Dear friends,
What a productive rehearsal. Thank you for all your good work, particularly in the challenges of our Brahms motet. I encourage you to continue studying that one-- it is worth it! We will sing just the first two sections next weekend. GREAT start!
Sunday, we plan to meet at 9:45 in the choir room to prepare I WANT JESUS TO WALK WITH ME. You are getting close to the feel of this piece. Just continue to realize this is not a piece you sing or perform for an audience. It is a piece you express from within your soul, and it may well be that someone hears you, but that is not the point. The point is to convey your personal desire for divine companionship. Every melody and response must be prayerful, personal, impassioned from within. It's not even about bringing the music off the page. It's about singing from your soul via a template that happens to be notated. We must inhabit this piece-- not sing it. It's not singing about wanting Jesus to walk with you. It is wanting Jesus to walk with you, and there happens to be a song.
Finally, for now, let's not forget our Mozart homework. Just to review: by next Wednesday, we need to have the markings in for HOSTIAS and SANCTUS. By the 23rd, we need to have all markings for all movements. The markings can be found (along with a stream-able recording) on the Mozart page of our choir blog http://firstplymouthchoir.
What a blessing that we have so much wonderful music to learn these next few months. We have six weeks to reawaken our relationship with Mozart's REQUIEM and to connect with a beautiful new work to share in our April Abendmusik concert. Let's enjoy the entire process of learning and growing into these rich treasures, finding how to bring the best of ourselves-- body, mind, spirit, voice-- to sound some of the greatest art ever conceived.
Grace and peace, and many thanks for all you are and all you do.
TT
What a productive rehearsal. Thank you for all your good work, particularly in the challenges of our Brahms motet. I encourage you to continue studying that one-- it is worth it! We will sing just the first two sections next weekend. GREAT start!
Sunday, we plan to meet at 9:45 in the choir room to prepare I WANT JESUS TO WALK WITH ME. You are getting close to the feel of this piece. Just continue to realize this is not a piece you sing or perform for an audience. It is a piece you express from within your soul, and it may well be that someone hears you, but that is not the point. The point is to convey your personal desire for divine companionship. Every melody and response must be prayerful, personal, impassioned from within. It's not even about bringing the music off the page. It's about singing from your soul via a template that happens to be notated. We must inhabit this piece-- not sing it. It's not singing about wanting Jesus to walk with you. It is wanting Jesus to walk with you, and there happens to be a song.
Finally, for now, let's not forget our Mozart homework. Just to review: by next Wednesday, we need to have the markings in for HOSTIAS and SANCTUS. By the 23rd, we need to have all markings for all movements. The markings can be found (along with a stream-able recording) on the Mozart page of our choir blog http://firstplymouthchoir.
What a blessing that we have so much wonderful music to learn these next few months. We have six weeks to reawaken our relationship with Mozart's REQUIEM and to connect with a beautiful new work to share in our April Abendmusik concert. Let's enjoy the entire process of learning and growing into these rich treasures, finding how to bring the best of ourselves-- body, mind, spirit, voice-- to sound some of the greatest art ever conceived.
Grace and peace, and many thanks for all you are and all you do.
TT
