No words necessary:
Irish Blessing, arr. Daniel Hughes
The Choral Project & Canadian Brass
Be Thou My Vision, arr. Ken Berg
National Taiwan University Chorus; Hao-Wen Herman Dong
We “play” our instruments. But playing is just so very wrong … because, believe me, it is hard work. When I’m done with a performance I’m beat. The next day I’m often in recovery mode. Oh the energy it takes!
And then there’s teaching.
Teaching, like playing, takes a ton of energy. The focus is sometimes so very difficult. I have to remove all the clutter of current events — be the events distant or in my own home — and focus on the one student who is playing his or her best (I hope) for the lesson. I have to listen so very carefully. And I have to attempt to get each student to learn to listen as well. That can be tricky.
“What did you hear?”
The first time I ask a student that question I get a befuddled look. Sometimes I think the student has decided I’m an idiot! “Oboe!” might be her response. Or “Notes!” might come from him. Of course what I really am asking is “What did you hear that you would like to do better next time?”
I think I’ll put it that way this next week and see what my students come up with.
As I have told so many of them, one thing about what we do is that it can always be better. It’s the fun and the curse of this profession, I suppose. No room for boredom. But sometimes rather frustrating!
Today I had seven students. I’m now depleted of energy, but my weekend has begun and I don’t see another student until Tuesday. Time to relax, recuperate, and look forward to the next week of teaching.
Knut Nystedt: Immortal Bach (arrangement of the Choral Komm Susser Tod)
Maria Magdalena Chamber Choir
Monteverdi: Adoramus Te, Christe
VOCES8
… where no storms come.
S:t Jacobs Vokalensemble performing Heaven-haven by Benjamin Britten, in the concert “Vindens ljumma fläkt” 2017-06-12, in the Cathedral of Stockholm.
Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89)
Heaven—Haven
A nun takes the veil
I have desired to go
Where springs not fail,
To fields where flies no sharp and sided hail
And a few lilies blow.
And I have asked to be 5
Where no storms come,
Where the green swell is in the havens dumb,
And out of the swing of the sea.
Read on Craigslist:
Leblanc intermediate wood oboe. In decent shape. Has more than average keys I was told my local music store.
Because it may speak to some …
Text: The Road Home
Tell me where is the road I can call my own,
That I left, that I lost, so long ago.
All these years I have wondered, oh when will I know,
There’s a way, there’s a road that will lead me home.
After wind, After rain, when the dark is done,
As I wake from a dream, in the gold of day,
Through the air there’s a calling from far away,
There’s a voice I can hear that will lead me home.
Rise up, follow me, come away is the call
With (the) love in your heart as the only song
There is no such beauty as where you belong
Rise up, follow me, I will lead you home.
Susan LaBarr: Angele Dei
Frost Chorale
