Monday Musings 46: Public Displays of Music

 

“You are the music while the music lasts.” -T.S. Eliot

 

It feels like we’ve lost a week here. Since Sunday the boys have been sick. Caitlin succumbed on Thursday and had to be brought home from school in the early afternoon. Ashley is currently very drippy and I fear James and I are not far behind them all 😦

All of this has meant a delay in posting about our recital which took place the weekend before last. First of all, we had a great time. Grandma and Granddad joined us and both Ashley and Caitlin had friends show up to support their first recital. Given that Krista lives and teaches in our community their were quite a few families out in the audience that we knew. This also meant a lot of faces I recognized when I stood up to perform my solo. Yikes!

Below are the videos of our three performances.  Just click on the images to start the videos.

Caitlin’s Recital: Mozart’s A Little Night Music-Running Time 1:09

 

Ashley’s Recital: Beethoven’s Ode to Joy-Running Time 1:13

Actually, I was less nervous than I had been at the dress rehearsal, which had surprised me at the time. There was something intimidating about an almost empty church that seemed to challenge me to fill it with my voice. It was a lot easier to sing with all the pews full and just trust the acoustics of the church to carry the sound. Of course it was a very warm audience. Everyone had someone they knew performing and presumably were understanding of the challenge of recitals. So long as I remembered that, and just set out to enjoy singing the song that I love, I wasn’t too nervous 🙂

So (gulp) here it is for my wider community:

My Recital: Mozart’s Ave Verum-Running Time 2:19

Working on this recital with the girls was a truly bonding experience. We would practice our pieces for each other and share our feelings of excitement and nervousness. And then we supported and celebrated each other on the day. The male members of our family were a huge support too. Listening endlessly to our practicing, taking photos and videos on the day and cheering us at the end of our individual performances. Ethan and Sean were the best kind of audience, always big smiles when they hear me sing. On the heals of this success we are all looking forward to taking part in the Spring recital. James is even considering starting lessons and possibly participating too!!! I’ll keep you posted on what happens there 😉

Here is a parting view of Ethan with the best view in the house when it came time to take our final bow:

Ethan enjoying a little closeness with the performers