Music & other Small Things

It is now 4 weeks since I first arrived in Spain and I feel it’s time for another collection of small things that have grabbed my notice. For some reason they are largely music related…

Since the first day I arrived here it was obvious that Spain or maybe just Madrid is very tolerant of different displays of music in public places. When we were on the metro coming into Madrid from the airport there was a gentleman a few seats away quietly (and sometimes not so quietly) singing to himself. He wasn’t wearing headphones, so it wasn’t some sort of involuntary untuneful humming that you hear from people listening to music through headphones, it was just genuine singing. Raw but pleasant and surprising due to the location. I have a group of friends who ‘bomb’ Adelaide trains with Christmas carols in the appropriate season and it’s so unusual that it usually draws startled glances from passengers.

Apart from random passengers singing their way through the metro there are also official buskers that leap on at various stations, travel 3 or 4 stops singing one song and then get off and do the same thing on the next train. Luke says this is a common occurrence but I’ve only seen it twice. Both times I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the sound – I’ve only seen pairs usually accompanying themselves on guitar or piano accordion.

Another instance is the buskers… Every day I go to my Spanish classes on Calle del Carmen and every day I walk past a string quartet busking outside a superchain called ‘El Corte Inglés’. They are actually quite good but unfortunately seem to have a limited repertoire. Nevertheless I get my live classical hit with Beethoven, Bach and Vivaldi. As we sit down to class at 7pm we are then either treated to live mariachi or piano accordion, both of which my teacher has hummed along to occasionally as she writes things on the board. I’m not sure I recognise what they’re playing so perhaps it’s local Spanish tunes. They play right under our window and sometimes it’s distracting but always fun!

Back at home and I have the privilege of living quite near a fairly proficient pianist. Whoever they are, they practice quite regularly and today they were practicing with a cellist. It was just beautiful. The sound so rich and deep melted it’s way up and down our street. If I have the terraza doors wide open, I can hear the sound all through the house… just marvellous. Also, the other night a female opera singer must’ve been dining at our local restaurant downstairs ‘La Mucca’. I figure she was invited to sing a quick solo by someone who recognised her, or pressed to by admiring friends… whatever the occasion she sang just one song and during that time all the usual hubbub and noise of dining ceased completely as every guest gave her their every attention. There was rousing applause at the end – and she deserved it. I still have the song in my head and I wish I could remember the title so you can imagine it for yourself!

Finally, there is a group of anarchists who Luke and I first saw when we were out for Indian one night. They look a little alarming – like very thin, ragged pixies with crazy haircuts and various leather things. However, they accompany this appearance with a busking routine that involves skipping around diners playing greensleeves over and over again on a soprano recorder. Occasionally they change the tune to ‘A Las Barricadas’ which is the Hymn of the C.N.T (Confederacion Nacional del Trabajo) one of the major anarchist groups still active here in Spain. They are interesting if not particularly musical!

So much for the music…!

Dogs: I don’t know if Madrileños love dogs more than any other city I’ve seen or whether, by reason of the fact that they are always out of doors anyway, dogs are just out and about with their owners more but dogs are *everywhere*! The most amazing range of sizes and breeds and so well behaved. I guess they are used to socialising with other dogs but it’s acutally quite impressive. What is not so impressive is the fact that dog byproducts also litter the streets. Fairly recently it became illegal not to pick up after your dog but it doesn’t seem to have had much of an effect on dog owners. Two dogs which I see every day (as I walk to Spanish class again) lay outside a church presumably waiting for their owner – they are both incredibly overweight and would probably merit the intervention of the RSPCA but there they are, day after day, patiently sleeping through the evening waiting for the owner…whoever he or she might be.

But now it is 11.30pm and I should head to bed. More small things worth mentioning shall no doubt follow at some later date…

Hasta luego!

~ by hmhosnek on September 16, 2008.