A remarkable experience

Yesterday the Illawarra Choral Society (which my husband conducts) performed, among other works, two Christmas carols on which Houston and I collaborated. The first, for soloist and piano, was written from the point of view of one of the wise people from the orient -- what that person, for all their wisdom, might have been yearning for that drove them to seek out the child in Bethlehem, how they might have felt on seeing an at-risk baby from an at-risk family in a disgusting hovel, and what happened when the wise person looked a little more closely. The second (for choir and piano) considered what it means to us, the masses, the billions of people on this planet, that there is a new way to be, and all the old rules demand a radical reevaluation.

I do take my faith very seriously, and so does Houston, which perhaps contributes to the clarity of emotion in both the words and music. It also helps that we genuinely admire each other's work, and collaborate cheerfully (rather than warily). And the singers (soloist and choir) love the pieces (words and music).

All this came together yesterday afternoon when they performed the pieces. The soloist had taken great care to prepare -- analyzing the character who was singing, deciding how she wanted to communicate the character's emotions and thought processes through expression, posture, and gesture, even memorizing the piece. She sang it fabulously, and her accompanist was note-perfect and rock-solid to support her. I was near tears (my daughter Margaret was sitting next to me, and she reckons she could feel my heart pounding). And several of the choir members were affected as well (I found out later that one had to blink the tears away in order to read the music for the second piece!).

Houston had set the second carol as a huge, anthemic work, with beautiful harmonies and great waves of emotion -- and that worked, too. Really worked. The choir grabbed hold of it and just soared.

I can only assume the audience was affected too -- usually this sort of "It's working!" moment doesn't happen unless the audience is with you all the way.

How amazing, to be able to give these musicians words they cared enough about to offer them with such power and grace....