Hallelujah, pt 2

Ladies and Gentlemen, its that time of year again - MESSIAH TIME! Get your scores and pencils at the ready, and let those vocal chords bleed!

Wasn't it just yesterday that I was singing this stuff for Christmas? I can sing these choruses in my sleep, but hey, they are starting to yield a steady, bi-annual profit. Only this season - I'm singing some solos! Yay :) What a special treat.

Working in churches is a constant source of amusement for me. Not necessarily because of the religious aspect - I find it very intriguing to learn about other view points - but because of the people who take their choirs way-too-seriously.

I do some contract work in a choir that sings some very challenging material which I find satisfying, but many of the (older) choir members find themselves overwhelmed. Some of the more spry choir members were contradicting our choir director (who has a doctorate in music), and pointing out too many nit-picky problems in the choir's performance. When a group of 25 singers, average age 70, can manage to sing a challenging piece of music beautifully - why harp on them? There is only so much rehearsal time and only so many fast-paced criticisms they can retain as amateurs. Let them love the music and their experience associated with singing it. I feel that harping on so many mistakes in a non-constructive manner only makes these fledgling musicians self-conscious of their mistakes, and takes away some of their joy.

Singing in church is about praise and a love of music. In the words of the Beatles, "let it be, let it be...."