I’m sitting in the pews at Epiphany, listening to a trio of singers and a small handful of continuo (harpsichord; baroque cello; a small organ about the size of the box in which my kids’ 12-foot-tall, LED-haunted ghost recently arrived) absolutely crush one of the soli movements of this Bach motet, and pinching myself.
 

Through a combination of good luck, hard work, and being in the right place at the right time, I’ve joined an ensemble of some Epiphany staff singers plus a good handful of professional ringers (moi!!!) in performing four motets – three Bach (1720’s); one Schütz (1640’s) tomorrow night. 

The Bach especially are just stunning – this is some of the most texturally intricate, difficult music I’ve ever done as a vocalist, certainly as a choral vocalist.  Usually this kind of overlapping melismatic stuff is the exclusive province of instrumentalists.  But Bach brings it to the voice, in 4, 5, even 8 parts in the double-choir Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied.

All this in the wrong hands would be merely academically interesting.  This group of pros, however, makes it absolutely fly.  I’m reminded of when I was in a production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s Cinderella – stay with me here – in high school, and we needed to waltz for the ball scene: the company brought in a professional ballroom dancer, and she turned our perfunctory one-two-three into a ravishingly precise whirlwind.  That’s what’s been happening in rehearsals this week.

Somewhere in the Jesu, the chorus proclaims in a rare unison moment: Ich steh hier und singe!  I’ll be staying here, folks, and singing.
 

Gute Nacht, and hope to see you there if you’re anywhere near Seattle tomorrow,
 

-nh