Miles to Go before I Sleep (in My Own Bed)

Today was my last full one in Pittsburgh, so, as I had promised myself, I set out to see the sights, specifically Point State Park and the Carnegie Science Center.

The park was interesting, but, unfortunately, I wasn't able to go out to the Point itself since the large fountain there is undergoing extensive renovation. So, I satisfied myself with a tour of the Fort Pitt Museum, built over a replica of the fort's outer walls (the actual fort was abandoned in 1792 and quickly fell into decline—one blockhouse is all that's left standing). The museum presents the history of the fort and, in particular, its role in the French and Indian War, emphasizing the perspectives of the French and  British troops and their respective Indian allies.

The Science Center is worth at least a full day's visit if you have small children, with dozens of exhibits—many of them interactive—ranging from wind tunnels for paper airplanes (mine was reasonably aerodynamic, but needed a paper clip at the front for balance) to basketball-shooting robots (robot's accuracy: 95%; human accuracy: 17%) to laser harps to a real Cold War-era submarine, plus a separate building housing sports- and health-related displays. (I wanted to ride the little bicycle out across the two-inch-wide steel beam 40 feet off the floor, but I was just a tad over the weight limit. Time to go on a diet, I guess.)

Early flight tomorrow, so bedtime's in about an hour or so. Lucky me managed to score business-class upgrades for both legs home, and I need the rest.

Colloquium Update #5

Colloquium Dos Equis is in the history books.

Our final Mass of the week featured a setting by Franz Schubert, sung by Dr Horst Buchholz' choir and accompanied by a small orchestra. I had the opportunity to sing under Dr Buchholz my first two Colloquia and can attest that he gets the best out of his singers through a fine sense of humor and initmate knowledge of the works he's preparing.

After a quick brunch and fond farewells to new friends and old, it was off to the airport to pick up my rental car for today and tomorrow, check into the last hotel of my trip, then dinner at the Church Brew Works, a brewpub set in an old Catholic church in east Pittsburgh. The diocese closed the parish in 1995 and deconsecrated the church, then sold it to its current owners. Good food and excellent beer (the brewing equipment is housed in what used to be the apse) in a unique setting, including the original flooring and stained glass windows; in fact, the owners did such a good job of restoring the furnishings to their original state that a local historical preservation society gave them an award for it.

After dinner, I swung by Station Square once again to ride the Monongahela Incline to the top of Mt Washington and took in the view of downtown, as well as looking around the neighborhood, which still has several old brick-paved streets. Once evening came, a few quick snaps of the lights of the Steel City and back down the incline for the hotel.

I don't know how much I'll be able to see tomorrow, since I have such an early start Tuesday and I need to drop the rental car off around 6 PM or so. Most of the interesting stuff seems to be closed on Mondays around here, including the Natural History Museum, the Andy Warhol Museum (Warhol is a Pittsburgh native), and the Mattress Factory. I think I'll try Point State Park, where the Allegheny and Monongahela merge into the Ohio, and the Carnegie Science Center.

Colloquium Update #4

My last full day at the Colloquium was jam-packed with activity. Early Mass today, this one Solemn High Mass in the Extraordinary Form in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Only one thing for me to sing today, a polyphonic Ave Maria by John Taverner as a Communion motet.

As, of course, we're winding down after a week of hard but rewarding work, today's rehearsals went fairly quickly. My chant schola finished up the Alleluia for tomorrow, while my polyphony choir, all of our obligations completed, took the time to read a few works we hadn't sung, including the Byrd Ave verum Corpus, a MIDI of which, you'll recall from earlier this month, I used as the prelude for Corpus Christi/First Communion.

I skipped the rehearsal of the final polyphonic piece, Anton Bruckner's Locus iste, in favor of watching the US get eliminated from the World Cup. (Gotta keep the priorities straight... and this is the second WC in a row that we've lost to Ghana in the round of 16. Grrr.) The new music reading featured some very nice pieces, including two by a Duquesne music professor who's been here since the 1960s. I didn't really sing anything, though, since my sight-reading skills, at least with modern notation, are extremely poor, and I have to be able to hear other singers in my section to match pitch. Interestingly, I have little trouble sight-reading Gregorian chant notation, probably because (1) I don't have to worry about time or key signatures, dynamics, etc. and (2) unlike modern music, chant notation is a relative-pitch system, so I can set do or fa (the two clefs in chant) at whatever pitch I want and sing away.

A word on the Masses: The Colloquium features Masses in both the Ordinary (1970 Missal) and Extraordinary (1962 Missal) Forms. Tuesday's Mass is always an Ordinary Form Mass in English, just to show how reverent a vernacular Mass can be without the all-too-prevalent "sacropop." From then on in it's all Latin, alternating between the two forms and ending with an Ordinary Form Mass on Sunday, since we don't want to freak out regular parishioners who may be unfamiliar with the EF.

Time to get packed for tomorrow's epic 15-mile trek to the airport hotel where I'll be spending Sunday and Monday nights, then a 6 AM flight home Tuesday.

