Monday Music Appreciation for Remembrance Day -- In Paradisum from Fauré's Requiem

I'd never heard Fauré's Requiem until Friday night, and with 200 voices from four choirs -- the Richard Eaton Singers, Chorale Saint-Jean, the University of Alberta's Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers -- and some wonderful soloists, I was blown away. It was a beautiful thing to hear on this Remembrance Day weekend, and at the end of it, the audience held silence a few moments longer than usual before breaking into a standing ovation. Long enough for me to breathe, "Wow!" and take another deep breath in and out.

Here is a beautiful version of In Paradisum from 2013, a video of the Royal Choral Society recorded at St. Giles, Cripplegate, near the Barbican in London. I tried to find a video with orchestra and 200 voices, but this was the largest choir I could discover on YouTube, so you'll have to imagine what it would be like to hear it with twice to three times as many singers and a full orchestra to boot. Just amazing.

In honour of those who have fallen in the World Wars that we remember today -- may the angels indeed lead them into paradise -- and with a deep desire for peace on our planet, I leave this with you. 

Music and meditation

I've been meaning to leave this here in my moodlings since before Canadian Thanksgiving! Sharing this information isn't just about appreciating music like my usual Music Appreciation Mondays, but about inviting my readers to participate in it and use it for prayer.

I've posted many times about Taizé in these moodlings, as I've been singing and praying the music of the Community since the early 90s or maybe even earlier, but I only managed to visit what I soon recognized as my spiritual home for the first time in 2014. My experience there was an affirmation of the importance of ecumenism in my life, and it's part of my reason for serving with the Community of Emmanuel at Inner City Pastoral Ministry. 

I deeply believe that Christians can and should pray together as much as possible, regardless of theological and dogmatic differences between churches, and the prayer of the Taizé community is a beautiful way to do that. We gather to listen to scripture and let it speak to our hearts without interpretation, we spend time in silence together, opening ourselves to God, we offer the prayers of our hearts, and we sing beautiful harmonies together, uniting our spirits.

Here's the schedule for the rest of the 2024-2025 season, and an invitation to a very special evening's peace prayer the day before Remembrance Day (this Sunday already!) We will gather, as the brothers of Taizé do every Sunday evening, and sit in silence before God for 30 minutes, praying for peace. The remainder of the hour-long prayer will be a simplified version of what happens in Taizé three times a day. 

I hope you can join us. If you would like a printable version of this poster, please contact me @ the email address under "The Moodler -- Maria K." on the right sidebar, and I'll be happy to email you a copy. Or better yet, come to the prayer and you can have a hard copy that I've already printed.

With the wars happening in our world and concerns about the election for our neighbours to the south, we can use all the peace we can pray for!