The Last High School Concert
Sons 1 and 2 and I sang last Friday night with the regional high school chorus. The concert took place in the St. François Church in the middle of Lausanne. A fun building from the 13th century, it stands lopsided (which you only notice from the inside) having shifted over the years because of the surrounding traffic. Acoustics are still good (if the group is good).
We sang a requiem composed in 1946 by the Frenchman Maurice Duruflé. A lot of work for the little time it lasts, there are still some beautiful sections. (Gregorian sounding Introit and Kyrie. The Sanctus sung by the women in four parts is heavenly.)
It was the boys’ last concert with the group. Son 1 is swamped with classes at the university and Son 2 will be off to the spiritual internship next year, so neither will continue singing “reinforcement” with the tenors.
I’ve not yet decided what to do. The group of high school teachers who sing backup are tightly knit. A hard nut to crack and hard for outsiders to find their niche. And with the boys gone, most of the motivation for singing with that group has disappeared too.
May 14th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
I don’t know, Brady, seems to me that building is leaning from the outside as well! Sounds like a great evening. I wish I could read music and sing well enough to do something like that. I get by singing with our praise team and praise band and our church hymns, but if I had to actually sight read anything I’d be kicked out in a 4/4 heartbeat.
May 14th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
That is the strangest “Church of Christ” I’ve ever seen.
It is sad when traditions or activities that we enjoyed with our kids begin to end as they get older. Hang in there.
May 14th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Hey, Brady!
Thanks for your help on the last post, really appreciated.
Ah, this sounds like a final concert curtain for a meaningful activity you got to do with your boys (now men!). I don’t know, but from my experience as a choir director, I would be gutted to lose three good male singers in one fell swoop!
If your motivation was based mainly as a singing activity with your kids, then it sounds like the curtains have come down. But if it was also to foster a further appreciation for great choral music and an opportunity to get to know other choir members in your community, then more rehearsals could be fun. Who knows, perhaps that tightly knit clutch of high school teachers will loosen up to include you more, now that your kids will no longer be there? For teachers, the dynamics between parents and teachers can change when the kids have flown both nests (school and home). Maybe they felt you were just there more to be with your sons, and acted accordingly (as teachers, to be fair, will do when parents are around) to those boundaries. But now they can have more freedom to get to know you not only as a great dad, but a genuine friend!
Besides, they might really need you and your voice to hold up the part of the church building that is cracking up and leaning off key (foundationally speaking, of course)!
May 15th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Good memories worth remembering, that is until your memory fails you (old man). Not many can share the experience of singing in a church that leans to the left. Unless, of course you happen to be from Long Beach.