Taking stock

We officially started the project today- it was a start of the year party. Before the brats and beers, though, we gathered in a the living room of one of the tenors and sang most of the oratorio. (When I say 'we', I mean about half of the choir- with the strongest leaders in each section present.)

We started with the first chorus -"And the Glory of the Lord"- and plowed through. Everyone had sung most of the whole work before. Results were mixed. The easier ones were well done and even a little musical. The melismatic ones - "He Shall Purify" and "For Unto Us a Son is Born"- suffered some. And "All We Like Sheep" was quite the chaotic, disordered affair... even more than it was intended to be! I enjoy how this adult choir is fearless in plowing ahead, despite fatal flaws. When the breeze took the pianist's score away, the choir soon lost pitch, and eventually devolved into a rhythmic reading. My high schoolers, faced with the same problem, would immediately stop singing and crawl into their shell.

We tried out "Lift Up Your Heads" from the Second Part. We assigned three women to sing in alternation with the whole chorus; this gave a kind of concerto grosso effect AND saved us from dividing the sopranos. Worked very well, I think I will keep that.

We got to laugh and joke and tell Messiah stories (everybody has them!) in between movements. Overall, a light, enjoyable, but fruitful first step.