Those were Carl’s words at the end of tonight’s dress rehearsal for the Bach Mass in B Minor. Tonight was the first time we went straight through the piece, from beginning to end, and did not stop except where we will have an intermission in the concert. Carl got so excited, though, in the final ‘Dona nobis pacem,’ that he nearly flew off the podium! “This podium isn’t big enough!” he exclaimed, as he frequently became airborne when conducting.

Carl thanked everyone — the soloists, the instrumentalists, and not least of all, the singers — for coming along on this journey with him. “Pray for tenors,” though, was his admonition to the group, as three of the tenors are sick, including the soloist, Les Ceballos. Two other tenors did not make it to tonight’s rehearsal and are doubtful for the performance.

In the audience tonight was John McCreary, the only other person who has conducted the B-Minor Mass in this town — and John has conducted four performances of it on record.

An important announcement: There will be a pre-concert talk about the musical and theological signficance of the Bach B-Minor Mass at 6:30 pm on each night of the performance. The pre-concert talk will be given by the Rev. Ray Kringel, the former pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church in Ewa Beach, and a former organ student of mine. Pastor Kringel now lives in California but has returned to attend these concerts. If you are interested in attending the pre-concert talk, pick up your program at the Will Call table and enter the church. The pre-concert talk will end at 7:00 pm.

We’re “dark” tomorrow night — no rehearsal — so we can all rest up for Friday night’s opening concert.