Choral inspiration: Talbot's Santiago

Here I find myself again at another ACCC choral conference, this time on the East Coast of Canada, front row, on the first concert night being dished out the most amazing choral dessert ever: Joby Talbot’s Path of Miracles: Santiago sung by Edmonton’s Pro Coro choir with Michael Zaugg conducting. 

My obvious delight aside, Zaugg’s dancing on the podium was evident this piece rocked his soul from the very foundation as well. It was my first listening of this work, and it embodied everything I love about choral music.

Talbots complex harmony, breath of choral parts (4 alto parts, 5 soprano parts, just to name the women…), and ethereal, repetitiveness of the music transfixed me. This piece is like techno music for choral lovers. You get lost as a listener in the polyphony and then lifted up with the togetherness of the gorgeous homophonic change in choral texture midway through the piece. You can feel the power of the voices singing at you.

This is what I love about choral music. I am addicted to its ability to move me to a different place, to forget about the daily musings of life. It puts life in a larger perspective for me.

What a treat this was to hear. It was a performance, and more importantly an experience, that continues to inspire, as well as ground me as I continue to make choral art. Let’s all attend a choral concert this Fall and be inspired. Leave your life for a while and come along with me on the choral journey.