Project Manna rehearsal
But first, I want to record that I got a custom app wizard to change a couple of project settings. That's esoteric programmer talk so I'll stop now. Suffice it to say I've been wanting to do that for weeks. It took all afternoon to figure out and will save me about 10 minutes of work, but a lot of frustration, in the future. That's typical of a mathematician's kind of laziness -- being willing to take a lot of time to figure out a general way to do something that saves a little work every time you have to do that something.
We had a choir rehearsal tonight because Tuesday is the Boston Community Chorus's normal rehearsal day. All the choirs that are going to be in the Project Manna concert were there. We first worked on three gospel tunes, then Cantor Solomon's “Peace by Piece.” I always love doing the gospel songs. These were “At the Table” (Smallwood) and “Feast of the Lord” (Traditional); also one that the Dennis Slaughter, the director of the Boston Community Chorus, had written. They all have plenty of syncopation, a strong beat, and staggered entrances, enough complexity to be fun. Also, they're very different from the songs we usually do -- well, maybe not that different from some Israeli songs, really.
“Peace by Piece” suffers by comparison. I don't think the lyrics are great; they don't make all that much sense, and they're awfully earnest without making it to inspiring. The piece is like a Reform rabbi's sermon, sincere and logical but lacking in the emotional impact that the gospel songs have. The tune could be good movie music but not an oscar nominee.
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