Am going to watch one episode of TBBT before going to bed.

tooodles

The particular passage ‘sure on this shining night…’ is from the poem titled ‘Description of Elysium’.

Whole health resides with peace,
Gladness and never harm,
There not time turning,
Nor fear of flower of snow

Still thorn bone bare
Iron in the silenced gully
Rattling only of the air
Through hornleaved holly

Where marbling water slides
No charm may halt of chill,
Air aisling the open acres,
And all the gracious trees

Spout up their standing fountains
Of wind-beloved green
And the blue conclaved mountains
Are grave guards

Stone and springing field
Wide one tenderness,
The unalterable hour
Smiles deathlessness:

No thing is there thinks:
Mind the witherer
Withers on the outward air
We cannot come there

Sure on this shining night
Of star-made shadows round,
Kindness must watch for me
This side the ground.

The late year lies down the north.
All is healed, all is health.
High summer holds the earth.
Hearts all whole.

Sure on this shining night I weep for wonder wandering far alone
Of shadows on the stars.

Now thorn bone bare
Silenced with iron the branch’s gullet:
Rattling merely on the air
Of hornleaved holly.

The stony mark where sand was by
The water of a nailed foot:
The berry harder than the beak:
The hole beneath the dead oak root:

All now brought quiet
Through the latest throe
Quieted and ready and quiet:
Still not snow:

Still thorn bone bare
Iron in the silenced gully
Rattling only of the air
Through hornleaved holly

Elysium in Greek mythology referred to the underworld or paradise where souls which were conferred immortality were sent. In Homer’s writings the Elysian Plain was a land of perfect happiness at the end of the earth, on the banks of the Oceanus River. A beautiful description of the afterlife and an indication there is something better for all of us at the end of our journey.

Here’s an amateur’s video of him conducting a choir in Quebec.

I have this sudden urge to sing certain movements of Handel’s Hallelujah chorus and some parts of Faure’s Requiem out loud.

I guess I have to say something about the main reason we’re here. The concert last night was over much faster than I would have liked. I guess this usually happens with many things one spends an extended period of time and effort preparing for. I think given the circumstances, we lived up to most expectations and didn’t do too shabbily. I’ve said before I enjoy the glory but this time I also enjoyed the company and the bonds that have quickly developed within the group. Then the question almost immediately turns to whether I’m staying on. I don’t know. I guess I am?

Right now  I’m just dreading the mountain of work waiting for me when I return to the office next week, I see new deadlines and appointments and events just unravelling.  What with being sick just before leaving sing sing, I’m hoping I can get back to the gym and put in some effort on the treadmill… I wasn’t sure if I did the right thing but now I’m glad I signed up for sundown, even if it’s just the short version. It’s good to have some sort of goal to work towards.

The only that would cheer me up is if my new bag from Francesco Biasia arrived pronto. I want it to be delivered now now now.

l’uomo colle sua congiegniate e grandi ale, facciendo forza contro alla resistente aria

I’ve been feeling guilty that I’m not right on top of all my songs, plus a quick look at my calendar last night made me realize we only have three proper practices left. So i’m going to try and focus on one song everyday throughout the day — on my commutes, at work, after work etc..

I’m expecting everyone to turn up from now on since it’s the final lap and we can work towards tackling all the details. It’s not enough to just be familiar, we have to know our music inside out. When that’s in place, we can finally start to enjoy the music and really think about what we’re singing. To reach a stage where our focus automatically switches every time we sing a different song and we know instinctively what that song requires in terms of mood, tone and emotion. No song is easy, everyone has its individual nuances. The challenge is also to make the familiar pieces special to the audience, like it’s the very first time they’re listening to them. I can go on youtube right now and find various versions of most of the songs we’re singing. But any choir can sing them. How can we make them different?

We have such a reputation to keep up it’s scary. Imagine going to a foreign land to sing in a 2500 capacity concert hall only to come up short. It’s not just about our performance that one night. This is a measure of who and what we are. For so many years we have worked toward some kind of recognition from the mainstream and from audiences at home and abroad. And this project I think is a culmination of all that hard work we’ve managed to achieve through the years, building on our last successful competition. How many local choirs have had the same opportunity we have now? The amount of grant money we’ve been awarded alone is testament to how much of an impression we’ve made.

I think we can do it, we just need to realize what’s at stake and put in the extra effort.