May 2nd, 2007 - Choir Practice

Looking outside the church door as I arrived there was rainbow. Kelly was practicing the piano on Let Everything That Hath Breath. Kelly let the choir know this evening that the May calendar was not our friend. It turned out there are no sopranos planning to attend Mother's Day Sunday, so this piece will be sung this Sunday. We concentrated our practice to get it right.

One thing a few of us wondered about, since we started rehearsing this, was the mention of timbrel in the lyrics and what this referenced. Wikipedia reports the timbrel was the principal musical instrument of percussion of the Israelites, identical with the modern tamborine.

The word timbrel is used in the Old Testament in both singular and plural form, so as to suggest that the former referred to a hoop of wood or metal over which was stretched a parchment head; while the plural was perhaps used to designate the tambourine with bells or jangles fixed at intervals in hoops.

Back to the practice. It is unbelievable how fast confidence is built through having sections get their parts down and then repetition until it is the only way it seems like it can be sung. Kelly drew much out of the choir tonight. He honed each part, our breath together with our phrasing. It was music not only of a high standard but power of the spirit. It reminded me once again of the lyrics I wrote describing the choir in Gambol in the Presence of the Lord:

The choir prepares to sing; the piano plays how the sanctuary rings,

Oh, see the choir swaying to the pulsing pounding chords

They Know "He's Worthy To Be Praised" as they gambol in the presence of the Lord.

People are caught up in devotion to the life we're moving toward

There's a feeling we're reforming with a passion and it cannot be ignored.

There is a performance of Let Everything That Hath Breath on You Tube by the Texas Meroplex All-District Choir. The sound is a little ragged but it is interesting to see this performance with soloists. Gave a slightly new perspective on the music to me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsjAvix48RE

Should be great praise on Sunday. We will also perform David's liturgy.