Wonderful Wednesday!

I started off the day with an amalgamation of British and American culture- honey nut cheerios and a toasted crumpet! :) It set me off to a great start!
Class started at ten, as usual, so that came next. I really wish we could start class earlier, but they won't allow us in the chapel until 10. Annoying. Its just kind of a bummer because we usually get out around 1 or 2 (which is sooo long to be sitting in the same place for hours while analyzing deep music) and then most museums and other places close at 5. So we never have too much time to explore. I wish we could have class from like 8-11 or something, but oh well. I'm just grateful for the time we do have to experience London!! Its been absolutely amazing! :)
Class was really neat because we studied 4 of Bach's motets which I previously didn't really have any knowledge of! Dr. Staheli was likening the motets to tuxedos, haha. He said that for a really formal occasion we revert back to traditions of the past and men wear tuxedos, which is similar to what Bach is doing. Bach is creating something extremely special and formal, so he reverts back to the form of a motet. I think thats what he was saying anyway... ;)
One interesting thing about his motets is that despite the funeral-esque subject matter, they sound rather joyful! Apparently this is attributed to the Lutheran concept of not really experiencing joy until we die and move on. I immediately thought of 2 Nephi 2:25 and was grateful that we can experience great joy both in this life and in the next. :)
The first one we studied was Motet V, "Komm, Jesu, komm" or "Come, Jesus, Come." It starts out in 3/2 with "komm" on the downbeat followed by rests on beats 2 & 3. It does this four times until it continues to "Komm, Jesu, komm." Bach creates such a feel of pleading/inviting the Lord Jesus to come to our aid. Dr. Staheli said that those rests mean more/are more musical than any notes that could've been written there. The music remains in this desolate/desperate feel until we reach the text that translates to something like "I yield myself to thee, Christ." At that point you can feel the hope inside the person as the music becomes more dancelike and joyful. There are so many great things happening in this piece, obviously I can't get to them all. Anyway, its just so amazing because its so well thought out and planned, but yet it seems to flow so naturally. Bach is a genius. :)
I would really love to write more details about each motet because I really enjoyed studying them, but you know my excuse... ;)
We did discuss the choirs we heard lately as well. I don't have time for everything, but the main consensus is that British choirs simply aren't precise/don't have to be because they sing in all these places with such amazing acoustics, that they think they can just get away with being lazy and imperfect! Its SOO true! They don't cut off together, they don't even get the notes right sometimes, but when the sound carries over for like 5 seconds, it doesn't really matter if you're precise or not! Ugh. So annoying!! Oh well. I'm done venting. Well not quite. Its just frustrating to me because thats what music is about! Working it and taking so much time to perfect it so you can perform it in the most accurate way to reach others and edify those who hear it! It shouldn't be a sloppy mess! Ok I need to be done.
After class some of us were planning on checking out the British Museum, but instead spontaneously decided to catch a matinee showing of Les Miserables! It was pretty good. The story is definitely moving, but it was all just too dark for me I guess. I'd seen it a few years ago and I think I really liked it, but yeah this performance didn't alter my life or anything. It didn't help that Marius seriously sounded like a goat!! TERRIBLE casting decision. It pretty much ruined every scene he was in for me. We were all trying to contain our laughter. His voice was seriously awful though! When he relaxed it was fine, but that only happened for a total of about 7 seconds. The rest of the time he was just tense, and it was like he thought if he shoke his whole body it would affect his vibrato. And it did. Because it made him sound like a goat. Ok, enough of that. :) I really did have a great day I promise!! :)
The show took a while, then we just grabbed a bite to eat and headed over to Temple Church where we attended a rehearsal of The Holst Singers. According to Sister Hall, this group is an amateur auditioned choir, conducted by Stephen Layton (I think). I wasn't jumping up and down about the thought of going because it was going to be 2 and a half hours long, but once I got there and heard them, I really enjoyed it! Definitely one of the most enjoyable choirs we've heard. I really thought they had a good blend and weren't quite as top heavy as some other choirs we've heard. That's another thing. These Brits LOVE the Soprano sound. You know how the Singers Soprano section is by far the smallest!? Yeah. SOOO opposite here. Anyway, yeah I really enjoyed it, and I thought they were a very musical group. They had nice shapings of the phrases and excellent dynamic contrast. They rehearsed the 4 motets we studied in class today, and we'll be attending their performance of them a week from today. I wish we sang Bach motets! Thats some seriously legit stuff! And really difficult. It looked fun though, I wanted to hop in and sing! Especially since their alto section was really weak. I could barely hear the part the whole time. The choir was great though, and its so fun to listen to music in all of these great churches. I've never experienced so many places with such great acoustics!
After the rehearsal we didn't really know where we were going, got a little lost (strangely enough its been happening more often the longer we've been here... huh.), and then hopped a fence because we couldn't find any other way to get out of the area we were in! I felt pretty cool. ;)
Alright well that's mostly it! haha... kind of. I've really been slacking with taking pictures lately, and plus you can't take any in any of the churches here. Lame. I always try to take a couple before they tell me to stop, though. ;)
Alright here are some pictures.
I never know what order they go in so I'll just guess...
1- when we went to St. Mark's church yesterday there were these red apartment buildings everywhere and I just loved them and really wanted to live there so I took a picture! :) ...so when you come to visit me when I live in London for real, you'll know where I live. ;)
2- we were all wearing purple and black, so of course we had to take a picture! This was yesterday outside of St. Mark's church.
3- The girls at Les Miserables (the guys sat in the row behind us, what gentlemen). None of the pictures really turned out. Lame.
4- Logan, Chris, and I in Temple Church right before they said you can't take pictures in the church... hehe... ;)