Requiem

Mary, Sarah S., Beki, and I went to the Muenster this evening to attend the performance of Mozart's Reqiuem by the Freiburger Domsingknabe ( boys' choir ), Philharmonisches Orchester der Stadt Freiburg ( Philharmonic Orchestra of the City of Freiburg ), led by Domkapellmeister Boris Boehmann.

We bought our student-discount tickets, wandered about a bit, and then went to find our seats. Sarah and I ended up standing because there simply wasn't enough room in the pews. And even though I remembered to take off my hat while entering the Muenster, I absent-mindedly put it back on, which got me a "Muetze ab!" or "Take your cap off!" from an older man.

The concert started and within 30 seconds I was covered in goosebumps. I spent a few minutes earlier this weekend thinking about music, in general. Most people would say that the type of music they listen to is all about expressing themselves. For me, it's more about the impression that music makes on me. Listening to music can be a passive or active experience and since I quit Music Theory in 2003, it's since then been mostly a passive experience, though occasionally it comes back to haunt me.

Anyhow, it was just stunning. The performance was a bit short of an hour, but I wish it could have lasted longer. It was all a mix of the tremendous age of the Muenster, the ability of the choirs, the acoustics, and the weight of the text.

The money from the concert goes toward renovating the Muenster tower. Check out www.wir-bauen-mit.de ( We're building together! ) for more about it.

And if you've never heard Mozart's Requiem, then please do a search for it at archive.org . You can't listen to the whole thing, but it's enough.