2010 Colloquium
This evening, my wife and I had a chance to attend a concert of the Larimer Chorale, our local and extremely talented choral group based in Fort Collins. The program was Rachmaninoff’s Vespers (All-Night Vigil), Opus 37.
Sung entirely in Russian, it was an amazing experience! And more unexpected – a capella!
I’ve experienced a lot of classical music over my lifetime, thanks to a very talented mother and aunt, and a number of years in the school orchestra. I appreciate this kind of talent and dedication to a faithful rendition.
But in this case, what really made the difference was the pre-concert explanation by the director, Michael Krueger. For over half an hour, he patiently explained the context of all-night vigils in the Russian Orthodox Church, the timeframe of the composition, and how the choir was able to sing Russian so beautifully.
This reinforced for me the importance of letting people know the larger story behind the music we sing. It’s not just about singing “Glory to God in the highest” because we’ve done it our entire lives. This is the song of the angels, defining their relationship to our creator.
What could be more beautiful? What could be more important?