Musical memories

Had I penned this post Friday afternoon, as I had planned, it would have smacked of anxiety, tension, reticence, insecurity and disappointment. I would have used the words "harter Brocken" to refer to Brahms' German Requiem . Until last night's rehearsal I had perceived it as a Sisyphean boulder, a monumental work that I just wasn't able to get my head around - much less my voice - and so I feared my ineptitude would perhaps endanger our performance on Sunday afternoon. It is indeed a monumental work, being the longest opus Brahms ever composed and, as far as popular choral works are concerned, I would guess it is one of the most demanding for the choir. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but for a chorister to stand and sing for 80 minutes without a break takes more fortitude than I attributed to myself. I can't speak for the others, but simply sitting and concentrating on a piece of music for 80 minutes (without any breaks to look at your phone, take a dr...

Two years ago while I was attending the choir and symphony rehearsals for Christoph Eschenbach 's performance of Mahler's Second Symphony with the SWR Symphony Orchestra, I thought to myself: If I could ever sing in the choir for this piece, a dream will have come true.  At the time, however, I was not singing in any choir. Now that I've been singing in the Untertürkheimer Kantorei for half a year, I realize that the experience would potentially be even richer than I had imagined. Back then I was thinking I would enjoy all the rehearsal time listening to the great music. Although I get a lot of joy from playing the piano, most of my musical enjoyment comes from listening to others make music. Little did I know how much joy singing in a group could make me. My father was the chaplain where I went to high school. At the end of each weekly service (for five of my most formative years) we sang " Oh God our help in ages past ". But he was up at the front of the ch...