As the Musica Sacra International festival continues, this morning the choir participated in a workshop for the participants of the festival. Sixteen of the choir sat on the stage to help with some demonstrations, while Dr. Crane fielded questions about the choral area of BYU: how many choirs, how many participants, how are auditions handled, how many audition each year, etc. They were astounded that around 1000 students participate in choirs at BYU one way or another. Then there are ward choirs, which is a very new idea to most other churches. Dr. Crane talked a bit about early music in the Church of Jesus Christ, as the choir is performing an arrangement of “How Firm a Foundation” that is based on the original tune in the first hymnal that was published with music and not just texts. (1899) It was a good session, with very good questions from those attending.
Soon after we were able to gather in the BMM’s building to have our own Sacrament Meeting; the missionaries brought us the Sacrament. This was very welcome as we thought our schedule would preclude this.
After a break for lunch and (for some) a rehearsal for the Closing Concert Tuesday evening, the choir loaded the coach yet again and headed to Irsee for a concert at the Closterkirche St. Peter and Paul.
This former Benedictine abbey church in Irsee was built around 1700, and now serves as a local Catholic parish church. This church is a masterpiece of southern German Baroque and Rococo design, featuring intricate stucco details and beautiful altars.
The church has a 250-year-old organ, and our two organists in the choir, Andrew Fellows and David Kine, had the challenging task of figuring out how to play and use an organ that is substantially different from modern organs. There was a bit of a dance in the organ loft that the audience missed, as David mirrored Dr. Crane’s conducting for Andrew to see as he played, and then ran back every now and then to help set the stops.
The concert began with a program from Kol Koré, which is three people who perform new and old Jewish music. The pianist made an upright sound wonderful. There was a soprano also, but the star of the show was really the young man who played the shofar and the French horn. I have never heard the shofar played any way than as a call to gather, but this one was played very lyrically and with great artistry. Many of the arrangements played were his. He also played the French horn beautifully. They all were a hit with the audience.
Tonight’s concert was a great success with the audience, who applauded enthusiastically throughout and jumped to their feet immediately after “Come, Come Ye Saints” finished. The acoustics made up for the dim (or the spots of very bright light) lighting for the choir. Singers then performed the now traditional (on this tour) encore of “I Am a Child of God” auf Deutsch. Whether LDS or not, it is obvious that this piece in English or German touches our audiences.
