Being there a major manner of butt kicked by Honor Choir...
Wow. Wow. And wow. Honor Choir this year was absolutely awesome. In my five years of attendance at Honor Chorus, this year was by far the best, and the best director I have ever had in my choral life directed it. Seriously, this guy was amazing. For starters, he had a gorgeous voice, but that's besides the point. It was Dr. Alan Raines, currently conducting at GA State University. He was just marvelously and entirely enraptured by the music and conveyed his feelings in such a fashion that caused us, the singers, to be captivated by the beauty of the harmony and melody and the message we were delivering and the importance of the music, and it was just an extremely fulfilling experience. Rogers once said that the space between the singers and the listeners is sacred ground; I now fully understand that concept. It is so relevant that one places his or her entire self into the music to properly give the listener the message, and it is unbelievable how many listeners out there will, in turn, become infatuated with the music and be profoundly touched by it as it comforts them and carries them through pain and strain and enlightenment and joy.
Dr. Raines went mad during rehearsal to make us understand the music. He would sprint across the room and jump and hum and dum and rattle and shake and scream- he would do just about anything necessary. All the while, he was entirely polite and treated us with respect, which was something that I greatly appreciated. We opened rehearsal by running through the music, and though I had believed that the music in itself was beautiful, I thought it sounded rather dead. He changed this to the opposite end of the spectrum in less than 24 hours. Oh, I can't wait to get my copy of the recording. All the music was wonderful, and I don't think I've sung with so much emotion and meaning in a very long time.
To top that off, I learned some German. "In Stiller Nacht" was a difficult piece, I will have to say, but I am pretty sure that we pulled it off really well. I really hope so, but my mom said that we sounded absolutely great, and she does not give compliments very quickly, so I take it that we did. Mrs. Bizarth said that this was the best Honor Choir concert she'd heard in a few years.
The repertoire consisted of "Hallelujah, Amen" by Handel, "In Stiller Nacht" by Brahms, "O My Luve's Like a Red, Red Rose" by Clausen, "Order My Steps" by Burleigh, and "In Dat Great Gittin' Up Mornin' " by Hairston.
On "Hallelujah, Amen," we practiced with "diggy dum"s to get the buoyancy of the piece going, and we wound up keeping it that way for the concert because it sounded good. The only actual words we sang were "and in songs divine harmonious join" and "amen, hallelujah" at the end. Dr. Raines was hilarious. He stepped on stage and said, "I don't normally like to begin a concert by speaking, but I thought I should inform you that although the program states that the first piece we will be singing is "Halleluja, Amen", we will actually sing a diversion of the words to old English for you. The words are "diggy dum", "diggy" meaning "hallelujah" and "dum" meaning "amen". Thank you." He said all this with the most solemn expression and maintained it as he approached us, even though everyone else broke out into laughter. It was great.
"In Shtiller Nacht" was very difficult but very rewarding. After lots of work on that, we were able to sing the full song in German. It was very intense, and I am now deeply in love with the song and have acquired more knowledge about Brahms and German in general. As a matter of fact, after the concert my mom and I stopped by Publix, and after she bought some beer, Warsteiner, the bagger boy asked us how to pronounce the word, and I was able to tell him the correct pronunciation. That, of course, lead him to question me on my German background, and I simply answered that I'd just learned a song in German. ^.^
"O My Luve..." was just beautiful. We all sang our hearts out, and I'm sure one could tell. The song makes me melt, and we had some really awesome guys in the choir this year, particularly the basses, and the guys' "solo" section almost made me cry.
Side notely, I finally met Hinkle, as the Northgate folks lost their bus for a reason that is still unknown to me and had to ride with us. "Do you know Stephanie Ward?" "Yes" "Are you Hinkle?" "Yes, how'd you know?" Frankly, I don't know how I knew. I just had a feeling he was Hinkle; I knew he was in choir and in my grade, and although there were other NG guys in my choir, he just looked like a Hinkle. He seems like a really nice guy.
