Saturday, January 28, 2006

Mozart

You know, I kind of understand the fascination with Mozart - quite wonderful music written from the age of 3 months or whatever - but good grief! OK, 250 years is impressive, but he lived for less than forty of them. I've never been that big a fan (I much prefer Haydn in that school, and Bach or Beethoven are very clearly far superior to Mozart), but the CBC is driving me crazy. I want my Vinyl Café, my I Hear Music, my Sound Advice. Oh well, I guess the consolation is that this won't happen for another fifty years.
Nonetheless: grr.

Thursday, January 26, 2006

B-minor Reflections

Well, it's been a few days since we performed the Bach B-minor Mass, but it's still going through my head.
On the way out of the dress rehearsal, one of the other singers mentioned that she was looking forward to the next piece (the Mozart Requiem, in case you're interested), as there would finally be different melodies stuck in her head. I don't know - we haven't started in on the Mozart yet, but the Bach seems awfully well lodged in my head.

Anyway -

This was simply the best music I've ever performed. It's trite to say that Bach was a genius, but it's still true. This man was gifted beyond comprehension, and still signed all his compositions SDG - to God alone be the glory. Now, I'm at least as humble as the next guy, probably more so, but that's a level of humility that demands respect.
Singing those glorious lines with a pretty darned good orchestra (the flautist was spectacular, and the 1st violin and the trumpets shone as well) was a highlight of my musical life, and one that won't soon leave me.

If you have the opportunity to stretch beyond your normal levels of activity, whether it's music, athletics, writing, cooking, whatever, go for it - no one ever got better at something by standing still.