December, Don'tcha Know?

Oh Lord it's been a while, but maybe not much has happened? Since last time...

1. Messiah concerts went pretty dang well in my opinion. I have enjoyed singing it several years in a row because each year I get to know it more and find new parts to work over and revel in. I adored the conductor - a delightful Bernard Hill-ish schnauzer of a man. Very gentle and a very clear conductor, even when playing the harpsichord and conducting with his head. We also had a lute - who knew one little lute could make such a difference?
2. Home + Christmas = Happy. Family, pets, home made tamales, rum and egg nog, Christmas goose, listening to Messiah with family while doing crossword puzzles, Shirley Jackson stories, friends I haven't seen since summer, Doctor Who, knitting store afternoons. Glory.
3. Brahms Liebeslieder Waltzes and Beethoven 9 concert - so fun. The waltzes are a grand mix of lovely, darling, rousing, beautiful, eerie, peppy and lilting, most coming in at around 1 minute-ish. We sang a few of them sophomore year of college with Dr. Hodson and I still remember some of them (only now we're singing them in German - ja!). Beethoven is a blast because you just get to sing all crazy and loud and you realize how exciting and interesting it all is and how much more there is to it than just the standard melody that everyone knows. Only downside - we didn't break it down Sister Act 2, 90s style at any point. That's okay, I did it in my head. ("I'm down with G-O-D -- yeah you know me! -- I'm down with G-O-D -- EVERYBODY! Come and join the chorus, the mighty mighty chorus...)
4. Tomorrow is New Year's Eve Anacortes style. Am I ready for 2010? We shall see.
   

And wild and sweet, the words repeat...

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep.
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep!
The wrong shall fail,
The right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men!"

In recent years I've been rediscovering Christmas songs I've known forever. Rediscovering in the sense that one day I somehow notice the words, listen to them, and the song suddenly becomes even more wonderful than I once thought it was. This year it's "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", which I'd swear I heard for the first time years ago on an episode of Touched by an Angel (YES, Touched by an Angel) and never thereafter heard a version I enjoyed. I spent a good long while searching yesterday and discovered one by Sarah Morgann that, to me, does the song justice.

Brand new songs discovered this year:
"Gabriel's Message" performed by the Choir of Clare College (Oh. So. Beautiful.)
"What Sweeter Music" performed by the Choir of New College Oxford
"I Saw a Fair Maiden" performed by the Cambridge Singers
"Wexford Carol" by Anuna (I knew the song but this version is spectacular!)

All We Like Sheep

I'm abandoning life in favor of choir. By that I mean I'm about to disappear into Messiah rehearsals and performances. I'll be back Sunday night. My voice WILL hold out! I WILL stay conscious for all of it! Hooray for choir!

Sentence Fragments! Just Phrases!

Thanksgiving. Knitting. Lots and lots of food. Wine. Gone With the Wind. Lots of sitting around. Coffee. 2012. Puppy. Homework. Newborn baby. Broken down car. 20 block walk to apartment at 10at night. Stressful conference prep. Choir rehearsal until 10pm. 4am wake-up time. 14 hour work day. Nice real estate appraisers. Car repairs tragically expensive. Egg rolls and wine. Fell asleep at 9:30pm. Woke up sick. Car still broken. Bus ride to another choir rehearsal. Still sick. Wrong car trouble diagnosis. Repairs 3 times original estimate. Some tears. Looking at kids books for a while. Chicken pad thai. Amazing Masterpiece Theater version of Jane Eyre. 30 Rock.

I think that about covers it.