A truly beautiful day in Melbourne. A cool breeze continued throughout the day while over a cloudless sky, the sun shined and the temperature remained perfect. This is unusual for Melbourne as the hot days reach temperatures of 100 degrees when finally; a cool change arrives dropping the temperature to 40 or 50. This can have a disastrous affect on the system, as the movement from extreme hot to cold will and does instigate a few colds and flues. Today was a perfect spring day and it seemed all were outside to enjoy its pleasures.
Taking advantage of the perfect weather, my friend and I drove down the coast to Portsea, a beautiful seaside town known more for its money than its beautiful vistas.
She had a surprise for me and brought two tickets out to The University of Melbourne’s Choral Group, a talented assemblage of undergraduates and graduate students who perform original songs by local composers. I have heard of this group but never had the opportunity to hear and see them…a real surprise.
The actual performance was held a little inland amongst Victorias most famous wineries.
This part of Victoria, a mere two hours out of Melbourne, is a landscape artists dream: rolling green hills amongst ancient trees, horses and livestock meandering in a peaceful haze, a small pond with a miniature wooden dock extending over the water. Then of course the sight of grape trees in perfect rows moving outwards towards the horizon as far as the eye can possibly see. My thought was that we could be any where…England, the wineries of Italy or France – comparable by any stretch of the imagination.
We arrived at the venue after some tricky navigation and a little luck. A beautiful house and colourful gardens neatly manicured to show off its optimum effect. People could be seen sauntering the grounds with wine glass in hand, waiting for the performance to begin. A jazz band could be heard jamming next to the bar.
When the performance began I was surprised that there wasn’t any musical accompaniment, only the voices of the choir.
The first set consisted of original songs by university composers, a collection of eight, which by the end of the session, had most of the audience, including myself, in tears. The sound of the human voice in tandem with others is truly an experience, a moving experience as if listening to saints sing their love for their creator.
The audience left the “barn” to enter the sounds of soft jazz and the beauty of the grounds and views one only dreams of…
Wine and nibbles were served, causing me to feel like I had manifested in a Woody Allen film, expecting Woody to pop-up and begin his familiar act.
The second and last performance consisted of 12 rearrangements of the seasonal song, the 12 Days of Christmas. The creative theatrics from the choir were very funny and managed to balance the pathos of a few of the arrangements.
Once the final session ended, the composers were asked to come to the stage and make the obligatory bow for the audience. As is well known, some composers are performers while others would rather stay back stage or the orchestra pit and remain physically anonymous. This, too, was obvious, from the sheer embarrassment or stage fright that a few displayed.
As a child, I had been part of many choirs until my voice changed. It was only today that I had witnessed the purity of the human voice without the clanging, scratching and whistling of musical instruments. Many have considered the piano or violin to be, in the right hands, a pure expression of music. This may be so in some instances. But to hear the human voice alone without accompaniment is the closest to nature the human being can actually achieve.
It was only today that I had really heard it for the first time.
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