verba docent

Before I start, I want to thank Steve Kass, one of the tenors with the Dessoff Choirs, for helping to set up this blog. Though I have my favorite blogs that I follow, I’ve never had the audacity to start one myself until now, so I had no idea how to manage the mechanics of it! So thanks, Steve, for making it so easy for me.

I also want to give credit where credit is due: in setting up the blog, Steve chose a temporary title that I like so much that I’ll keep it! I had to look it up, of course—turns out that VERBA DOCENT comes from the expression verba docent exempla trahunt, which means “words instruct, illustrations lead”.

What a perfect title for what I hope to do through this blog—meld my own musings on the music that Dessoff is performing (in this first instance, the Bach B Minor Mass) with illustrations that back up my words. Thanks to Steve for selecting a great title—and for reminding me that writing about music only works when paired with musical illustrations!

2011-12: BACH, B MINOR MASS

Does it get any better than this for a conductor? I’m going to be spending the better part of this year rehearsing Bach’s B Minor Mass with my two choirs—the Dessoff Choirs in New York City, and the Worcester Chorus in Worcester, Massachusetts. Both choirs have long and distinguished histories; the Worcester Chorus is the third oldest community choir in America, and Dessoff, which has in recent years performed on several occasions with the New York Philharmonic and the Juilliard Orchestra, is nearly ninety years old, making it one of New York’s most venerable choirs.

Both choirs will be performing the work with the Arcadia Players, an early instrument ensemble based in western Massachusetts, and both choirs will share the same slate of wonderful soloists.

Even more exciting, the performance of the B Minor Mass in New York will be the culmination of the first annual Dessoff Midwinter Festival, whose topic this year is Refracted Bach.

This blog is a chance for me to explore the myriad topics that have been on my mind as I explore again this most extraordinary of works. I suppose in a sense that this platform gives me an opportunity to go into greater detail for the singers in both choirs about the topics that arise in the heat of the rehearsal moment. As all choristers and conductors know, there’s never enough time to spend looking at the music itself in rehearsal—we’re always too busy learning how to sing the music!

In the weeks and months to come, I will take a look at various aspects of the B Minor Mass that might help a choral singer to feel more connected to the core of this work, even beyond the thrill that comes with singing what many consider to be the greatest masterwork of western music.

By using these blog entries, some podcasts that explore the musical material itself, interviews and maybe even a video or two, I’m hoping to share some of my excitement about the piece, and some things that I’ve picked up over the years from working with a series of amazing Bach interpreters.

Knowing that it’s nearly impossible to say anything completely original about a work like the B Minor Mass, I’ll also recommend books, articles, recordings and other materials that have been particularly illuminating for me in my own exploration of Bach’s music. It’s possible that no composer has had more written about him than Bach—and few of his pieces so explored as his B Minor Mass, so we’ll be in good company on this journey! Welcome aboard.