Hello friends. I thought I might brief you on current goings-on in my life/Rhodes/Memphis.
This weekend was a singing extravaganza. Due to Homecoming (which entailed singing at seven alumni functions with the a cappella group) and our Rhodes Singers concert this weekend, my voice is practically nonexistant. However, I am thoroughly upset it is all over. I don't mind Homecoming being over--homecoming is a bit nightmarish, actually. I shall, however, miss Karl Jenkins' Mass for Peace. I have never performed a full mass or choral piece longer than ten minutes (this mass was about an hour and ten minutes, I believe), so the thought of the task was exciting and daunting enough. Moreover, Karl Jenkins is a genius. He looks rather funny (I know this because I had to stare at his picture in choir every other day), but he is brilliant. Thus, yesterday I donned the blissfully wrinkle-resistant Rhodes Singer robe, complete with oversized billowy sleeves (which are rather distracting...) and traveled to Idlewild Church to sing the Mass for Peace.
It was epic.
If you haven't ever heard this mass, go and buy it now. Or pirate it, I don't care. (Well that's a lie...I do care...but we can get into the issue of the demerits of pirating music at a later time.) At any rate, it is beautiful. The texts are in English, Latin, and French. The rhythms are complex. We sang with an orchestra. Do you understand this? I have never performed with a professional orchestra in any regard at all! It was heaven.
Additionally, I've had the music stuck in my head all weekend. I currently have the lyrics "God shall wipe away all tears and there shall be no more death. Neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain..." This is from the chorale at the ending of the piece.
Karl Jenkins' work made me appreciate variation within a piece. On Friday morning, we sang for some children-and we only sang the soupy, slow numbers. These numbers are beautiful, but without the insanity and chaos and thrill in the others, they're somewhat blah. It's the chaos in these numbers (and, if you will allow me to philosophize) in life that makes peace so beautiful. I wish I could find a creative way to mount the entire mass for piece on my wall as a reminder of this. The last couple of weeks have not been particularly pleasant, but Karl Jenkins was the remedy I needed.
Furthermore, the music is simply beautiful. I don't know that the piece is flawless, but clearly I am enamoured of it an I do think it is marvelously done. Sorry, folks. I realize I'm gushing a bit, but these musical cartharses don't happen enough, so when they do, I run with them.
In other news, Symposium on Thursday is going to be AWESOME and I cannot wait. Thursdays are busy enough, so I'm going to have to prioritize where I need to be bigtime, but I think it's going to be fairly magical.
Farewell, friends. I'm off to Music Theory--next post will likely be a rant on music vs. theory majors and the merits of attending a liberal arts college versus a conservatory.
Goodbye!