And on another note, I don't comprehend the infatuation that everyone appears to have, up to this day, with Shea Henley. I saw him there. He was wearing shades at every single rehearsal-even the dress rehearsal. He removed them for the concert, and I didn't think his eyes were very pretty. I did compliment him on his hair, and although he returned the favour, he still seemed like a bit of a jerkoff to me. The guy standing beside him had saliently beautiful blonde long hair-- even my mom noticed it from the audience, and he stood on the last row. He, too, however, seemed as though he were a jerk. I stood on the second to last of five rows of risers.
On "Order My Steps", we had an awesome soloist. It was a soul piece, and it sounded awesome. Katrina, the soloist, just absolutely kicked a major one. She was unbelievable. The solo involved improvising, and though I'd initially considered trying out, I realized that I'd best leave that to a black girl. Surely enough, Katrina was a large, African American girl, but no one could have done a better job than she did. It turned out that she was the daughter of an ex-nurse of my grandmother; we learned this after the concert. I had talked to the girl during rehersal, and she was very nice.
Although I had initially hated "In Dat...", I came to love it once Dr. Raines taught us how to spice it up. There were two tenor soloists in that piece, and they, too, did a phenomenal job. The piece in general kicked butt.
I sang beside a half Italian girl named Carmela (students are organized by height every year), and she was a fun person to sit by. I got a kick out of it. Of course, once on stage, Alto II's had to stand by me as I was at the end of the Alto I's, and the girl that sang on the other side of me was rude, obnoxious, and added in way more slides than anyone should ever be allowed to ruin music with. She sucked and switched parts according to whichever suited her best at the moment, but oh, well.
I'm so excited. I think I'm going to email the director since I never really got a chance to speak to him because everything was so very rushed.
I didn't get left behind this year, either, and when I thanked Ms. Bizarth for that, she responded with a good, hearty laugh.
It was really eye-opening as far as the passage of time is concerned to watch the younger choirs perform. They were very good, but I couldn't believe I had been there once. It's a strange feeling one gets when he or she stops to think about how far he or she has come.
Initially, I felt really odd about being back at Honor Choir, for Honor Choir is where I essentially met Trey my freshman year. There, I had finally identified the dude with the staring problem at football games. It was just so strange to realize that we had priorly been at the same exact locations (even away from the performing art center) and I had become so honestly infatuated with such an immature guy. I was so stupid. However, these memories were not necessarily bad, for a change. I wasn't depressed because the music made everything worthwhile, and I realized that it's time to be mature and finally really forgive Trey once and for all and move on. I feel a lot more peaceful at the mention of his name than I have felt since the fiasco of a situation that existed and ended in heartbreak.
I am very ready to crash, not having slept enough for a week and having to get up tomorrow and do endless amounts of homework, so I leave you with a song.
"In Stiller Nacht"
Johannes Brahms
(Accents are not in place due to the fact that I'm tired and don't feel like messing with that right now.)
In stiller Nacht, zur ersten Wacht, ein Stimm begunnt zu klagen,
In still of night, oh awesome night, a lonely voice is singing,
der nacht'ge Wind hat suss und lind zu mir den Klang getragen;
The evening breeze among the trees, to me a sadness bringing.
von herbem Leid und Traurigkeit ist mir das Herz zerflossen,
Throughout my life of pain and strife, my heart is ever broken
die Blumelein, mit Tranen rein hab ich sie all begossen.
The blossoms rare weep in despair, for thee in love a token.
Der schone Mond will untergahn,
The friendly moon has gone too soon,
fur Leid nicht mehr mag sheinen,
No more for me aglowing,
die Sternelan ihr Glitzen stan, mit mir sie wollen weinen.
The stars once bright are dark at night, their tears with mine are flowing.
Kein Vogelsang, noch Freudenklang man horet in den Luften,
No singing bird aloft is heard, his joyous song is taken,
die wilden Tier raurn auch mit mir
Wild creatures mourn alone, forlorn,
in Steinen und in Kluften.
Among the rocks forsaken.
Or two... Clausen wrote the following for his wife. I would melt if anyone ever wrote something like that for me- wouldn't you?
"O My Luve's Like a Red, Red Rose"
Music- Rene` Clausen
Lyrics- Robert Burns
O my Luve's like a red, red rose,
O my Luve's like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June.
O my Luve's like a melodie that's sweetly played in tune.
