goodbye from salzburg

Goodbye from Salzburg
Hello All-
It was a great day, with some touring of Upper Austria, and the Church where Maria's wedding (sound of Music) was filmed. There was frantic last minute shopping in the city center of Old Salzburg, and then of course the Concert at the Dom, which was fantastic!!! Singing Mozart's Coronation Mass in the place it was written was fantastic. The house was full, and the orchestra was amazing! Even though the words for the mass are in Latin, the feeling and emotion could still be felt. At least among us choir geeks, the phrases from the masses are well known, and since we sing them all the time we know what they translate to. Let me share with you what we sang. Read the Latin even though you may not be able to do it right, it is pretty much said like it is spelled. Then read the English translation. Both are stunningly beautiful.

There is the First part the Kyrie;
Kyrie eleison
Lord have mercy
Chiste eleison
Christ have mercy
Kyrie eleison
Lord have mercy

Then the Gloria;
Gloria in excelsis Deo. Et in terra pax
Glory in the highest to God. And on earth peace
hominibus bonae voluntatis. Laudamus te. Benedicimus te.
to men of good will. We praise thee. We bless thee.
Adoramus te. Glorificamus te. Gratias agimus tibi
We worship thee. We glorify thee. Thanks we give to thee
propter magnam gloriam tuam. Domine Deus, Rex coelestis,
because of great glory thy. Lord God, King of heaven,

Then the Credo;
Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipotentem,
I believe in one God, Father almighty,
factorem coeli et terrae,
maker of heaven and of earth,
visibilium omnium, et invisibilium.
visible of all things, and invisible.
Et in umum Dominum Jesum Christum,
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
Filium Dei unigenitum.
Son of God only begotten.
Et ex Patre natum ante omni saecula.
And of Father born before all ages.

Then the Sanctus;
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus,
Holy, Holy, Holy,
Dominus Deus Sabaoth.
Lord God of Hosts.
Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.
Full are heaven and earth of glory thy.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Hosanna in highest.

And finally the Benedictus;

Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Blessed who comes in name of Lord.
Hosanna in excelsis.
Hossana in highest.

And Agnus Day;
Agnus Dei, qui tolis peccata mundi,
Lamb of God, who take away sins of world,
miserere nobis.
have mercy on us.
Agnus Dei, qui tolis peccata mundi,
Lamb of God, who take away sins of world, dona nobis pacem.
grant us peace.

I know to us today reading and singing the Latin may seem a like a pointless ritual, but if you know what you are singing about it puts everything into a different perspective. Each part of the song gives praise to God, and if you look at the translations, many of our "contemporary Christian" songs come from the Latin translations. Hearing these phrases echo through the Dom and watching as the sounds drifted higher and higher to the sky was amazing. The ceiling of the Dom is beautifully painted with scenes from the life of Christ, and looking at them while singing and listening to the soloists really made me think about the words.
Agnus Dei, qui tolis peccata mundi: Lamb of God, who takes away sins of world, Dona nobis pacem: grant us peace, Hosanna in excelsis: Hosanna in highest. The words are beautiful praises to God. After all the practice and all the hard work, for me, the songs turned from a piece of repertoire to a life song of praise. I couldn't help but think about God and giving the whole performance to him. Yes there was a whole full house there, and many people who put in hard work, but the true praise honor and glory goes to the one who gave the inspiration for the words and the praises.

We leave bright and early tomorrow morning for Vienna, and we will stop on the way to sing at a wedding we were invited to sing at. It is in the church where Silent Night was created and performed for the first time. I think it will be a fun unique experience. Hope everything is well on the California front. The people here are really grateful for what we are doing and they feel privileged to have us, while at the same time we feel privileged to be here. See you next in Vienna!

Love,
Andrew