Vaughan Williams
This past week I got an email from Charles Snider, an organist friend of mine in Glen Ellyn, IL, asking if I was available to do some vocal work for him during Holy Week. Rule #1 with Charles: If there’s any possible way to get involved in a service he is planning, do it. Back in college I had some amazing experiences singing four part chant pieces for the Sunday evensong service that he organized. I’ve just been thumbing through the music that he gave me yesterday for all of this week’s services and they’re all pieces that are, in a word, beautiful. I remember digging on everything that my professor played in my pre-1600 music history class — doing music with Charles reminds me a lot of that experience. Even the more modern pieces that he picked are ones that have those same strains of longing and transcendence that were so moving to me in that history class. It should be fun to let loose with these tunes.
