Tonight's chamber choir rehearsal has me wanting to sing Vaughan Williams, thanks to a setting of "In Remembrance" by David Childs. Some of you are likely familiar with the text, which starts with "Do not stand at my grave and weep...". It's a setting that really does justice to the words -- I'm not sure it'll come across in the video link, but singing it, I could feel and see directly how the music gets brighter and faster as the words speak of awakening, and how the different voices are able to create the effect of "circled flight" when the song reaches those words, because the rhythms and notes are interwoven so skillfully. Oh, it's lovely stuff, and we're singing it for All Souls' services.

I went so far as to see if any of the local choruses are singing Vaughan Williams this year, and it turns out they are -- in concerts next month. Nashville Symphony, Vanderbilt Community, Belmont -- it's maddening, at the moment, even though I know full well there was no way I could have participated in any of them this fall. There's another group performing on Thanksgiving that's short on altos, and that's usually a siren call for me, but sanity scored a rare victory -- I'm nowhere near 100% in health or form at present, and while my original plans to take all of November off have fallen through, the fact remains I need to steer clear of the shoals of overscheduling until I get my groove back. (That, and it's getting too cold to take naps in my car.)

*grumble*

I did spend a good part of last night taking notes for an article I'd originally signed up to write back in 2005. There are an assortment of reasons why it keeps ending up on the back burner ("unpaid" being one, and "Peg being a perfectionist wuss" being another), but this time I'm armed with my current mantra: "It doesn't have to be stellar, it just has to be done."

Which is also true of the piece I've been obsessing over today, and I think I can finish another section of it before bedtime, so I'd best trot back to it.