The Bible and Music

Once again, I wanted to share my response on the second event I attended on Mendelssohn’s Elijah:

On Friday, March 17th, I attended Mendelssohn’s Elijah for the 80th anniversary celebration concert for the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir. This event was in the Palladium at the Center of the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana. Michael Pettry, the executive director, began the event mentioning the fact that it was the 80th anniversary celebration concert and that the Indianapolis symphonic choir was a very established group. Pettry also talked a lot about the endowment for the Indianapolis Symphonic Choir, and how it will be used to continue to support performances like Elijah. I am glad to have attended the sneak-peek event at Laurel Hall a month earlier because it gave me such a better sense of how the music in Elijah goes with the story.

The theatre itself was very beautiful. The stage was very well lit and there were very high ceilings. There were also little balconies surrounding the entire theatre, and much of the audience was seated in these boxes. I recognized Eric Stark, the conductor, because he was one of the speakers at Laurel Hall. The performance began with the Chamber Orchestra. I found the music to be very nice and calming. After some time, the Symphonic Choir joined in, and the sound of the voices along with the instruments sounded amazing. Besides the Choir and the Orchestra, there were also several soloists. In the second half, the Children’s Choir was also involved, singing from the back of the theatre at some of the parts.

As I listened and watched the performance, I tried to connect the music with the story of Elijah. At some parts I thought the music connected very well to the story, and at other parts I thought the music was deceiving in regards to the story. At the part where they sing, “Be not afraid!” over and over again, I thought the music was very reassuring which goes along with the story perfectly. At an earlier part the words being sung were rather dark and scary, but the music remained very upbeat and happy. Already having some background on the story from the previous event really helped me to be able to connect the music and the story. I have never really been to an event like this before, but I can honestly say it was a very cool experience.