This Is Why I Joined the Schola

...because we get to sing cool stuff like this:

"Alma Redemptoris Mater" for SATB and sleeping baby by Giovanni Pierluigi de Palestrina.

Messe Secunda, by Fr. Michael Haller

For those of you poor saps who were unable to make it to the concert last night, here is the rendition of the Mass that we performed.



I will upload the other parts of the concert as time permits.

**Update**

The Vox Caelestis women's ensemble's set is also up:

!!Breaking News!!

Did that get your attention? I hope so! The news isn't actually all that breaking, but I just wanted to make sure you were listening.

For those loyal readers (hi Mom!) in the Southern California area, I have an important announcement.

Well, not actually that important. I just want to make sure you're paying attention.

Anywho, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church's Latin Schola, of which yours truly is a member, will be performing our first ever concert on June 24 (the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist) at 8:00pm. The concert will begin with a low Mass in the extraordinary form (in Latin, priest faces ad oriens (that is, he is oriented correctly, in the same direction as the people, so the Mass isn't a staring contest)). This will be followed by actual singing. Our showpiece is the "Messe Secunda" by Fr. Michael Haller, a 19th century Palestrina scholar, who wrote this gorgeous 3-part (SAB) Mass in the style of the great Renaissance sacred works of Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. Other works we will be performing are: the chant "Ut Queant Laxis", a chant to St. John the Baptist, from which the solfège "do re mi..." originates; César Franck's "Panis Angelicus"; and maybe one or two others (if you're lucky!).

(Did you notice all the bold text? I put it there. It was designed to subtly catch your eye and make you more interested. Did it work?)

So, come and bring a friend, why don't you? Bring ten friends. Bring a hundred friends! You probably won't regret it™! (That's my personal guarantee!)

Oh, yeah, and we also have this cool flyer.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "wow, Joe, that's a cool flyer! How could the concert not be awesome if it has such a cool flyer?" (Yes, I know you think in bold text.)

Well, you, that's a good question. How could the concert not be awesome if we have such an awesome flyer? The answer is: there is no conceivable way the concert could not be awesome with such a cool flyer. This has been rigorously proven by science-type people, like this guy.

This Guy? Tell everybody why it will be awesome:

The concert will be so awesome, because it has a cool flyer. I have proven this scientifically!

You know you can trust him because he wears glasses. That means he's got, like, +5 to science!

And that's why you need to come! You probably won't regret it!™

How 'Bout Some Halloween Music?

Now With Even Less Original Content!

A couple quick things. Firstly, I forgot this in the Friday link dump:

Her California accent sounds almost exactly like The Murloc's cousin.

I used to think that I had a neutral “American” accent, until I recently started doing voice work for my company’s training videos. This involves me recording and listening to my own voice a lot, and I’ve noticed two speech quirks that come through frequently. Firstly, I say “buh-n” instead of “button” and “frinstance” instead of “for instance”. It takes a lot of mental concentration to speak without the accent, and I end up re-recording a lot.

Secondly, go here to listen to the awesome "Gloria" that I heard at a Christmas concert I went to on Sunday. As I told my friend who sang in the choir, I wasn't aware anyone was still writing great sacred music.