we’d been rehearsing the pieces since last fall, every monday night. i remember one saturday morning (an extra rehearsal) being jammed into a hot church pew for rehearsal because our regular space at a local college was being used for something else. seat was hard, and when we’d stand, my body was configured in such a way that i had to bend to stand, or my thighs would be pressed hard against the pew in front of me. very annoying way to sing.

i digress. we practiced the piece Concordia, which mainly just made me wonder what the word Concordia meant. i wasn’t against the piece and i wasn’t for it. lots of count-singing (thank you robert shaw, thomas swan and brandon). if i had to guess what it meant, i was thinking it meant something along the lines of “heaven.” some writer i am, didn’t know what this word meant? other people didn’t know either, and some asked.

we also began practicing Gloria, for the holiday pops concert in december. i LIKED that piece. full of energy, something decent for us to sing at the pops (instead of ooohing and aaahing along as background singers for marvin hamlisch’s arrangements). and i liked that i got to sing the second alto line at the end (my high notes are back since i no longer have cats affecting my allergies), as per maestro franz’s instructions (he is just a complete doll and great and on as far as direction goes) (however, randol bass’s interpretation–of his own music–was much more meaningful than franz’s–funny how that happens, but not really funny at all since he’s the one who birthed the music in the first place).

then we had Passage Into Spirit. well. that piece; brandon hammered it out with us, count singing, etc. (i believe brandon is in line for our vacant music director position, which is great–i think he’s very in tune with us, with choral singing [despite his confession that he was a percussionist--wow--and usually i can't stand percussionists--so picky am i {and bad past relationship with one in particular} ] and we were coalescing nicely under his baton)

i distinctly remember that during that rehearsal in church, i leaned over to whomever was sitting next to me, and i whispered vehemently, “i HATE walt whitman!” that was honestly how i felt. the words seemed prosey and over the top. ugh. i knew all the reasons i was supposed to adore him; he being THE american poet and me being a poet and an american as well. i felt like a traitor admitting it. how could i not love his work? how could i be a true american and a true poet and not like walt whitman? blasphemy!

i trudged along, singing the words when we were finally allowed to sing them. we only were practicing with piano so it was difficult, if not impossible, to hear the full impact of the music, the nuances and interpretation. but that’s always how it is when you are first learning a piece. it comes together later on, and frequently, something i’ve not enjoyed during endless rehearsals will be something i adore later on.

i refused offers to listen to a CD of the piece over the fall. i was dead set against whitman, yet again. first with vaughn williams in the sea symphony (which is a case of something i ended up liking, though not loving, in the end) and then persis vehar’s tribute to him (i think it was that piece that solidified my “why can’t anyone use something other than whitman poetry as their lyrics??” attitude).

i make no secret of my musical snobbery and selectivity. it’s the one area of my life where i am super picky, and when i talk about it here, i see that in fact i could be close-minded a bit. but i do listen to and appreciate all types of music, so maybe i am being a bit hard on myself.

back to Passage Into Spirit. it was a piece commissioned by the chorus last year for our 70th anniversary. so that made me feel even worse about my attitude, but not bad enough to actually change my attitude. most of the chorus had sung the piece last year and i hadn’t, as i was still moping around ithaca, missing everyone, including but not limited to, the chorus (if one more person there told me about the myriad of choruses i could join, i thought i’d scream–but it’s not the philharmonic chorus!–that is clearly where my heart still was [and is]).

december arrived and our focus changed to holiday music, and then the holidays themselves. brief reprieve. then back to weekly, and some saturday, rehearsals  for the recordings we just did this week. i buckled in, determined to be well-prepared and dedicated, as i knew this was perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. there was excitement running throughout the chorus and some concern about whether we’d be ready when the composer finally arrived the week before the recording sessions.

i think we were well-prepared. i knew people were practicing at home, because i could feel the change, the clarity, the energy. it made me wonder what we could accomplish if each and every one of us always felt this way, always prepared this way, for every piece.

it’s difficult of course, to ask that much of a mostly volunteer chorus. we do it because it’s in our hearts, but most everyone has a full time job, family, life.

i believe we rose to the occasion anyway. that in another post.