Now, in contrast to the current clown show and Keystone Kops spectacle presented to us as political and cultural leadership, OS wishes to share this moment of beauty with you.
Some of the greatest trombonists of the world (the butt of sooooo many jokes by the literati) have collaborated to create this moving piece of art--in both music and images. You'll hear the trombone sections of the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Concertgebouw, artists such as Ian Bousfield and Jiggs Whiggam, each contributing their individual voices to this piece. The piece is beautiful, the performances are glorious.
It brings tears to the eyes, and reminds us of our better angels.
Please enjoy, and share with your friends if it moves you.
Showing posts with label trombone choir. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trombone choir. Show all posts
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Sunday, March 29, 2009
BACHanalia: Music for the soul of a city
Friday evening, March 27, 2009 was an extraordinarily good evening for Nashville, as Christ Church Cathedral hosted its annual six-hour marathon of the music of J.S. Bach.
Two hundred performers(many of them professionals), a very conservative official estimate of 600 in the audience (I counted a lot more), and some fifty volunteers all converged downtown for an evening of extraordinary music-making.
Only Bach's music speaks in every setting, be it performed on harps, or a trombone choir from the balcony, or a double-reed ensemble, or solo English Horn, along with the more traditional performances by organ, harpsichord, choir, and continuo. A twelve year-old boy held the house spell-bound with his treble rendition of Schlummert ein from the cantata BWV 82. Complete presentations of the 'Coffee Cantata' and the motet 'Jesu Meine Freude' were heard for the first time in recent memory. The evening ended with brilliant jazz renditions for soprano saxophone and piano, performed for the brave souls who stayed to the end, and for the volunteers.
The first notes, played at 5:00 on the harp, were heard by about 200 in the pews. As the evening progressed, the pews filled, and soon the house became SRO, with the little café in the Parish Hall abuzz with audience taking a quick supper break before heading back for more music. There were teenagers, young families with children, buttoned-down banker/lawyer types, bohemian artist types, taking it all in. Musicians came early to hear their colleagues, and stayed late after performing. You could hear a pin drop during the performances, and the applause was warm and long.
Professional musicians can be a prickly, territorial, and self-absorbed lot. Susan Dupont, the event's organizer, has the gift of inviting all these people to donate significant hours of practice, drive miles, and lend instruments; all for the privilege of participating gratis in a Bach marathon, together. Corporate sponsors and private donors stepped up generously in the throes of deep recession. This would not happen for for a Haydn or Mendelssohn marathon; as great as they were, their music wouldn't survive performance by a saxophone quartet. There is a universality, a (Dare it be said these days?) spiritual transcendence to Bach's music not found anywhere else in Western culture; and the more we look toward the source of his inspiration, and his lifelong response to it, the sooner we may regain our own cultural soul.
Thankfully, there was a photographer present, and he posted a few shots here:
The solo image on page 4 summarizes the evening brilliantly.
If you're in the area next Spring, set the evening aside, and join in.
Plan to arrive early; I suspect the crowd will grow dramatically.
And, if you live elsewhere, perhaps this is worth pursuing in your own part of the world.
Just a thought…
Two hundred performers(many of them professionals), a very conservative official estimate of 600 in the audience (I counted a lot more), and some fifty volunteers all converged downtown for an evening of extraordinary music-making.
Only Bach's music speaks in every setting, be it performed on harps, or a trombone choir from the balcony, or a double-reed ensemble, or solo English Horn, along with the more traditional performances by organ, harpsichord, choir, and continuo. A twelve year-old boy held the house spell-bound with his treble rendition of Schlummert ein from the cantata BWV 82. Complete presentations of the 'Coffee Cantata' and the motet 'Jesu Meine Freude' were heard for the first time in recent memory. The evening ended with brilliant jazz renditions for soprano saxophone and piano, performed for the brave souls who stayed to the end, and for the volunteers.
The first notes, played at 5:00 on the harp, were heard by about 200 in the pews. As the evening progressed, the pews filled, and soon the house became SRO, with the little café in the Parish Hall abuzz with audience taking a quick supper break before heading back for more music. There were teenagers, young families with children, buttoned-down banker/lawyer types, bohemian artist types, taking it all in. Musicians came early to hear their colleagues, and stayed late after performing. You could hear a pin drop during the performances, and the applause was warm and long.
Professional musicians can be a prickly, territorial, and self-absorbed lot. Susan Dupont, the event's organizer, has the gift of inviting all these people to donate significant hours of practice, drive miles, and lend instruments; all for the privilege of participating gratis in a Bach marathon, together. Corporate sponsors and private donors stepped up generously in the throes of deep recession. This would not happen for for a Haydn or Mendelssohn marathon; as great as they were, their music wouldn't survive performance by a saxophone quartet. There is a universality, a (Dare it be said these days?) spiritual transcendence to Bach's music not found anywhere else in Western culture; and the more we look toward the source of his inspiration, and his lifelong response to it, the sooner we may regain our own cultural soul.
Thankfully, there was a photographer present, and he posted a few shots here:
The solo image on page 4 summarizes the evening brilliantly.
If you're in the area next Spring, set the evening aside, and join in.
Plan to arrive early; I suspect the crowd will grow dramatically.
And, if you live elsewhere, perhaps this is worth pursuing in your own part of the world.
Just a thought…
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