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Back to music. This coming Friday I have the aMAzing opportunity to participate in a performance of Beethoven's Choral Fantasia, and 9th Symphony aka the Choral symphony or "Ode to Joy." We have been preparing for this the past few weeks.
I LOVE Beethoven, and I love performing with symphony orchestras. I think that it is some of the best music ever heard by man. Tonight, we had our first of two dress rehearsals, and I was in awe. I absolutely love how each instrument part gets their own little section, but how it fits into a masterpiece.
The Maestra is really difficult to follow, but I still sing with all my heart for her. You see, there is a difference between a cappella forte and orchestral/choral forte. In comparison, I would say that my forte in a capella singing is only my mezzopiano in orchestral/choral singing. By the time we finish each rehearsal my voice is completely shot, but I am still giddy!
Now for the Choral Fantasy, it is sort of a piano concerto at the beginning and then a cantata towards the end..... If you really want to know the difference you can ask me. BUT the concerto is where there is piano soloist accompanied by the rest of the orchestra. As I was listening to that, I thought to myself, "how lucky am I? How many people in their lives get to see an actual professional performance like this, and how many others get to participate in one?" It was amazing to see the dynamics between the piano soloist (INCREDIBLE!) and the vocal soloists, and the maestra Dr. Shulze with good ole' Dr. C sitting in the audience making faces when we messed up.
Then my thought process went back to last year for our "masterworks" concert. Dr. Copley was the guest conductor for the Flagstaff Symphony Orchestra and we performed one of the most moving and famous pieces of all time, the Benjiman Britten War Requiem. Again, I had a blasty blast! If I could do one thing for the rest of my life, it would be to be in a professional choir singing pieces like this!
Now for the lessons I'm learning: 1. the audience will never appreciate the music as much as the performers. They never get to see how much time and effort you put into a piece. All they see is the performance that lasts not long at all comparatively (even though the symphony is a good hour or so). 2. Beethoven treats voices as if they are instruments, which makes it IMPOSSIBLE to sight-read his music, and makes it very difficult to perform it well. Sopranos stay on a high A for two and a half pages, all whole-notes tied together. Altos sing from a low A to a high E in a split second... OUT OF CONTROL THAT BEETHOVEN WAS! 3. Any guy can sound manly when they are singing a march. :)
If you are still reading this... props, because I might be the only person in the world who finds this interesting. :)