(no subject)

I was asked to accompany the regional H.S. choir - I guess because of a large organ part on one of the pieces. The concert was tonight and the rehearsal was all day long. I took a hotel room in the college town where it was held so I could have a place to relax. Everyone seemed to be happy with the way it went. There was a brass ensemble that joined the organ on the Rutter Gloria. Even though it is an effective piece, I've never been too fond of it. It seems three parts Bernstein, one part Firebird, plus one part come-what-may. The piece I liked the most was one of the a cappella pieces, Bruckner's Os justi. It sounded so lush and glorious with the hundred plus voices. The piece I enjoyed accompanying the most was Morten Lauridsen's Sure on this shining night. I was surprised I enjoyed it, because when I got the music I found the score a little appalling: a 5 minute tonal piece that never leaves it's principal key, not even one borrowed leading-tone. I thought the choice of text, James Agee's lovely lyric Sure on this shining night, a little too anachronistic for the 21st century. But when I was playing it tonight, and listening to the warm voices of these young people on the verge of adulthood, I was overcome with nostalgia. I glanced over the boys, some of whom were already handsome men, some still boys, to find the one who reminded me of myself at that age. And I found him, and the sight of him was startling & heartbreaking.