back in the musical saddle

Pacific Chorale resumed its usual rehearsal schedule tonight, after a scant two Monday nights off (Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve).

We started with the two pieces that will make up our May concert -- after a few weeks of this, we'll back up and work on the music for our March concert. The rehearsal season is uneven, so our artistic director decided to restore the balance by working this way.

Tonight we read two movements of Horatio Parker's Hora Novissima, which was extremely popular in the 19th century but lost favor after World War I. It sounded too German -- and it really does sound like Brahms sometimes, even though Parker was born in New England.

We also read a chunk of David Del Tredici's setting of "Paul Revere's Ride" -- shout out to Ben and Wanda, since the mighty ASO Chorus premiered this piece. (You can't actually name the ASO Chorus without saying "mighty" first. It's true.)

And in a strange moment of coincidence, I recently saw Hila Pittman, the soprano who premiered "Paul Revere's Ride" with the mighty ASO Chorus, originating another role at a small theatre here on the West Coast. Her husband, the composer Eric Whitacre, has written an opera called Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings, which I saw in its world premiere at the theatre run by my aforementioned friend J*. Pittman played the lead, and the moment she opened her mouth for her first aria, it became abundantly clear why.

Back to tonight's rehearsal. I am not the world's strongest sight-reader, though I am always working on improving that element of my musicianship. So rehearsals that are mostly reading leave me tired. I am tired. Good night!