Peter Stattersfield, composer of musicals – exercise 2 – key
1 In the army and at university
2 As a very lively amateur group.
3 As the resident amateur pianist.
4 Because it had no cover on it, so they couldn’t tell who the author was.
5 Just the thing.
(Eg "This jacket is just the thing for an interview!")
6 The centenary of the Blaydon Races.
(This song is still sung on Tyneside, and refers in its lines to the people ‘gannin’ (=going) along the Scotswood Road / To see the Blaydon Races." The Blaydon Horse Races ran from 1862 – 1916. Nowadays the Blaydon Race is a roadrace.)
7 As catchy tunes.
catchy = instantly appealing and memorable of music / words eg a catchy slogan
8 Nothing pretentious….
pretentious – adj – showy, intended to impress others; trying to be more important or distinctive than is warranted by the circumstances. Eg He said he was going to give a lecture – a bit pretentious, I thought – it was only a five-minute reminder about the fire alarms this week…..
9 To catch the tunes and go out singing them.
10 Phrases Peter Stattersfield read in the original Victorian text which he turned into songs.
We say ‘easy does it‘ (or ‘go easy!”) when we ask someone to be careful – to go easy – when doing something.
If something is your undoing it is your ruin or downfall, or the point at which your luck / success runs out (stops). Eg "Having a tenth child was / proved my undoing." – i.e. I had managed perfectly well with nine children, but having a tenth was too much and I couldn’t cope any more.
11 They were very taken by them.
to be very taken by = to be really attracted by, really enthusiastic about
12 He was ‘one step ahead of him’ (because Lionel Bart couldn’t actually play the piano, whereas Peter could).
To be one step ahead of someone is to be only just a little better or informed than someone else.
13 The lively tunes caught on.
to catch on = become popular eg This season’s fashion for knee-length trousers hasn’t really caught on.
14 As not being heavy-handed, in an old roaring Victorian style, but sung in a light ironic style.
heavy-handed – adj – excessive, extreme; unnecessarily forceful. Characterisation in Victorian melodramas is heavy-handed. It is an over-the-top, exaggerated style of theatre.
15 It is a recording of Peter Stattersfield himself ‘at the keyboard’. We could also say ‘on the keyboard’. Most instruments use ‘on’.
pastiche – noun – work of drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist, often satirically – here the musical is a pastiche of Victorian music hall.
16 As merry little tunes which might have been sung on stage at the time of the Victorian music hall.
merry – adj – 1) jolly and full of high spirits; festive and full of fun and laughter; happy or showing enjoyment – eg We had a very merry evening. Have a merry time! 2) brisk – eg The song is sung at a merry pace.
music hall – usually 1) An auditorium for concerts and musical entertainments. but here 2) a vaudeville or variety theatre, the original meaning.
"I like ’em with a little bit of ginger." – one of the songs
ginger – noun – the spicy root of a tropical plant which is used in cooking or eaten preserved in sugar, eg ground (= powdered) ginger / crystallized ginger
ginger – adj – red or orange-brown colour – eg ginger hair; flavoured with ginger – eg ginger cake / gingerbread.We sometimes make ginger beer or ginger wine – neither of them alcoholic!
Idiomatic uses of ginger: ginger sth up – phrasal verb – make something more exciting, interesting or active – eg Mary’s friends from the publisher’s joined us at the restaurant, and they really gingered things up.
Let’s hope the new director has got a bit more ginger than the last one – i.e. is more active / exciting / lively / positive-thinking than the last one.
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