How do you know you're a choral musician? When it's still October and you've just written the introductory remarks to your chorale's Christmas concert! That's what I found myself doing this morning, and I thought I'd share a portion of those words here. I hope you'll read them, find yourself drawn in to the wonderful season of Christmas, and consider joining the Glen Ellyn-Wheaton Chorale for one of our upcoming Christmas concerts! Merry Christmas (a bit early!) . . . .
Vincent Van Gogh's painting Starry Night has fascinated me for a long time. The Impressionistic swirls in the sky, the stars and moon with halos surrounding them, and all of these hovering mysteriously over what appears to be a sleepy little town—a village that is perhaps quite unaware of the wonders whirling above it. I think one of the reasons Van Gogh's masterpiece captivates me is that it seems to portray the touching of heaven and earth. A moment in which, as Edna St. Vincent Millay puts it, there comes a "truce between Earth and Ether." But the other wonderful thing about Van Gogh's painting is his use of light. The sky seems to be alive with light! The light doesn't just shine down on the little church and buildings below—it comes in fantastic swirls of luminescence!
Light has long been one of the primary symbols of the Christmas Festival. The Glen Ellyn-Wheaton Chorale invites you to join with us as we marvel at that moment when heaven touched earth—the Incarnation—and all was light. In the words of one of the wonderful pieces you'll hear:
Before the marvel of this night/Adoring, fold your wings and bow,
Then tear the sky apart with light/And with your news the world endow.
Proclaim the birth of Christ and peace,/That fear and death and sorrow cease:
Sing peace, sing peace, sing gift of peace,/Sing peace, sing gift of peace.
Greg Wheatley
Music Director, Glen Ellyn-Wheaton Chorale