This evening Jean and I went to the University Choir/Schola Cantorum Christmas Candlelight Concert. Except it wasn't a concert, it was a service. We arrived five minutes before the service began. On our way in someone handed us each programs and candles. There was a soloist singing up front, and as I took my seat, I glanced at the program and saw that there must have been half an hour of pre-service music.
Jean was the motivating force behind going to the service. Music is an important part of the holiday season for us both, and carols are especially vital for Jean (I tend to prefer folk Christmas music to the more traditional fare). Beyond the music, though, we both seek to make a more personal connection to the season. So while we were both expecting nothing but music, the interdenominational service was refreshing.
The choir and a cappella groups were both good. Before I joined the theatre back in college I was a member of the choir. These groups were substantially better than their counterparts from seventeen years ago.
Some of the pieces chosen weren't what I would have picked. There was one piece in particular, something by Ralph Vaughan Williams that disappointed. I like Vaughan Williams, especially his fifth symphony and "The Lark Ascending," but this song didn't have the feel of either Vaughan Williams or Christmas for me. I don't know specifically why, but the piece just seemed out of place.
It was obvious that the choir director (Jeffery Riehl) was trying to cover a range of musical styles throughout the service. At first I found his effort to cover the spectrum artificial and annoying, but by the end of the service I changed my mind. I'm not sure what it was, but somehow I got out of my own way and just enjoyed the service for what it was. At the end of the evening, all the lights were turned off and we all lit candles from a single candle at the front of the chapel. We sang "Silent Night", raising our candles for the third verse, and then silently recessed from the chapel, candles still glowing.
I think one of the reasons I enjoyed this service especially was thinking about our baby. By this point in the pregnancy, her ears and brain are connected. What did it sound like to hear hundreds of people singing, with an organ playing? It's a sound unlike anything else she may have heard to this moment. Jean tells me that Bumpy was moving throughout the service. I hope she was listening, in whatever way she could.
It was a dreary, chilly day. Perfect for a fire in the study!
We've got the candles in the windows and the tree (still mostly
undecorated) lit. The house is really beginning to feel like
Christmas is here.
yoga: I started my practice again today, with a short twenty
minute session. As with all enduring things in life I want to
build my practice incrementally. With the baby on the way it
isn't prudent to attempt more than a half hour of practice a day,
so that will be my goal.
listening: The Nutcracker (Tchaikovsky)
visiting: New Beetle Holiday Cards
© 1998 Kevin J.T. Creamer