Musical lightbulb moment

I think that some of you today had a musical

today in rehearsal. We have talked about Dr. Barnum's use of the single note at the beginning of the piece that then splits with the dissonance by the sopranos (a M2 above and below)...and how it reminds me of Biblical images of the Trinity.

We have discussed at length the transfer of the literary "stream of consciousness" technique to the repetitive eighth notes that should move with little emphasis on meter. Like the weaving in and out of time and place.

And you understood. In varying degrees. Moreso when we turned off the lights and "felt" each other's forward motion.

HOWEVER.

Today I saw lightbulbs turn on.

I love moments like that in a rehearsal.

I placed the question, "why does Dr. Barnum decrescendo in measures 14-16 with the first "I must pass beyond memory to find you" and then utilizes a crescendo to the glorious chord at 20-21 when the phrase is repeated again?" We hypothesized that the first "attempt" at moving toward God was unsuccessful; the second, moreso. And the lightbulbs started turning on. Little by little, you are seeing the sheer mastery of a composer who understands how to text paint with grace and ease.

And if that wasn't cool enought, we have the neo-medieval passage at the piu mosso section...the tonal significance of the "duets" between sopranos and tenors; altos and basses as we build the musical image of the airborne fragrance that is eternal, culminating in the glorious (no exaggeration here) chord in beat one of measure 39, on the word "look".

Can't wait to hear your interpretation tomorrow (remember, first 38 measures are memorized).

Next blog entry, we will look at mm. 39-60.

Setting eternity in our hearts. . .

I've been thinking a lot about the next section of text in CONFESSIONS (from Book 10:6):

When my soul is bathed in light that is not bound by space;

when it listens to sound that never dies away;

when it breathes fragrance that is not borne away on the wind. . .

I may be all wet here, but it sure does sound like St. Augustine is trying to describe eternity.

And I think it is a beautiful, albeit limited, image. . .

All of us ARE fairly lame as a species in our ability (or lack thereof) to capture the essence of eternity in words. We will say things like

"the rings that you both exchange today are a symbol of eternal love since they have no beginning and no ending"---OR

"I just love to sit on the beach and look at the horizon...The water and the sky go on and on to infinity"---OR

"The vastness of the night sky is endless"...

You get my point.

So, St. Augustine gives the eternal a crack...and I have been captivated by his imagery. And it also sent me to Ecclesiastes (3:11). Solomon didn't try and describe eternity but he did evoke another lovely image...one that resonates with St. Augustine's:

"He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end..."

So, maybe we shouldn't worry about trying to describe the infinite with the finite. I'm reminded of the professor in college that, when asked a difficult theological question by a collegiate, simply said "People, sometimes its best to just say Deuteronomy 29:29...the secret things belong to the Lord".

In the next post, I'll talk about how Eric Barnum musically treats the text we have discussed...masterful text painting to be sure!

Contemplation~Reflection~SILENCE!

We talked about this concept briefly in rehearsal on Friday. I truly believe that many college students are not acquainted with the concept of

reflection...

the life of the mind...

contemplation...

meditation...

call it whatever you want.

When was the last time you sat in total silence.? Unplugged. No phone. No texts. No facebook. No ipod. No kindle/nook. No TV. No book.

Nothing but you.

The random sounds around you.

The natural world. The sound of your own breath.

Sound scary? It shouldn't. It is the deliberate movement toward a higher consciousness other than the one you are usually in...that is preoccupied with the petty, the vulgar, the mundane, the simplistic, Pavlovian responses, task analyses...you get my point.

I think this is at the essence of what St. Augustine meant by the line that first captivated my attention in Book X of the CONFESSIONS.

"I must pass beyond memory to find You."

God is not mundane. God does not have a part of anything vulgar. He is certainly not simplistic nor petty. So, if we only reside deep in this list, how will we ever begin to grasp

Eternity?

So, here is your assignment. Leave all devices behind. Leave all belongings behind. Find a quiet place...a park bench. A church pew. A walking trail. A chair in a secluded place. Fold your hands in your lap. And be still. And listen. Do this for 20 minutes for your first time. See what you experience.

"I must pass beyond memory to find You."

Next post will pick up on this theme and we'll talk about how Barnum creates an aural representation what this experience might SOUND like...

St. Augustine of Hippo - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online

Before we even begin discussing the intricacies of CONFESSIONS, the beauty and power of the lyrics (taken from Augustine's 10th book of Confessions), and the compositional devices used by Eric Barnum, we must first acquaint ourselves with St. Augustine himself. I've attached the link to a brief biography of the life of St. Augustine. Take a few minutes and acquaint yourself with the life of this saint. In the next post, we will begin to deconstruct why I chose these particular words.

"I must pass beyond memory to find You". . .

St. Augustine of Hippo - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online

Beginnings . . .

Here we are again. The start of another performance season. New folders filled with new music. New people sitting next to old friends. New challenges. New successes.

I begin each new performance season with anticipation and excitement over the possibilities. I've been a choral music educator since 1979, earlier if you count my college experiences. And I still find it a thrill and an awesome privilege to make music corporately with other likeminded individuals. What a rare thing it is to labor together in rehearsal to create something. Oh, sure. Others have sung these same pieces; but no one will have the unique opportunities we will have to make it with the people sitting around us. Each one of them brings their own unique story to the music. And the music allows us to give voice to our stories.

So, as we start the year together, think about the words in A HYMN FOR ST. CECILIA:

"Sing for your loves of heaven and of earth, in words of music, and each word a truth; marriage of heart and longings that aspire, a bond of roses and a ring of fire"

Goose-bump moments

Ok, two weeks until performance! This is where we look for more and more of those "goose-bump moments" (for lack of a better term). Moments where all of the wrangling
over notes and rhythms and reminders about vowel and section unification pay off.

For moments like the "Jesu Christe" today. "But, Dr. O, that was just 12 measures".

Uh-huh.

But each 12 measure segment where we finally "get it" leads us to the next 12 and the next. Where we all collectively ask more of ourselves and each other and we aren't disappointed.

Can't wait for more of those moments. Make the hair stand on end, kids! I know you can do it!

It takes courage to be generous

"It takes courage to be generous"...this from Tharp's book (yes, we are back to THE CREATIVE HABIT again after a brief hiatus due to family health concerns). Look with me on page 136. She says "...to be a great [teacher], you have to invest everything you have in your [singers]. You have to be so devoted to them and to the finished creation that your [singers]become your heroes. It takes courage to be generous like that, to believe that the better the [singers sing], the more satisfying the work itself will be. Without that generosity, you'll always hold something back. The finished work shows it and your audience knows it".

Today's rehearsal and that painting to the left have something in common. "Le Fenetres Simultanees, 1912", by Robert Delaunay, represents one of my favorite periods in Art History...it was a brief movement in the 1920's called Synchromism. The pieces from this movement all are vibrant colored abstracts that seem like gigantic jigsaw puzzles of rhythmic colors. Every color is important; every shape interdependent.

MASS OF THE CHILDREN is a lot like that painting. Wasn't rehearsing the finale fun today? Different timbres, superimposed on each other, aurally "painted" by you, the singers. I demanded a lot of you. 50 short minutes to believe that you can put your vocal mark on the "canvas"; to superimpose your sound on your neighbors sound to create a wonderful aural experience. I invest my all in you during every rehearsal and what happens when you invest back? You DO become my heroes in a way. Every time you take a vocal "risk" and it pays off? PRICELESS. You are creating art, my friends.