Missa Solemnis

Tonight the choir I'm in is performing Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and Choral Fantasia. It is reported that Beethoven considered Missa his greatest work, and it is unbelievably hard (and high!) to sing and play, which is one of the reasons it's not performed very often. We've got about a 100 voice choir (we're joined by the University of Portland's choir that our director also directs.) There will also be a professional orchestra and soloists. We're performing in this amazing Catholic church. The sound bounces around like crazy and when you have all those people and instruments it becomes hard to hear, which makes it harder to perform. At rehearsal the other night pretty much all I could hear was the person standing on either side of me and the french horns (the sopranos are behind them.) I could not hear myself or the other parts. I felt deaf by the time I left. It makes it hard to know how the things sounds as a whole, is it good or a train wreck? I would never know. It is challenging, but I think it will go well. You'll have to ask Jonathan how it went, as he'll be in the audience tonight. Hopefully my voice holds out on me, it's been sore and hoarse for a couple of weeks now. I just plan to let other sopranos sing the high B's.

The only thing I'm not looking forward to is standing for 2 hours. I have managed to snag myself a spot in the second row (so as not to be noticeable) right in front of a pew, so I plan to just sit down when need be. I find it kind of amusing (though also kind of nice) how solicitous people can be when you're pregnant. As if I'm going to fall over and die if I do too much or something. I could say that I need to stand on my head in the middle of it and they would be obliging. So, everyone wish us luck!