The Joy in Rehearsal

Any of us who are choir directors, choir members or choral accompanists know that one  - if not the - most important element of any good and effective rehearsal is attitude! Attitude effects every element of a rehearsal - from having good posture (or not!) so that our physical engagement is perfect for singing to our spiritual and mental approach to the music itself so that the message in the score takes on audible life.

One way that I have found that assists me is to remember "from whence I came." I do not for a moment believe I am alone in having had a series of extraordinary teachers and experiences from childhood all the way to today! How many of us take the time to stand back and actually recount those musicians - those people - with whom we have been so intimately involved in learning and practicing our art? It is so worth the time to do so.

I have mentioned before that Mary Berry, the extraordinary chant scholar and Augustinian nun, used to close all of her chant seminars with the question "You will pass this on, wont' you?"  She generally answered herself by saying "You must carry on." Every time I think of her and the smile on her face as she said this, my own level of joy rises! This is  one way that I have found to  "re-enliven" myself when I start to become bored with repetition of a piece or am having a day in which choir rehearsal is the farthest from my mind.

I hope you might find this helpful - let me know!

Understanding the Baroque Musical Titans - Buxtehude and Bach

       If you take a few minutes to do a basic internet search on the music of either Dieterich Buxtehude or J.S. Bach, you will rapidly discover documents that speak about vast influences on both men! They were the musical pinnacles of German baroque sacred music. They  traveled far and wide and did things like hand-copy the manuscripts  in order to learn styles of other composers from other lands. (Realizing, of course,  that there were no photocopying machines, no pdfs on-line, and no regional aircraft to cross what now seem like small distances). Bach himself crossed several hundred miles to hear Buxtehude perform his own music.

      I am making this point because this week's Gloriae Dei Cantores concert is music of Dieterich Buxtehude and J.S. Bach  - North German Baroque composers who were composing within about the same 75 year time span. It is a perfect opportunity to do some personal reading and study about two famous composers who were the musical embodiment of the German High Baroque spirit and musical language!  Then, if you are able to attend, I will be doing a pre-concert talk on these two men and together, we will discover even more about listening with "their ears."