6/06/2011

The Doctor is correct.

You know how it's always really kind of implausible that the Doctor (as in the guy in the TARDIS in Doctor Who) keeps saving humanity and gushing about how jaw-droppingly marvelous we earthlings are, how glorious and magnificent? Even though he's got all the power and nobility of purpose and morality and all that? And you know how you've just been watching the news right before Doctor Who comes on and it's all full of things that tell you just how miserable and spiteful and vicious and banal humanity is, and so you sit there listening to the Doctor go on and on and you think, "Yeah, right"?

The Doctor is, in fact, correct.

Yesterday I went to a choral concert called "Illawarra Sings" ("Illawarra" is the name of the region in which Wollongong sits), part of the Illawarra Music Festival. It gathered a sampling of area choral groups, of which there are stunningly many in the Wollongong area (is it that Aussies love to sing in groups, or is it something about Wollongong?). One of Margaret's school vocal groups (she's in several, of course) was one of the ensembles.

One of my "always makes me start to cry" things is seeing kids do brave, skilled, and spectacular things. This particular choir singing yesterday is the anyone-who-wants-to choir at the school (in other words, no auditions). So you'd think, wouldn't you, that they'd be a bit ragged? No, indeed! Right on the money. Complex harmonies. Counterpoint, too. They even did a bit of choreography for one of the songs. The sound was bold, even thrilling, and profoundly touching.

There was also a group of Cook Islanders (of whom there are a significant number in Wollongong). Beautiful, bright Polynesian harmonies, sung with verve, sparkle, humor, and tremendous, elemental energy. They were also clearly having the time of their lives up there.

The second half of the concert was a performance by the Spooky Men's Chorale (about whom I have blogged before). Deeply funny, very smart, self-deprecating stuff, very skillfully sung.

And after an afternoon like that, I am convinced: any species that has the power, vision, and optimism to produce such amazing music is jaw-droppingly marvelous, glorious, and magnificent.

1 Comments:

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