It was a bit of a coming down to earth last night.

Sunday’s wonderful concert had been euphoric.  We had sang to great acclaim.  We had sung gustily, majoring in style, bravura and panache.  The audience loved it – and so did we.

And then last night we began to study and sing JS Bach’s Magnificat, a work of intricate polyphony by a master of the art, many would say THE master of the art.  We were all at sixes and sevens.

It was down to earth with a massive thud.

And yet – in a few weeks’ time we will be wondering what all the fuss was about.   After some hard-working rehearsals, supplemented of course by study of the score with the practice CDs and the Dropbox based practice material at home, we will be singing the work of this great master with consummate ease and great confidence.

Carlos made two great observations last night.  He talked about the last concert being one adventure, and the forthcoming concert as another.  Adventures often start hesitatingly – who was it said that the most difficult step on a journey is the first? But then there is a huge sense of achievement when the mission of the adventure is accomplished.  And by the end of last night’s rehearsal we were already beginning to get to grips with the first two choruses, a sign of good things to come.

Carlos also said that we have to “change channels” from the last adventure to this one – from a channel embodying style and panache to one based on precision and perfection.  Again, we could feel that last night as we wound our way around the tricky runs and modulating keys of those first two choruses.

On a personal note, it was great to see some “old” faces again last night; and to catch up with people who for various reasons had dropped out of the Choir for the last concert.  It was also good to welcome some prospective new members – we hope that they get as much enjoyment out of singing with us as we “old-timers” do.

I think that’s it for this week, apart from apologising for the corny title.  I could not think of anything better – sorry!