Two of my favorite choral groups have concerts during this time.
The Virginia Consort, directed by Judith Gary, has a special spring concert. The 35 member chamber chorus swells to at least twice its size with the addition of the Festival Chorus – adults who can’t commit to year-long participation in a choir, but, after 8 weeks of hard work in January and February, participate with the Consort in the performance of a major work with orchestra. This concert is made even more fun for me because one of my neighbors is in the Festival Chorus
and one of my tenants plays percussion in the orchestra.
This year’s concert was Carmina Burana, a work I didn’t know. Well, it turns out I did know part of it. O Fortuna which begins and ends it has been used in movies as varied as “Hunt for Red October”, “Jackass: the Movie” and “Cheaper by the Dozen”
These 13th century poems set to 20th century music made a powerful impression on me. Thanks Virginia Consort.
I also attended the Oratorio Society’s spring concert – a particularly happy event for them this year as their Christmas concert had to be cancelled due to Charlottesville’s first major snowfall. They sang Brahm’s German Requiem. Hard to believe that such beautiful music was so controversial for so many years. Fortunately for the Oratorio Society, their appreciative audience took no part in the controversy.
The most intensive part of my spring musical experience, however, is the course I've taken at the University of Virginia for the last three years. There’s been a lot of music in my life. I attended classical music concerts from an early age. I took piano lessons for 7 years – only the first year of which I appreciated. I’d rather have taken figure skating classes with my friends instead of practicing alone in the living room. But parents don’t always understand these things. Elementary school, high school and university choirs gave me my most appreciated musical experience. But, somehow, I never learned much about the composers whose works I listened to, sang and appreciated. For the last three years, I’ve been filling in the gaps while feeling like a student again -- without any of the pressure of my real student days. Every Thursday evening from late February until April 1st this year, I gobbled down an early dinner at home or grabbed a sandwich at one of the student hangouts and took off for a college classroom where I spent two wonderful hours while a Professor Emeritus of the University enriched twenty adults’ knowledge and experience of Beethoven and his music. I appreciated the wonderful audio and visual equipment – so different from what I would have had available during my real student days.
Several times a week I went to the library to do my reading. I’m sure I’d have spent more time in my university library if it had been like this. Comfortable chairs and sofas cluster in the front, each providing a nest for an undergraduate. Small tables encourage group work. There are also booths along a series of windows (my choice of a reading spot. I’ve always loved having a window to look out when I work or read.) The groups of undergraduates worrying about their exams and papers or just enjoying each other’s company as they hurried through their reading probably thought I was a professor – maybe a professor emeritus,alas, if they noticed me at all. But as I contentedly looked out the window at the aftermath of the winter storms and the newly emerging spring flowers, I knew better. I'm a Life Long Learner.
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