"In his domestic administration my father had this system . . . to keep a journal and insert in it all occurrences of any note . . . A record very pleasant to look at when time begins to efface the memory of events, and very well suited to get us out of perplexity: When was such and such a thing begun? When completed? What retinues came? How long did they stay? Our trips, our absences; marriages; deaths; the receipt of happy or unhappy news . . . An ancient custom, which I think it would be good to revive, each man in each man's home. And I think I am a fool to have neglected it." (Montaigne, Book I, Essay 35 (publ. 1580))

Friday, April 13, 2007

Avodath Hakodesh (Sacred Service, 1933)


This is the name of the piece we're working on in our ASU choir this semester. Composer is Ernest Bloch; you can read about him here. Like many other Bloch works, the Sacred Service draws on Jewish liturgical music. We're singing the Hebrew text.

Our choir (the famous ASU Choral Union) will be performing with several other choirs plus the ASU orchestra (per usual for our spring performance) plus cantor plus soprano and tenor soloists. I think it will sound wonderful.

Something neat is that the concert is the culmination of a series of events related to Bloch (and Leonard Bernstein). Information about the series is here.

Hard to believe the calendar is this far along, but we're almost out of practice time. So I think I'll run through parts of the piece yet this evening.
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