(Clearwisdom.net)
"The history of choral singing in Europe originated in churches."
Mr. Haroldo started our conversation with this sentence.
Despite the fact that Mr. Haroldo is the conductor of a fantastic chorus composed of members from 14 countries in Europe, he was not satisfied just to talk about his own chorus. Instead, when I interviewed him he started talking about the history of choral singing as a form of traditional Western performing arts.
"Choral singing started as a way to express thanks and praise to God. At the beginning there were only male voices singing spontaneously at church masses. At one point, women joined in the singing. Later on, church chorus groups included both males and females. Almost all Western classical masters considered church choral music as an important type of musical composition."
Well-known composers of church choral music include Georg Philipp Telemann, Johann Sebastian Bach, and Georg-Friedrich Handel in the Baroque period, and Joseph Hayden and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in later times. Telemann created more than 1,400 pieces of church choral music. Bach was recognized as "the father of church music." His Christmas Oratorio, and Handel's Messiah are large-scale choral music compositions with orchestral accompaniments consisting of praise to God for coming to the human world. These works have now become indispensable part of musical programs around the world for celebrating Christmas.
After studying music in his native country, Brazil, Mr. Haroldo was eager to find the roots of classical music. Although he had work in Brazil as a piano instructor and conductor of a church choir, he left this work to go to Europe to find the origins of Western classical music and to explore the secrets behind the well-known musical masterpieces. Above all, he wished to look for the perfect musical notes in his heart. In 1988, he arrived in Germany.
According to Haroldo, "During the Baroque times, after the Renaissance, Western classical music was at its peak. At that time a lot of renowned composers felt like their works were inspired by heaven."
"In the afternoon of August 22, 1741, Handel started creating the 'Messiah.' It is a suite of music to laud the Great Savior. While composing the piece, he constantly prayed to God for inspiration. It took him only 24 days to complete this masterpiece. It is said that Handel was often moved to tears while composing. Tears soaked his manuscript; especially when he was composing the Hallelujah Chorus. He once knelt down, spread out his arms, and said: 'I can see the open heavenly gate!' At that point he gave up his original plan of making money from the Messiah."
Haroldo studied at the Handel Music School in Handel's hometown of Halle. He then became a piano instructor at the school and lived in Leipzig with his wife and two daughters. The St. Thomas Church in Leipzig still has the organ Bach once played, and the annual Bach Music Festival in May attracts many classical music fans and tourists.
"Music is more powerful than language. People choose to express their beliefs and respect of the divine with choral music. Much of the highly respected popular choral music takes this same theme. When human beings truly respect the divine from the bottom of their hearts, God will impart the best music to people. Therefore the composers, as well as the music performers, can benefit most from achieving a higher realm of mind through attention to virtue. In this way they can more easily interpret the inner meaning of the music."
Haroldo's favorite story is about Hayden, the founder of the Vienna Classical School. He hopes to conduct Hayden's choral suite "Genesis" one day.
"When friends visited Hayden, they would all ask for the secret of successful musical composition. Hayden told them that every morning his first thing after brushing his teeth and washing his face was to pray to God and thank God for the inspiration. Then, after breakfast, when he started composing beside the piano, the notes flew out from beneath his fingers. When he ran out of inspiration, he would kneel down and pray. He also reflected on himself and thought about whether there was anything that he needed to improve. He would resume composing after he felt that he had obtained forgiveness from God."
It seems that Oriental people are not the only people who know about cultivation. When composing music, these Western musicians were already in the Tao.
Two years ago, Haroldo started conducting a choir of cultivators, the European "Coming for You" Chorus.
"A good soloist might not necessarily be a good choral singer. As a choral singer, one should have not only a beautiful voice with a good pitch, he or she should also be able to listen to the common voice of the group and assimilate to the group voice. In this way, what the audience hears will in perfect harmony. The singing is the most effective when it is harmonious."
Members of the European "Coming for You Chorus" are from Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Russia and other countries. How could they achieve a good effect when members of the choir speak different languages, have different cultural backgrounds and professions, and live so far apart from each other? For this, Haroldo went to observe at the Leipzig Radio Chorus. He learned a lot of management and conducting skills from the training site of the best professional chorus in Europe.
"We have taken a different path from that of professional choruses. Every member not only practices techniques diligently, but also works on his/her xinxing according to strict self requirements. All members strive to let go of their selfishness, treat the group as the most important, genuinely consider others first, and dedicate all performances to the audience. When every member's mind state is at its purest, the group's power becomes the strongest, and then it delivers the best harmony."
The practice schedule goes like this: each member practices individually. Periodically, members in each country practice together in groups. Every month, there is a group rehearsal in Germany and Sweden. Prior to major performances, all members will gather together and participate in intensive rehearsals. "During the large-scale group rehearsals, the level of the chorus improves dramatically. Every day I hear nice surprises. I feel that this is a gift from Heaven. Every time, after the big rehearsals, my ears hear purer and purer harmonies for several days after I return home."
Hard work and self-reflection helps the Western members sing with authentic Chinese pronunciation. Everything happens as if the gods are assisting. Two years ago, when the audience heard the sentence in Chinese, "crossing so many rivers and mountains," many of them were moved to tears. The chorus was again invited by New Tang Dynasty Television to perform at their Chinese New Year Global Gala in New York City.
Haroldo is about to depart for this performance. "We are all very delighted. We look forward to bringing beauty to the Oriental and Western audience members with this form of traditional European performing arts."
What kind of beauty does Haroldo hope to bestow? "We are praising mankind and life; singing for righteous belief and morality -- just like the lyrics in one of our songs: 'May virtue shine forever, unchanged, may life be full of sweet fragrance.'"
The European "Coming for You Chorus" performing at the 2004 New Tang Dynasty Television's Chinese New Year Global Gala
First published in English at http://www.pureinsight.org/pi/index.php?news=3853
