I am now officially a proud choral-music geek, because I have not one but two favorite requiems. Very pleased to get to sing both the Durufle and the Faure last night with the friendly members of Schola Cantorum. Summer Sings: great fun. Those of us with no time to join a choir can still drop by on Mondays to try our voices at Masses or requia. They'll even lend you the score.Last night I brought my old music from college choir, complete with penciled notes like "LEGATO" and "Party at Dan's after concert." I attended with a friend and fellow soprano who has perfect pitch, which makes her a mighty fine person to stand next to. Except when you feel like meandering down to the alto line to see what's going on there, and it's trickier than you think, and you go terrifically flat, and your poor perfect-pitch pal is too polite to tell you that her left ear just fell off.
(My friends with p.p. are certainly tired of hearing me talk about it, but I'm currently obsessed. Is it possible to obtain perfect pitch as an adult? If you promise to be good, eat all your vegetables, and memorize the circle of fifths? And what does life sound like for them? If somebody honks at them, do they think, "Why, that note would fit perfectly in the triad I played last Thursday"? This is all my parents' fault for not teaching me a tonal language.)
Anyway, this Summer Sing was led by Amy Hunn, director of the Stanford Summer Chorus. Later conductors this summer will include Stanford organist Robert Huw Morgan and Stanford director of choral studies Stephen Sano. Hunn was lovely and very patient. She even smiled when someone's cell phone rang during the Faure.
Fortunately, it was just after the end of the Sanctus, which concludes with a high trilled note. And it was the iPhone "Trill" ring tone. Parfait.
Pictured: My scores waiting to be used last night as I sat in a church pew. Photo by Rebecca Wallace.
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