I've written before about the powerful aesthetic experience one can have while making music ... when everything clicks, and this overwhelming, indescribable power tugs at your soul ... It's similar to the rush you might experience in worship when you physically feel God's presence or a sense of His awe-inspiring work in your tiny, miniscule little life ... but ... somehow it's different.
I've been blessed to have had some of these soul-altering experiences while singing in a choir, once or twice while student teaching and once when I conducted a glorious piece in a centuries old basilica in Italy this summer. I did not expect to feel it, that life-changing, sigh-inspiring rush, while working with a group of thirty-three 11 year olds.
I had just begun to play the introduction of the piece which we had started a few weeks ago, the song which I've told them will make the audience cry... and they were chattering as kids are wont to do. I was about to talk with them about showing appropriate respect for the music by staying silent and waiting for their entrance to sing ... but I had a change of heart. Instead of lecturing them ... I asked them to take a few moments and reflect. Why had they chosen to take chorus? Why did they sing?
Responses I received:
- "Because I love to sing."
- "Because I wanted to make new friends in chorus."
- "It's fun!"
- "Because our voices are our gift from God, and I want to use my voice for Him, it's my form of worship" ... from an 11 year old! When other kids were starting to snicker at this child's sincere and personal expression of his faith, I said quietly (to him, but so that the rest of the class could also hear), "I feel the same way as you do. What a wonderful gift we get to share!"
- "Because it lets me express how I feel"
- "Because it makes me feel better if I'm sad or if I've had a rough day."
I let each child who had raised his/her hand share his/her personal reason for singing. Before I began the introduction again, I reminded the students that this was a very special song. The words told us to "sing and be joyful," to rejoice for and celebrate music. We needed to respect the music by listening and always putting forth our best effort when singing.
I began playing the introduction again, and I indicated to the students when it was time for them to begin singing. The sweet purity of their voices was beautiful ... and we soon realized that there was something new, something special this time. They sang the opening which they knew very well, the passage we'd worked on for a few weeks now, and they sang the new part they had just learned ... They sang expressively ... the music flowed ... we were working for this together ... and we went over another section of the piece ... before returning to the familiar melodies which had appeared earlier in the music. The glowing expressions on some of their faces ... breathtaking ... the transformation inspired by the music ... and their smiles when we ended ... because they knew they'd experienced a feeling unlike any other ... they recognized the soaring power of the music ... they had been a part of the music, music which had created this beautiful moment ... and music had been a part of them.
The spell lifted gently ... I was grateful that the gracefulness of the moment lingered and faded softly away as gently and as quietly as it had taken form.
What a gift ... to share that with them ... especially if those moments were the first such experiences they had ever had ...
Thank You, God, for calling me to be a music teacher.
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