Music, Music, Music

Yesterday there was a concert at the Basilica Saint Nazaire up in the cite. It was billed as a concert of English Christmas carols, Spanish and gospel songs.  The Choir of the Fleur d'Espine was performing.  

So off we went, trudging up the hill.  I have to admit that it was easier this time than the first.  I should simply make it a daily trek;  I would be in great shape in another couple of months.

I think those are real pig skins

While we were there we encountered a bagpipe band--a lady bass drum player and a cadre of pipe players.  The bagpipes are pig skins, I think.  You can make out the legs and the tail.  The players inflate them the old fashioned way--by huffing and puffing into them.  Then they seem to stay inflated for a while, and provide the airflow for the pipe.  It's definitely an outdoor instrument.  They played an arrangement of the folk song The Water is Wide, which I had always thought was an American tune.  Maybe all cultures can lay claim to it.  

We went in to the basilica and got seats about 20 minutes before the concert.  The wooden benches were hard, and the basilica was cold.  It made me think about the hardiness of the parishioners who've worshiped there for the past 900 years.  

Choir de Fleur d'Epine

The choir was small-- maybe 17 singers.  The altos and the basses had the bigger numbers, but the smaller sound.  The concert was interestingly programmed, with an emphasis on Spanish language songs.  It wasn't particularly Christmas-y, but then again, how would I know?  I don't speak Spanish, there were no translations nor were there programs.  Some of the things they did showed off the choir's sound, especially in that acoustical space.  I think they could have used a good English coach, and for the first time in my life, I heard gospels sung in French-accented English.  It did not work for me. I no longer can tell the ORCA Singers that they are the whitest sounding choir I have ever heard.

At the end of the concert, the young man who was directing made a plea for tenors and basses.  It's the same the world over.

I thought this was Pere Noel; Jerry calls him Pope Santa

Then we heard a marching band and the bagpipes again last night during the parade.  The Grande March Aux Flambeaux may be one of the highlights of my life.  We could see the torches coming down the cite steps, and then through the streets and across the bridge. Many of the participants were in medieval costumes.  That line of torches, the drum beat, the heat of the flames as they passed by all served to transport me to an earlier time.  I kept trying to imagine what it would have looked like if there were no other lights....it was fabulous.  What a wonderful tradition!  How lucky am I to have gotten to see it!

Torches coming from the cite (look to the left of the center of the photo, and you can see them descending the steps) and then coming through the street toward the Pont Vieux--the bridge where we are standing. 

Today, the capstone was set when we went to hear the Soweto Gospel Choir.  Something about those voices in those harmonies touched my core, and I found myself weeping.  The energy of those singers, the joy, the love of music, the rhythms, the dancing, all kept me spellbound.  I cannot recommend them enough.  In addition to traditional African pieces, they did great arrangements of Bridge Over Troubled Water and In the Arms of An Angel as well as Amazing Grace and the spiritual Amen.  Believe me, they knew what to do with a spiritual!  They ended with the South African National Anthem as their formal tribute to Nelson Mandela.  I am so happy I got to see and experience this group.

Finally, warm.