "How much is that doggie in the window" and Max Bygrave's "I'm a pink toothbrush", are my pet song hates.
    Sandiep, Auburn, AnnB and 3 others like this.
    Findem, Mar 30, 2021
  10. Bay Horse
    Jimi Hendrix! Wow, that would have been a gig and a half, Auburn.

    I went to see Ray Davies (he of The Kinks) at the RAH. I was so excited... I was actually IN the RAH. Davies called the building 'The Biggest Cake in the World' and he's right - it does look like a big cake from the outside. I also spent two days exploring Hyde Park, my new shoes rubbed and I was in agony - could barely limp another step. I called at a little corner shop to ask if they had any plasters of any kind and of course they hadn't, but the gentleman called his wife downstairs with their first aid kit and she patched me up - no charge. I realised how lovely Londoners are.

    Back to singing. Even my best friend who I knew to be horrifically tone deaf was selected for the school choir - I wasn't, so I think that says it all. I love music, and singing. I'm the one left caterwauling at the top of my voice at concerts when the music suddenly stops.
    Sandiep, Chimp, Auburn and 2 others like this.
    Bay Horse, Mar 31, 2021
  11. Auburn
    Ray Davies! I have a soft spot for him & his brilliant songs.Paticularly Days & Come Dancing.
    And all the others I have forgotten!
    What a lovely memory of that day and those kind people..
    Auburn, Mar 31, 2021
  12. Bay Horse
    I'll sing them all for you sometime, Auburn. :D :D
    Chimp, Auburn, Sandiep and 1 other person like this.
    Bay Horse, Mar 31, 2021
  13. Auburn
    Oh no!
    I may be away on holiday for a while - no-that won't work at the moment...
    Chimp and Daft Bat like this.
    Auburn, Mar 31, 2021
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