Bach's B-Minor Mass

That same week was concert week for me, so I had lots of late-night rehearsals.  It all sounds so exhausting when I'm marking it on my planner, but I'm learning how to make stuff like this work better for me-- I cut out my early morning workouts so I could get a bit of extra sleep (I didn't have a lot going on during the day, so I could still get my daily walks in, just later), and that helped a lot.  But, also, it turns out that Michael was right when he promised us that this was the greatest music ever written.  Sometimes I have to really work to love the pieces we do (like when we did Rachmaninoff's All Night Vigil), but with this music the love came easily and early on.  And when you're standing around singing absolutely gorgeous music, it's sheer delight.  I was sad each time rehearsal ended!  

Bach's music was also wonderfully therapeutic to my life in general.  One time I had the practice tracks playing while I worked on my blog and-- as I sometimes do-- I got distracted reading old blog posts and suddenly I was crying over my best friend's death (this happened thirteen years, so it's not exactly a fresh wound, but that doesn't mean I don't still miss Carla something awful at times).  Suddenly, I realized that the song I was listening to was the Resurrexit portion of the mass and it was a lovely reminder that I believe in a literal resurrection and will get to see Carla again.  Even the rather soullessly robotic practice tracks managed to be perfect.  As I got some other difficult news during rehearsal week, being reminded of Christ's atonement and our ability to be forgiven became more and more important and I was able to find a real respite in the music.  It was much more personal than these concerts sometimes are for me.

Some things I learned-- Bach put all of this together late in his life, sort of like his own Greatest Hits album.  He begins with two different Kyrie movements and they're both gorgeous.  Can you imagine having so much amazing complex music swirling inside you?  I really can't.  Just being able to hold both tunes in my head so that I could switch between them was something of an accomplishment for me.  (At one point during concert week I played the Kyrie from Mozart's C-Minor Mass since I couldn't remember how it went any more, and it felt so dramatic after Bach's music!  Like, it was almost shocking.  Was that how people experienced Mozart's music when he first came on the scene???)  Bach also repeated some of his own music within the Mass-- Gratias agimus tibi is the exact same notes as the final, Dona nobis pacem.  This was awesome since the music is gorgeous and it meant less for me to learn!  No complaints here!  The Osanna portion is also repeated-- this one was a little harder to get excited about because both are near the end of the whole piece and we really were getting tired.  

I should say-- as much as I loved the whole thing, singing the entire mass felt like a marathon.  It's LONG, even if it is all amazing.  Fortunately for us, we actually got chairs on the stage and could sit during most of the solo numbers.  Michael very rarely does this (I think he figures that since he's standing the entire time, we ought to be able to, also, but we just aren't used to it like he is!), so we were all very excited for this concession!

Anyway, here we all are-- seated-- inside UVA's Old Cabell Hall:

My family were all seated up close and right behind the bass, so they got to hear him really well!

There's me smiling to Craig as we all get situated!

The concert went beautifully.  I think Michael was actually emotional as we finished, which I have never seen before, so that felt like a huge accomplishment for everyone.  I'm so grateful that I could spend so much time immersed in this music, it was such a wonderful experience.

Donna, Colton, Tom, Kendra, and Camille seated outside the hall.  Craig, Bentley, Ryder, and Adam all also came, but we didn't manage to take any pictures of them somehow...!