Rehearsal Magic

There are magical moments that sometimes happen in rehearsal. They come unlooked for, which makes them all the more wonderful. One of those moments came at our rehearsal last week. We rehearsed John Jacob Niles haunting arrangement of the Appalachian carol, I Wonder as I Wander. It begins with a soloist singing the first verse while the choir hums background accompaniment:

I wonder as I wander, out under the sky,

How Jesus the Savior did come for to die,

For poor on’ry people like you and like I…

I wonder as I wander out under the sky.

Two choral verses then follow, describing the Christmas story. Then the soloist sings the first verse once more to close. The piece is plaintive and beautiful, and seems to touch something basic in our American soul. This was our first run through so we sang it, worked on various musical aspects, then sang it through one more time. Magic happened. Our tenor soloist sang it as simply and naturally as a child, yet with a grownup’s artistry and sensitivity to the mood of the text. The MCE singers reflected that mood back to him and to me, and for a few moments we seemed to transcend time and place. It was breathtaking.

There are still a few rough places to smooth out, it isn’t quite performance ready, but what happened in those moments touched something beyond mere notes and rhythms; we made music! It is impossible to describe. We know it when we experience it, but those are the moments conductors live for. It makes all the hard work of rehearsal worthwhile.

Dr. Linda Gingrich, D.M.A
Artistic Director/Conductor

Master Chorus Eastside