Musica Sacra: Feast of All Souls

Oh, may I join the choir invisible
Of those immortal dead who live again.
~ George Eliot, The Choir Invisible

The choral season at Saint John the Beloved began beautifully: our first Tridentine Mass on the 21st celebrated with the Ropartz Mass and then Christ the King (by the old calendar) on the 28th celebrated with the Mozart Mass in C sung with chamber orchestra.

Now, this Friday, November, 2nd, Father MacAfee will be celebrating another Solemn High Tridentine Mass and we will be singing Duruflè’s Requiem with chamber orchestra for the Feast of All Souls.

If you are in the Washington, DC area, please join us!

Oremus pro invicem,
Mikaela

Bella

We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.
~Jawaharlal Nehru

This past weekend several hundred friends (I kid you not!) and I went to see the movie, Bella. The film has won critical aclaim and several awards, including the People’s Choice award at the Toronto Film Festival. I now know why.

Simply put, this film is brilliant and beautifully crafted.

The story line is moving ~ I think someone said that if you do not cry at some point, you do not have tear ducts. I think I cried through most of it. But then the story line hits very close to home for me. In some ways, it provided a catharsis for me ~ which quite honestly is what a well done play or film or piece of music is supposed to do. Not pick up you and leave you hanging with unresolved emotions. Bella is real; it makes no apologies for life, how hard and unfair it can be. And yet how beautiful that same life can be. Yes, your heart will be broken. Yes, life can be painful. But it is totally worth it.

If you have not seen it yet, go. It’s playing in select theatres, but hopefully with many people going to see it, it will get wider distribution.

Oremus pro invicem,
Mikaela

Musica Sacra: St. John's 2007-2008 Choir Season

It's the way we sing that makes 'em dream.

~ Ed Kowalczyk

Many apologies for my radio silence the past few weeks. As I have been telling all my friends and family, my schedule has literally exploded ~ Sunday through Friday my time is no longer my own. I cannot complain ~ almost all of it is taken up by music-related happenings: voice lessons, rehearsals for two choirs, and all the new music that one must learn for all three!

Speaking of music, the Saint John the Beloved Latin Choir is back from vacation and our Director, David Lang has prepared yet another musical collage designed to raise body and soul to Heaven! I will once again be posting our schedule and music selections for your envy and edification. ;-)

The one major difference this year will be singing for the Mass according to the 1962 Missal and not the Novus Ordo. (Sounds of angels singing Victoria heard in the background.) Of course, for the choir, not much will change musically. The music we sing will be the same ~ almost all of it was written before 1962. Now we will just be singing them in the setting for which they were composed. Like a woman wearing diamonds with jeans instead of a black velvet evening gown. It can work, but the proper setting is a ball and not a barn dance.

More to come!

Oremus pro invicem,

Mikaela