En route to Prague from Salzburg, we stopped at the Augustinian monastery and chapel at St. Florian, where composer Anton Bruckner grew up as a choirboy and became organist. We began with a 45-minute tour of the monastery and I was impressed with two major rooms: the library, which houses about 130,000 books and manuscripts;… Read More St. Florian
It was about a month ago that I attended the Oahu Choral Society fundraiser, “Vivace,” which celebrated that organization’s 20th anniversary. Originally it was formed as the Honolulu Symphony Chorus under the direction of Sydney Rothstein, who was the Assistant Conductor of the Honolulu Symphony. In 1995 it reorganized as an independent non-profit entity called the… Read More Ethereal Masterworks
After playing the works of Bach the last few weeks, this week it will be romantic music. On Sunday I’ll be playing two chorale preludes from Johannes Brahms’ op. 122, “O wie selig Seid ihr Doch, ihr Frommen” for the prelude and “Herzlich tut verlangen” during communion. The choir will sing Brahms, too, for communion,… Read More Brahms and Bruckner
Today is Maundy Thursday, the beginning of our four-day marathon (The Three Days plus Easter Day). The choir will meet tonight for rehearsal at 6:15, followed by the service at 7:30 pm. For some reason, it doesn’t seem like it will be so horrendous this year. I guess it’s because this is probably the first… Read More The marathon begins
This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday (Sunday of the Passion), and the service begins outside in the courtyard. The choir will sing a setting of “Hosanna to the son of David,” (this year by Hutchings) and I’m always amazed at how resonant they sound outdoors. Then the whole congregation will walk around the outside of… Read More Palm Sunday Parade