It was so good to get to Choir practice yesterday evening!  After three weeks away, it was indeed time to engage with Karl Jenkins’ Stella Natalis. 

I had flown to London and back, with loads of free time on the seemingly interminable journeys to do things like listen to music of my own choosing.  It just so happened that I had a recording of Stella Natalis, so that seemed an obvious choice.  I had not taken a copy of the score, as I figured that it would be good just to listen and to soak up the sound of the music.   And indeed it was intriguing.

Some of the harmonies are a bit predictable for a while, but then every so often a sequence which you think you understand morphs into a completely different key.

The rhythms are almost unfathomable.  Is that five beats to a bar? Or is it seven beats to a bar? And then it all changes to a standard three or four beats, just for a few bars, and then back to something less conventional.

It’s a very Northern Hemisphere work, painting a very realistic picture of a f.f.f.f.f.freezing  c.c.c.c.c.cold  c.c.cl.cl.cl.climate.

How on earth would all this look in the score?

So last night I was able to see on the page how Jenkins paints some of those marvellous soundscapes.   And, even better, we joined forces to create those soundscapes ourselves.  I was amazed at how far the Choir had progressed in just three weeks.  Yes, there is a lot more to do, but I felt that we had the measure of all of the first five movements, understanding the way in which the music works even if it needs more practice.

It’s going to be very exciting putting it all together.  I look forward eagerly to the next few weeks as the music takes shape under Carlos’ expert direction.