As fair art thou my bonnie lass so deep in luve am I,
I will luve thee still my dear
'Till a' the seas, 'till a' the seas gang dry.
I will luve thee still my dear,
While the sands of life shall run,
'Till the seas gang dry, my dear,
And rocks melt with the sun.
As fair art thou my bonnie lass, so deep in luve am I,
I will luve thee still my dear,
Tho' it were ten thousand,
Tho' it were ten thousand mile.
Tho' it were ten thousand mile.
Dr. Raines went mad during rehearsal to make us understand the music. He would sprint across the room and jump and hum and dum and rattle and shake and scream- he would do just about anything necessary. All the while, he was entirely polite and treated us with respect, which was something that I greatly appreciated. We opened rehearsal by running through the music, and though I had believed that the music in itself was beautiful, I thought it sounded rather dead. He changed this to the opposite end of the spectrum in less than 24 hours. Oh, I can't wait to get my copy of the recording. All the music was wonderful, and I don't think I've sung with so much emotion and meaning in a very long time.
To top that off, I learned some German. "In Stiller Nacht" was a difficult piece, I will have to say, but I am pretty sure that we pulled it off really well. I really hope so, but my mom said that we sounded absolutely great, and she does not give compliments very quickly, so I take it that we did. Mrs. Bizarth said that this was the best Honor Choir concert she'd heard in a few years.
The repertoire consisted of "Hallelujah, Amen" by Handel, "In Stiller Nacht" by Brahms, "O My Luve's Like a Red, Red Rose" by Clausen, "Order My Steps" by Burleigh, and "In Dat Great Gittin' Up Mornin' " by Hairston.
On "Hallelujah, Amen," we practiced with "diggy dum"s to get the buoyancy of the piece going, and we wound up keeping it that way for the concert because it sounded good. The only actual words we sang were "and in songs divine harmonious join" and "amen, hallelujah" at the end. Dr. Raines was hilarious. He stepped on stage and said, "I don't normally like to begin a concert by speaking, but I thought I should inform you that although the program states that the first piece we will be singing is "Halleluja, Amen", we will actually sing a diversion of the words to old English for you. The words are "diggy dum", "diggy" meaning "hallelujah" and "dum" meaning "amen". Thank you." He said all this with the most solemn expression and maintained it as he approached us, even though everyone else broke out into laughter. It was great.
"In Shtiller Nacht" was very difficult but very rewarding. After lots of work on that, we were able to sing the full song in German. It was very intense, and I am now deeply in love with the song and have acquired more knowledge about Brahms and German in general. As a matter of fact, after the concert my mom and I stopped by Publix, and after she bought some beer, Warsteiner, the bagger boy asked us how to pronounce the word, and I was able to tell him the correct pronunciation. That, of course, lead him to question me on my German background, and I simply answered that I'd just learned a song in German. ^.^
"O My Luve..." was just beautiful. We all sang our hearts out, and I'm sure one could tell. The song makes me melt, and we had some really awesome guys in the choir this year, particularly the basses, and the guys' "solo" section almost made me cry.
Side notely, I finally met Hinkle, as the Northgate folks lost their bus for a reason that is still unknown to me and had to ride with us. "Do you know Stephanie Ward?" "Yes" "Are you Hinkle?" "Yes, how'd you know?" Frankly, I don't know how I knew. I just had a feeling he was Hinkle; I knew he was in choir and in my grade, and although there were other NG guys in my choir, he just looked like a Hinkle. He seems like a really nice guy.
And on another note, I don't comprehend the infatuation that everyone appears to have, up to this day, with Shea Henley. I saw him there. He was wearing shades at every single rehearsal-even the dress rehearsal. He removed them for the concert, and I didn't think his eyes were very pretty. I did compliment him on his hair, and although he returned the favour, he still seemed like a bit of a jerkoff to me. The guy standing beside him had saliently beautiful blonde long hair-- even my mom noticed it from the audience, and he stood on the last row. He, too, however, seemed as though he were a jerk. I stood on the second to last of five rows of risers.
