O Brethren of Song!

Parish church, Finthen

This past weekend saw me out and about with the choir I've joined--or, more accurately, with the choir that's adopted me. I've only had a few rehearsals, so while I've shared the intimate experience of singing together with everyone, I'm still learning names. So a weekend of double performances was a good way of immersing myself further in the choir as well as our repertoire. Our first appearance was at the yearly meeting of the incorporated choirs of Rheinland-Pfalz. The short version of explaining that is: choral societies! Lots of them! Organized by region! Or, as my seat neighbor explained it to me: "This is German culture for you... German culture the way many Germans don't know it anymore. It still has roots in the countryside, but you don't see it in the cities so much."


Having come from NYC's Liederkranz, founded in the 19th century, both the enthusiasm of those present and their quest for younger members were familiar to me. I got to learn (in choral arrangements) several German Schlager of the 50s through 70s. These gathered increasingly enthusiastic sing-along sections as the afternoon went on. Our choir concurred that our elegant folk song arrangements were lucky to go at the beginning. We performed in the hall of the bicycle club (!) in the shadow of the lovely church pictured above, and heard songs in the village dialect. We also saw (sadly not pictured, as I had not anticipated such splendor) a variety of choir uniforms. My favorite was a men's choir with black tie and choral-medal-bedecked jackets. It was the principal of these, current president of the society, who kept addressing us all as "Brethren of Song" (one word, Gesangsbrüder, in German) in his remarks. On Sunday afternoon our choir got to be the main event: we performed to a standing-room-only cellar. Cellar, because we were one of many events at a cultural weekend in Mainz, and our venue was a winery. Our crowd was enthusiastic, and our encore of a Renaissance dance/drinking song was especially well received. Not only that, but I rode my bike home in the gathering dark without running into anything or off the path. A most successful weekend.