A Remarkable Concert

Under the direction of Dr. J. Arturo Gonzalez, the Arvada Chorale, Flatirons Community Orchestra, Jubilate! Sacred Singers and the Longmont United Church of Christ Choir  presented Brahms Requiem on Sunday, March 12, 2017. An amazing sound as voices and instruments joined forces and blended to perform the sad, joyful, and sacred sound.

I liked that each movement of the seven began with a bible quote or a sacred reading. First movement: Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall have comfort. Second movement: Behold, all flesh is as the grass, and all the goodliness of man is as the flower of grass.  Third movement: Lord, make me to know the measure of my days on earth.... Fourth movement: How lovely is Thy dwelling place, O Lord of Hosts! The fifth movement: Ye now are sorrowful, howbeit ye shall again behold me, and your heart shall be joyful, and your joy no man taketh from you. Sixth movement: Here on earth have we no continuing place, howbeit, we seek one to come...for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and all we shall be changed. Seventh movement: Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth, saith the spirit, that they rest from their labours, and that their works follow after them.

Each movement flowed into the next with no applause in between. The soloists had clear, sharp voices and the acoustics in the church are excellent! When the concert came to an end there was thunderous applause that lasted a good five minutes. This was my first time hearing a live Requiem concert and I was glad I had attended the special concert.

I saw a few of the Young At Heart group of Spirit of Christ Catholic Community in the crowded church and extra chairs had to be brought in, people were asked to move close together to make room for those arriving late and there was no parking in the lot. I have been to other concerts at the Arvada Methodist church and never had I seen such a crowd!  I parked in a space that was not a space and I was in a hurry to leave the church.

Two friends and I drove to the Tea Garden for dinner and spent the next two hours talking about the concert, politics, and life. A truly great afternoon; music, food, friends.

"The idea comes to me from outside of me--

and is like a gift. I then take the idea and

make it my own -- that is where the skill lies."

Johannes Brahms