Like a Rolling Stone

My comp exam is next Thursday.  I am desperately re-listening to and studying the composers and their works in a book by Michael Steinberg.  I am currently listening to Dream of Gerontius, which I will talk about momentarily.

But first, a bit of exciting news.  On May 2nd, I am part of a chorus singing on stage with the Rolling Stones.  I even get paid for it.  And I get free parking.  What could be better?

Dream of Gerontius.  It's about an hour and a half long.  I do not have a score, because my colleague has checked it out and is using it.  It was completed in 1900 by an English composer (Edward Elgar).  It is a piece I would like to see performed live, with a score in hand.  The piece is composed in such a manner that the feelings of the music are easy to convey.  He did a great job at writing corresponding emotional music with the particular event (whether it is death or seeing demons or being taken to purgatory, as happened in the poem).  He uses chromaticism, but it doesn't seem to be chromaticism for chromaticism's sake.  It chromaticism for a purpose, to make the music go somewhere, to elicit a mood, to suggest forward events.  There is nothing jarring or unmusical about it.  There is less tenor solo singing in the second half (specifically, the character of Gerontius).  He still sings, but it's more about angel and angels leading his soul to where it needs to go.  There is more dialogue between his voice and others, as opposed to his sole voice.  In a way, he is less alone in the after life than he was on earth.  

It is a beautiful day in Long Beach. I wish I could share the sun, the breeze, and the blue sky with everyone.