Colloquium Update #3

A belated update from Pittsburgh—last night's laundry took longer than expected. This one'll have to be short as it's just about lunchtime.

Fr Mark Kirby finished his session on liturgical theology last night with a discussion of the five characteristics of chant:

—the irreplaceability of the human voice
—chant as sung speech
—objectivity
—holiness and hallowability
—the fostering of full, conscious, and active participation by the faithful

Unfortunately, Fr Kirby only had time to develop the first two characteristics in any detail, but what he did give us last night, and over the three days as a whole, are worthy of a separate post.

After lunch: final rehearsals for the highlight of my Colloquium, solemn sung Vespers, followed by Mass and a CMAA membership meeting. Dinner, a lecture by Fr Frank Phillips of the Canons Regular of St John Cantius, and Compline round out the day.

UPDATE 10:05 EDT: I'm sitting outside the student union since they close at 10 PM on Fridays, trying to find a comfortable position to post in (the WiFi signal drops to 56% at the benches just across the street).

The CMAA meeting was more interesting than usual (what to say, it's a business meeting), as a Fr Rojas from New York made a quite impassioned appeal for the Association to start reaching out to Hispanics. Fr Rojas said that the deterioration of the liturgy at Spanish-language Masses was even worse than that experienced in Anglo parishes, and that the pressures put upon the Hispanic Catholic community from the charismatic movement and Cursillo make the situation even more critical. Father went on to mention the vast repertoire of traditional Spanish-language hymnody and polyphony that has been sadly neglected in favor of the equivalent of the "sacropop" we have to put up with at English-language Masses. Fr Rojas was roundly applauded for his appeal.

Vespers apparently went over well, judging from Dr Mahrt's smile at the end and the positive feedback I got from a fellow attendee, despite it being rather warm in the sanctuary; having the AC and fans turned off in the church, plus 25 or so musicians and about ten clergy and servers all crammed together in a small space, didn't help much. But at least that's the largest part of what I had to sing over and done with. I'm looking forward to Carl Dierschow's recording to see how it all turned out. (Carl's the gentleman at the left of the front row in the picture at the top of the linked page.)

Fr Phillips' talk, on why we should reintroduce chanted Mass propers (Inroit, Gradual, Alleluia, Offertory, Communion, with modifications for Lent and Eastertide), was entertaining. I've had the opportunity to hear Fr Phillips speak at previous Colloquia and have always enjoyed the experience.

Only three full days left here in Pittsburgh, one and a half for the Colloquium and then Sunday afternoon and most of Monday to explore the Steel City.

Colloquium Update #2

Another short one this time—we're not given much time between events and I have to schlep the laptop to the student union to get onto the only WiFi connection we're authorized to use on campus.

Today's Mass went well, a Requiem for all deceased CMAA members. The advanced men's schola took on the Alleluia, Requiem aeternam, and led the Dies irae, while my polyphonic choir sang Martin Rivaflecha's (1479–1528) Anima mea liquefacta est after Communion.

The second day of Fr Kirby's series on liturgical theology brought a discussion of the elements of lectio divina (divine reading) in one of the verses of the Dies irae. There's so much information coming out of that session, I'll probably have to do a separate post to cover everything.

Dinner's supposed to start at 6:30, but I'm stuck in the student union for a while until this summer squall passes over. I might be able to post more after Compline tonight.

UPDATE (10 PM EDT): Fajitas for dinner, followed by a lecture from the ubiquitous Dr William Mahrt on the Divine Office.

Cecilia Nam gave an entertaining session on "Connecting Emotions to Performance Technique," in which she pointed out that singers should be given mental warmups as well as vocal ones, and that choir directors and singers all should study the pieces they're about to sing to see what emotions the composer wanted to evoke.

As is the standard practice at every Colloquium, we're adding more Latin to our singing of Lauds and Compline each day, and eventually we'll sing the entireity of each office in Latin.

Tomorrow's schedule:

7:00—Lauds
7:30—breakfast
8:15–9:45—chant practice
10:00–11:00—Psalm Tones and Modes (day 3 of 5)
11:30–12:30—lunch
1:00–2:30—polyphony practice
3:00 until it finishes—Mass
4:45–6:00—Liturgical Theology (last day)

There's supposed to be dinner, a panel discussion, a reception, and Compline after that, but tomorrow's my laundry day, so I get a break of sorts.

Am Here, Doing That, Got the T-Shirt Anyway

The official Colloquium T-shirt, as designed by Richard Chonak.

Front:

Back:

***WARNING: MAJOR CHANT GEEKERY FOLLOWS***

The back design is from Sanctus VIII (part of the famous Missa de Angelis; if you've ever seen the Christmas Midnight Mass from the Vatican, which used to be shown on NBC every year, you'll have heard it); specifically, it's the third iteration of Sanctus in the piece.

***END OF MAJOR CHANT GEEKERY***

More, I hope, after dinner, a lecture, and Compline, including a piece on Fr Mark Kirby's highly entertaining talk (no, seriously, he's an excellent speaker) on liturgical theology.

