Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Chant

It is amazing to me how many things you can learn if you have your ears open and pay attention.

Chanting has always touched my heart. There is something about the rhythm that draws me.

Tonight, we had play practice for The Sound of Music. We needed to practice all of the songs the nuns sing. There is a fair amount of Latin and it begins with a chant.

The choral director likes to explain the who, what and why of what we are doing as we go along. Today, he explained how chant developed. He said it was because a chanting voice carried, acoustically, to the back of the large churches prior to the invention of amplification equipment. It also maintained the prayerful tone of the Masses.

It was new information that gave me a different perspective, and respect, for another tradition of our faith.

2 comments:

  1. You must've gotten a part in the play, but you haven't posted anything about it. What about the boys?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am playing two "roles". The first is an actual role, as the Baroness Elberfeld. The second is a part in the nun chorus. Lots of singing, one line of dialogue, a little bit of waltzing, and that about sums it up :). There were nine children roles cast and more than 70 kids auditioned. The boys didn't get a part, which is okay since then they won't have any conflict with summer camp for the Boy Scouts.

    How is the new job going?

    ReplyDelete