CrossRoads Farm

The Winter Concert

14 December, 2004 - 8:46 am

Our concert was a great success. I guess it is true that a poor dress rehearsal makes for a fine performance.

At the rehearsal we sang the tricky parts to all the songs and the beginning of “For Unto Us a Child is Born.” Everything went relatively well except for “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming.” It just plain sucked. We simply could not get it together on this one. I mean it’s a terrible song to begin with. Even when I still went to church I would stand there with my hymnal firmly shut and refuse to participate in this particular song. It feels as though you are singing through sand. As in, that same feeling of pulling that you feel while crossing a beach is present at the end of every line of this song. To add to the problem Helen had chosen an arrangement where we were supposed to take turns walking through the sand. It was terrible. We were frustrated, Helen was frustrated. She made us go on to the next number and grabbed a hymnal. Page 131.

She made us all sit down on the risers and handed out hymnals. “Okay. Sing it.”

It was beautiful. Lovely. Perfect for the first time. Helen smiled. “Ok, I’ll have it Xeroxed and in you hands at 1:45 on Sunday. And that’s how we did that one. When we were done, Dee whispered, “We were flat.” And I said, But we were all flat together.”

There was one other funny moment. When Helen completely missed the sopranos cue. We could tell by her posture she wasn’t where the rest of us were so we just came in where we were supposed to. At the end of the song she whispered to us. “I’m so sorry….” I’m sure we were the only ones who noticed.

Of course the big finale was the Hallelujah Chorus. When our piano player started the intro some of the folks started to stand up. I was very impressed. You all do know it is customary to stand during this piece, ever since the first time it was played and King George was so impressed by it he stood….
We sang our hearts, and our voices, out on that one. Later at the reception I went to give Bebe a hug and she was still crying. “We weren’t that bad were we?”
”No, “ she said, “It was wonderful.”
“Everyone remembered to stand.” I said.
“Well, of course, Dear. Of Course! It’s our responsibility as mere mortals to stand during the Hallelujah Chorus.” I must assume she was referring to Handel’s genius, because Bebe is as Pagan as I am….

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