Chanticleer

[vaneramos]

Eramosa ice


"I am never merry when I hear sweet music."

~ William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

Leaving the office, sweeping snow off the car and climbing in, I expected a simple two-minute drive. Then the music came on, a few men's voices weaving tenderly, and the tears began.

Music is practically the only thing that makes me cry; particular pieces. Some are sublime, like Gunoud's "Nuit resplendissante", others inexplicable, like Peter's theme from Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf."

This was one of the former, Franz Biebel's "Ave Maria." First time I heard it was a live performance several years ago by Singing Out. A week later I was sitting on stage at the River Run Centre at the beginning of a mass performance by Guelph's community choirs. The Guelph Chamber Choir opened the concert singing this number from the wings, and there I sat in front of an audience, weeping.

Today I must have had a lot of restrained emotion to sob on. CBC should know better than to air such beauty in a snowstorm. Fortunately I had only three blocks to drive.

This arrangement for male ensemble is delicate and profound. I'll buy the album for myself this year: Our Heart's Joy: A Chanticleer Christmas. Sometimes I need something to break through the deepest place.