Concert week ahoy. Today was the first dress rehearsal and it went quite well. The main piece this quarter is Durufle's Requiem, a lesser known work that happens to be one of my best beloved ones -- right up there with Brahms' Requiem and Beethoven's Mass in C. I know it because I sang it my senior year of college. I fell in love with it and have longed to do it again ever since, but this has been my first opportunity to do so. When it was announced at the end of the last term for our Fall 2016 concert, I literally gasped in joy. It incorporates many elements of Gregorian chant along with more Romantic and Modern touches (it was composed in 1947) and is unusual in tone and structure compared to many other classic requiems -- no Dies Irae movement, many other movements shortened, hardly any solo work.
If you're curious, there's a full-lenghth video here, although I haven't heard the whole thing and can't vouch for the quality.
We also have a guest conductor, who was the long-time director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He's a brilliant musician, very demanding, but it's been worth it -- the music he's been pulling out of us is gorgeous. First show is Friday, and I'm looking forward to it.
peaceful