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.

Set apart and blessed...

Normally, I write this blog AFTER a rehearsal in order to reflect upon what went well or what needs changing. For the next few entries, I want to write IN ANTICIPATION of rehearsal in order to prepare us as we approach the music.

I have been immersed of late listening to the MASS OF THE CHILDREN~more specifically, I'm absolutely in love with the Sanctus and Benedictus. I was wondering if you all know what these words mean? Sanctus is, of course, talking about holiness...being so incredibly pure and without blot or stain. It also means "set apart".

We are not a society that particularly values things that are special and unique. Everything seems to be expendable. Used to be, we would "cherish" things that were old; respect things that had history and wisdom and WEAR. Things are just not "set apart" anymore for their uniqueness, their individuality and irreplaceable beauty. This beautiful musical portion of the mass celebrates that idea while offering praise to the God who creates all things unique.

Part of this section of the Mass also offers a benediction. I KNOW we don't do that in 2010. The best we can come up with is "Have a nice day!". Giving others a blessing when we leave them. I think the world would be a better place if we would offer a benediction to those we love. My kid sort of does that. She never goes to sleep at night without a "love you!". That is her version of a benediction. Why don't you think about all this as you ponder the meaning of the latin text during Wednesday's rehearsal:

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord
God of power and might
Heaven and earth are full of Your glory.
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest!

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Time to get back to blogging. Took a much needed break from music teaching. Read a lot of books. One novel alone was 800+ pages. Enjoyed domestic chores. Played with my kids. Laughed with extended family. The stuff of real life. Oh, sure, my real life also includes the musical score and its interpretation. However, it is good every so often to back away from the score. To EXPERIENCE life in order to then INTERPRET life in music.

Now it is time to start another year. I think I have a better understanding of my own limitations and what I need to do to remain effective. Much of it is application of what Twyla Tharp calls analyzing your own skill set. Look at page 169. Here she reminds us to "See where you're strong and where you need dramatic improvement, and tackle those lagging skills first. It's harder than it sounds (most useful habits are), but it's the only way to improve".

So for all you students looking down at the "blank slate" of a new term, take this advice to heart. It is easy to keep doing what you do well; the real work comes with acknowledging where you are weak and working to improve THESE skills (whether they are piano or aural skills or music history). So, here is to 2010 and hard work! May they both be rewarding!

Dr. O's Favorite Christmas Song

Seems like everyone is jumping on the Christmas recording bandwagon these days. Chipmunks. Muppets. Opera singers. Rock stars. Some of their musical offerings succeed (some cuts off of Sting's IF ON A WINTER'S NIGHT are quite lovely!); some, not so much (we won't name names).

Yet, if you ask me what my favorite Christmas song is, my answer might surprise you. It doesn't have a complicated melody. It doesn't have flash and a complex rhythmic structure. It is hauntingly simple. Many think it came from an anonymous Appalachian source. However, it was actually penned in 1933 by the folklorist and singer, John Jacob Nile. According to Ron Pen in his book, "A Kentucky Christmas" (University Press of Kentucky, 2003, pp. 200-201), Niles heard a young girl named Annie Morgan, sing a repeated line of music at a religious meeting in the Appalachians (North Carolina). She was beautiful but obviously very poor. But, according to Pen, she could sing and Niles took those brief lines and came up with the tune that we now know as "I wonder as I wander".

I have a very strong childhood memory. One of the things I would love to do was to slip out of the house after a snowfall at dusk. Everything was blanketed with snow and sound was muffled; lights were kind of impressionistic in their quality. And I wanted to be the first to walk in the blank snow canvas. Then I'd sit on the swingset, looking back at my footprints, and sing this song. Or maybe I didn't sing it and I only now superimpose that song on that memory. Either way, the song is my favorite. The lyrics are:

1. I wonder as I wander out under the sky,How Jesus the Savior did come for to die.For poor on'ry people like you and like I...I wonder as I wander out under the sky.

2. When Mary birthed Jesus 'twas in a cow's stall,With wise men and farmers and shepherds and all.But high from God's heaven a star's light did fall,And the promise of ages it then did recall.

3. If Jesus had wanted for any wee thing,A star in the sky, or a bird on the wing,Or all of God's angels in heav'n for to sing,He surely could have it, 'cause he was the King.

And, if you will forgive this indulgence, I've included a link where you can hear my childhood favorite singer, Barbra Streisand, singing this song. It is followed by a link where you can hear the New York Voices perform the same song (much jazzier version). They are sent out to you tonight as we anticipate the celebration of the birth of our Lord. Peace and Love to you all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXZM0F30vQI

http://www.last.fm/music/New+York+Voices/_/I+Wonder+As+I+Wander