On "Order My Steps", we had an awesome soloist. It was a soul piece, and it sounded awesome. Katrina, the soloist, just absolutely kicked a major one. She was unbelievable. The solo involved improvising, and though I'd initially considered trying out, I realized that I'd best leave that to a black girl. Surely enough, Katrina was a large, African American girl, but no one could have done a better job than she did. It turned out that she was the daughter of an ex-nurse of my grandmother; we learned this after the concert. I had talked to the girl during rehersal, and she was very nice.
Although I had initially hated "In Dat...", I came to love it once Dr. Raines taught us how to spice it up. There were two tenor soloists in that piece, and they, too, did a phenomenal job. The piece in general kicked butt.
I sang beside a half Italian girl named Carmela (students are organized by height every year), and she was a fun person to sit by. I got a kick out of it. Of course, once on stage, Alto II's had to stand by me as I was at the end of the Alto I's, and the girl that sang on the other side of me was rude, obnoxious, and added in way more slides than anyone should ever be allowed to ruin music with. She sucked and switched parts according to whichever suited her best at the moment, but oh, well.
I'm so excited. I think I'm going to email the director since I never really got a chance to speak to him because everything was so very rushed.
I didn't get left behind this year, either, and when I thanked Ms. Bizarth for that, she responded with a good, hearty laugh.
It was really eye-opening as far as the passage of time is concerned to watch the younger choirs perform. They were very good, but I couldn't believe I had been there once. It's a strange feeling one gets when he or she stops to think about how far he or she has come.
Initially, I felt really odd about being back at Honor Choir, for Honor Choir is where I essentially met Trey my freshman year. There, I had finally identified the dude with the staring problem at football games. It was just so strange to realize that we had priorly been at the same exact locations (even away from the performing art center) and I had become so honestly infatuated with such an immature guy. I was so stupid. However, these memories were not necessarily bad, for a change. I wasn't depressed because the music made everything worthwhile, and I realized that it's time to be mature and finally really forgive Trey once and for all and move on. I feel a lot more peaceful at the mention of his name than I have felt since the fiasco of a situation that existed and ended in heartbreak.
I am very ready to crash, not having slept enough for a week and having to get up tomorrow and do endless amounts of homework, so I leave you with a song.
"In Stiller Nacht"
Johannes Brahms
(Accents are not in place due to the fact that I'm tired and don't feel like messing with that right now.)
In stiller Nacht, zur ersten Wacht, ein Stimm begunnt zu klagen,
In still of night, oh awesome night, a lonely voice is singing,
der nacht'ge Wind hat suss und lind zu mir den Klang getragen;
The evening breeze among the trees, to me a sadness bringing.
von herbem Leid und Traurigkeit ist mir das Herz zerflossen,
Throughout my life of pain and strife, my heart is ever broken
die Blumelein, mit Tranen rein hab ich sie all begossen.
The blossoms rare weep in despair, for thee in love a token.
Der schone Mond will untergahn,
The friendly moon has gone too soon,
fur Leid nicht mehr mag sheinen,
No more for me aglowing,
die Sternelan ihr Glitzen stan, mit mir sie wollen weinen.
The stars once bright are dark at night, their tears with mine are flowing.
Kein Vogelsang, noch Freudenklang man horet in den Luften,
No singing bird aloft is heard, his joyous song is taken,
die wilden Tier raurn auch mit mir
Wild creatures mourn alone, forlorn,
in Steinen und in Kluften.
Among the rocks forsaken.
Or two... Clausen wrote the following for his wife. I would melt if anyone ever wrote something like that for me- wouldn't you?
"O My Luve's Like a Red, Red Rose"
Music- Rene` Clausen
Lyrics- Robert Burns
O my Luve's like a red, red rose,
O my Luve's like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June.
O my Luve's like a melodie that's sweetly played in tune.
As fair art thou my bonnie lass so deep in luve am I,
I will luve thee still my dear
'Till a' the seas, 'till a' the seas gang dry.
I will luve thee still my dear,
While the sands of life shall run,
'Till the seas gang dry, my dear,
And rocks melt with the sun.
As fair art thou my bonnie lass, so deep in luve am I,
I will luve thee still my dear,
Tho' it were ten thousand,
Tho' it were ten thousand mile.
Tho' it were ten thousand mile.
Francesca contentedly consumes her coffee at 11:41:00 PM
