Holy Weekend

The choir nailed Rutter's Requiem on Good Friday. The tenors and basses all showed up for remedial section practices, and this was a big help. The chamber ensemble (flute, oboe, cello, harp, tympani and glockenspiel) was fantastic. The service was quite moving, but I found myself annoyed that several of the teenagers who had been recruited to do readings of prayers on the seven last words couldn't be bothered to dress in clothes that didn't look as if they were getting ready to clean out the gutters. One kid actually wore a freaking baseball cap. This is in a very formal service, mind you, not one of their teeny bopper affairs. I reckon I'm turning into a grumpy old bastard now that AARP is recruiting me as a member. In my day, we took our hats off in church and we didn't wear sweats to services, and that's how we liked it!

Easter had full houses for both services, both of them traditional. My COPD has been acting up, so I had pretty much sung myself out on Friday and was almost useless for all the Hallelujah songs, especially by the time we were doing them for a second time at the 10:30 service. I was part of a recorder trio that played along with the organ (harpsichord was busted) and the choir on a Bach piece, however, and did not screw up my part. It was helpful that we had a conductor.

It was cold as all get out on Easter morning, so my decision to pass on the sunrise service was validated. I ate two small chocolate bunnies and a clutch of Cadbury Cream Eggs in honor of the occasion.

I like Easter better than Christmas. The Christmas narrative is just not believable to me, and I wish that our prestly caste would focus on the symbolic import rather than on the Nativity stories as factual. Also, the whole point of Christianity is commemorated in Holy Week, and Christmas is irrelevant except to the extent that it relates to Easter.