Article November 29, 2004 Issue

WORKING TO THE SOUND OF SILENCE

By David A. Cornell

RECENTLY MY WIFE AND I SANG IN THE BERKSHIRE CHORAL FESTIVAL in western Massachusetts. All 228 choristers were strong singers, and they willingly rehearsed five hours a day, Monday through Friday. This culminated in a performance of two major works with a professional orchestra on the following Saturday.

In a world that is often seen as divided along the lines of race, gender, faith, social class, politics, and economic opportunity, the chorus united in a common purpose to add a little harmony to the world. We shared one simple yet noble objective: To do our best to convey the beauty of the music before us.

From that week of rehearsals, the message that stands out to me above everything else is something that our conductor said about preparing our thoughts for the performance. Maestro Donald McCullough of Washington, DC's Master Chorale, asked us to weed out all "conversations." By that he meant thoughts such as, "I wish we had one more day to rehearse," or "The basses need to learn their parts better at measure 324," or "Wouldn't it be wonderful if my spouse were here to be a part of this?" He wanted us to eliminate needless inner chatter so that we could be ready to sing the music beautifully.