I went to chorale rehearsal last night, intending to only listen again this week. My section, the second altos, was down to 7 people. The strongest member was absent; the other strong voices, me and Miss P, were having voice trouble, but the section needed us.
Our next concerts offer pretty complicated music. The first will be an MGM Pops concert with lots of complex harmonies from the famous movie musicals. Can you imagine "Over The Rainbow" and "Steppin' Out With My Baby" in eight-part harmony? Tough stuff, but rewarding to sting when they're right. The more important piece, to me, is Leonard Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms," which we'll perform in April. This piece is in three movements and is sung entirely in Hebrew. Yahoo and mazal tov! I've been the chorale's language consultant for this piece, and I like the role. I even had WineGuy pull out The Book of Psalms in original text, so I could give accurate pronunciations. In nearly 30 years of choral singing, this is the first time I have ever performed a major work in Hebrew. I am really looking forward to it: not only do I understand the original text, it has meaning for me, unlike all those Latin masses and requiems I've sung over the years. It's "roots" music for me and very inspiring.
I'm feeling a bit better today, although I'm still not sleeping well. I've been waking up around 3:00 a.m. and having to go sleep in the recliner because of the coughing. The meds are working pretty well, although I felt short of breath this afternoon at the park with the boys. This is going to be a long process, I'm afraid. No more 7-10 day colds and done. Blah.
Thanks for all the good wishes!
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4 comments:
I'm so glad to hear your group is doing a piece in Hebrew. I know it will be beautiful. Keep feeling better!
Oh I can only imagine how wonderful "Chichester Psalms" will be. I used to loose sleep translating hebrew poetry 20 years ago. It is by far my favorite language. I wish I could make a road trip to hear it.
As for the breathing, hang in there, it will come (but never as soon as we want it to).
Much love,
Anne
Hebrew harmonies - sounds delightful, and how exciting to be singing roots music
sorry to hear you're still not well, but glad to hear you have diagnosis and treatment plan underway
I've enjoyed singing, and while sometimes it's fun to do different stuff I always find something special about doing music that touches my soul. Have a great time with Chichester Psalms
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