Bittersweet

A little sad tonight. I just got home from what will likely be my last choral concert for a very long time, possibly forever. I used to love singing in choirs, being part of that amazing mass of sound, all connected to each other and to the music and to the instrumentalists, moving as one. To me, choral music is the ultimate selfless music. There's no room for being an individual performer; you are part of the group. Ideally, no one will ever hear you as you.

But now I'm at the point in my vocal journey where singing in a choir tends to make me hoarse. I'm not entirely sure why this is. It's definitely not because I'm oversinging (i.e. singing too loud); I am very committed to blending with the other voices. But regardless of why it happens, it does, and that means choral singing is out for me now that I've fulfilled my one semester requirement.

We sang a beautiful program tonight: Requiem fur Mignon by Schumann, Schicksalied by Brahms, and the Beethoven Mass in C Major. The soloists and the orchestra were top notch, and the choir seemed pretty well-blended and expressive overall.

The last word I sang with this group was "pacem". Fitting, I think.

~Hope

PS The picture is of bittersweet - what else? - chocolate. 99% cacao content isn't anything I would recommend to anyone unless they're looking for the ultimate in strong "take the roof of your mouth" experiences. But it is worth trying once.