I'm finally beginning to get into the Christmas mood. Two girlfriends met me for lunch today at our favorite French restaurant and then we walked across the street for a Christmas chorale concert. It was a nice performance, a beautiful church, and even had a sing along part! Some of the program notes were interesting. They performed a version of Pacem that I had never heard before (we all remember the old Girl Scout version....dona nobis, pacem, pacem....) Anyway, turns out this arrangment was by a guy named Lee Dengler who grew up as a Mennonite and now teaches at Goshen College in Indiana. The Mennonite influence was evident in the composition and I really enjoyed it. I wonder if I can find a copy online anywhere....Another composition was by a Belgian composer and this was the program note.."Noel Goemanne (pronounced 'Whoo-mahn' in Belgium, and every other way possible in the United States." I thought it was great quote! The final program note of interest was for a verion of the Lord's Prayer composed by one of the chorale members. The note for that song, written by the composer reads in part, " He has no formal education in music theory or composition...Not surprisingly, The Lord's Prayer is deceptively difficult to perform, being somewhat complicated and unpredictable." Reminds me of my kids composing things on the computer that could never be performed in real life!
It was a great way to get into the holiday spirit, topped off by the 4 inches of snow that fell while we were inside!
It was a great way to get into the holiday spirit, topped off by the 4 inches of snow that fell while we were inside!
No comments:
Post a Comment