Colloquium Update #1

A quick post before lunch to update y'all on what's going on here at Duquesne.

The advanced men's chant schola, under the baton of Dr Kurt Poterack, prepared a gradual in English by Richard Rice for this afternoon's Mass, and we also took a look at the Alleluia and Dies Irae for tomorrow's Requiem Mass for the deceased members of the CMAA (a Mass that's held at every Colloquium).

Dr William Mahrt's series on modes and psalm tones is also interesting. Dr Mahrt is having us memorize psalm antiphons by ear and helping us understand the characteristics of each antiphon—its final tone, range, etc. We're going to progress tomorrow to singing Psalm 110 in the tones corresponding to the modes of the antiphons we've tried to memorize; that should be fun to watch....

Off to lunch, then another session with Dr Mahrt for polyphony. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm stuck on falsobordone and am looking forward to singing Solemn Vespers again this year.

The Exercise Will Be Good For Me

Made it to Duquesne University about 12:30 this afternoon, a stark change after two days of Westins and Sheratons. I'm by myself in my dorm room, but have to share a bathroom with a fellow Collqui-ite; having my own bathroom at Loyola for the last two Colloquia has spoiled me, I guess, but I used to have to share with 25+ guys in high school and my freshman year of college, and, unlike in high school, I don't have to endure a daily room inspection or pull what the military calls "bay orderly."

Duquesne, just east of the skyscrapers of downtown Pittsburgh, sits on top of a bluff overlooking the Monongahela River. Colloquium participants had been warned that the campus was hilly, but I wasn't prepared for San-Francisco-on-the-Mon. There's just no escaping hill climbing here, although I think I've found a path or two that minimizes the discomfort. Hiking several  blocks to the church where all of our Masses are scheduled, on the other hand, is likely to be a challenge, but hey, I could do with a little workout now and then....

Plans for the evening: a reception about half-an-hour from now, followed by dinner; introductory comments; a lecture by Dr William Mahrt, president of the CMAA; and Compline in the University Chapel, another good hike from the lecture hall.

Let the "Seven Days of Musical Heaven" and the "Burning of the Excess Calories" begin!

Colloquium Vlog #1

Sorry about the problem with the sound synching. (%$&@#* typical YouTube newbie....)

Safe and Sound in Steeltown

Well, I'm here, none the worse for wear, spending the night at Station Square across the Monongahela River from downtown Pittsburgh. Now to figure out how to avoid walking to Duquesne.

The Journey Begins

Just sitting in my room at the LAX Westin with a few minutes before I go to bed—long day ahead of me, of course—so I thought I'd post something. This isn't going to be very musically-inclined, but I did say I'd post other stuff from time to time.

This isn't my first time at the Westin, as this hotel used to be the site of the thrice-a year Strategicon game conventions until a couple of years ago, but obviously it's been a while since I've stayed here. One of the big changes I've noticed has been the hotel restaurant, which has been upgraded from your average hotel restaurant (i.e., overpriced small portions of blah food) to a steak-and-chop house (still pricy, but good food and fairly large portions). Sitting next to a young lady with a rather plummy English accent was a plus....

Anyway, enough chitchat, so, to quote one of my Pepys: "And so to bed."

The Countdown Begins

Nine days and counting until I leave for Pittsburgh and Colloquium Dos Equis. I haven't quite decided which choirs I want to sing with, but at least I have a while to look at the music packet (low-resolution PDF—7 MB, high-resolution PDF—68 MB). I've taken something of a shine to falsobordone—a polyphonic harmonization of chant—so I think I'll try the Friday Vespers again this year (MP3s from last year's Colloquium available here—scroll down to "Votive Vespers of Saints John and Paul, Martyrs"). I might also give the advanced chant schola a shot, just for the challenge.

Looking forward to, as the man says, "staying churchy...." (Thanks to Aristotle Esguerra of The Recovering Choir Director for the poster.)

First Communion WITHOUT the Follies

Ladies and gentlemen, in honor of Corpus Christi (albeit a day late), I present my parish's first communicants for 2010, minus two kids who took off before I could get their pictures. Six of the nine (including the missing ones) are my CCD students and I'm as proud as can be.

On the left: Fr S, our new parish administrator (Fr C retired in December after 40 years in the priesthood). On the right: Deacon Clyde, who works at a nearby state prison and who gave an excellent homily.

Our musical selections for Corpus Christi:

Prelude: William Byrd, Ave verum Corpus (MIDI file)
Entrance: St Thomas Aquinas (tr. John Mason Neale), "The Heav'nly Word Proceeding Forth" (Verbum supernum prodeunt)
Sequence: By Flowing Waters #207
Communion:  St Thomas Aquinas (tr. Melvin L. Farrell), "Praise We Christ's Immortal Body" (Pange lingua gloriosi)
Recessional: Johann Rist (tr. by Catherine Winkworth), "O Living Bread from Heaven"