Today in class we reviewed all the concerts we have been to recently including the Tallis Scholars, The Sixteen, and Oxford. It seemed to me during the discussion of the Tallis Scholars vs. The Sixteen that everyone felt they had to choose sides or pick a favorite and that favorite was The Sixteen. I think this was probably due to the fact that we watched The Sixteen rehearse and Harry Christophers took the time to give us a little lecture about the origin of the group and the music selection for this evening's performance. It's easy to see how everyone felt more connected to the group. I simply enjoyed each for different reasons.
Also in class we looked at Bach's "B Minor Mass", Handel's "Dixit Dominus", and Vivaldi's "Gloria" in preparation for the concerts we will be seeing in the near future. I really enjoyed discussing "Dixit Dominus" for it's a piece that I'm less familiar with and it's pretty brilliantly written. The text "as it was in the beginning" appears again at the end of the song within the same music which is a witty thing to do. We also talked about it's "ebullient" qualities (this is a new word for me) and I really like how I feel when I listen to this piece. It's very regal sounding and quite a bit dancy.
Scott and I had a very educational afternoon at the British Library. As it turns out, there was a huge display of all musical items in the collection. I saw Beethoven's tuning fork which, supposedly, at one point belonged to V. Williams. There was one of Purcell's original manuscripts, Handel's "Messiah", Haydn's "London Symphony", and Vaughan Williams "Scott of the Antartic" all in their own hand. Incredible! What a holistic education!
Tonight we attended the "London Bach Choir Rehearsal" in the only Byzantine church left standing in England. They sang the "B Minor Mass" and Brahm's "Requiem" which was a surprise and a treat. I was most impressed with the fact that this choir of 200 could sing all these melismas with such accuracy. They happened to be auditioning assistant conductors that night which was also a unique thing to see. I preferred the first conductor. His rehearsal technique was more effective though it's difficult to say why because I couldn't hear what he was saying. He was probably more more specific about what he wanted and he didn't spend too much time dwelling on specific problems. He just seemed to expect that he would say it, they would rehearse it, and then everyone could move on and not make the same mistake twice. Of course this is the ideal but, he seemed to hold the choir to this standard.
-class with many concert reviews of the Tallis Scholars, The 16, Oxford
-looking at B Minor Mass, Dixit Domino, and Vivaldi's Gloria
-lunch of spaghetti
-fun at the British Library
*literature, poetry, theatre (Macbeth connection) , printing (Crandall Museum connection), religion, media, science (da vinci was an incredible mind, Physics Connection), politics (magna carta and king George...Robin Hood connection again)
*toe bothering me
-Pret for dinner (yummy tomato soup) and looked for shoes
-London Bach choir rehearsal at Wesminster Cathedral (only Byzantine building left standing in London)
*helped Chris and Anna finish off some fries and a Coke..yea baby
-Bach's B Minor Mass and Brahm's Requiem
*auditioning assistant conductors
-choice between piano bar and the dutch pancake house...Scott chose the dutch pancake house with Emily and Steve yummmy
-almost loosing my life to the motorcyclist
-random and fun night at the pancake house
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