Dixit Dominus

Went to Dixit Dominus concert held by Singapore Bible College for their 25th anniversary... it was AWESOME.... i really loved it..!! i wished i had dragged nana along huhuhu... i tot i didnt want to psycho her because of the sermon =p but the sermon was so........ short n brief XD and the preacher was only repeating the psalm 110 (which was the lyrics of Dixit Dominus) hahaa eniweiz.. it was a pity nana wasnt there to share the good music XD

Eniweiz, it started with a miscalculation of travelling time from me (again!).. i went out 1 hour before the concert... because SBC is v near to bukit timah!! who knows the bus only came after i waited for 15 minutes.. (i tot the frequency was every 10minutes?!! grr...) I neglected the fact it was saturday night whereby people would be kiasu-ly heading for town... or chinatown.... n the bus took 30 minutes just to reach bukit timah plaza O_o'

but miraculously, i alighted at the junction of bukit timah and adam road at 7.30.. and i only waited for few seconds before the bus to SBC came.. n SBC was only 2 bus stop away! so i reached at 7.35.. hehe.. n i met imam on the way.. so it was cool =] i had company! marlin was still on her way from orchard....

When i came, the SBC prncipal (Dr. Albert Ting) was still giving his welcome message... and sharing the story of SBC, etc. Apparently i didnt miss alot =p hehe.. i like him at once =] he has a v good command of english.. and he translated whatever he has said to chinese HIMSELF! cool, eh? he's a soft spoken person with that kind of voice that makes you want to hear his voice again again and again... if only NTU lecturers are like that XD ill be "addicted" to listening to lectures! haha..

Then we sang a new song (by SBC) entitled "Thank You, Lord".. a simple song.. combined with 15 people orchestra, 1 piano... and about 60 people in the choir.. it was simply.... MAJESTIC ^_^...

The Conductor of the night was 'Lee Chong Min'.. according to my friend, he was studying with Lim Yao (from the SSO, remember?) in London.. when i saw him, he's completely different from lim yao =p While lim yao keeps a long hair, the conductor was.. well... erhm... aging XD (abit bald)... but the precision from his fingers movement was really cool =].. n the orchestra... yes!! i felt the orchestra!!! hueheuehuehuehuee.... i could only see one girl from my seat though =(!!! Eniweiz, i was curious to see him, because of what Husen told me about him.... (that he was with Lim Yao - ga kalah ama Lim Yao) but he chose to serve in church music ministry... n that he said he wasnt proffessionals who always come on time for anything.. (He always come EARLIER to pray!!).. he already prayed for everything.. the wheather.. the traffic.. the heart of congregation, the singers the orchestra, even wayyyy before the concert.... awhh.... such dedication!

Dixit Dominus.. The Lord has Spoken..... Apparently, many composers have composed Dixit Dominus, which was based on Psalm 110 (of course i didnt know it was taken from Psalm until the preacher came forward during the message).. the SBC performed the one from Vivaldi and from Handel.... and both were song in their original language.. Latin... at this point i already thought "sharks O_o i think im nt going to like this O_O;"

Dixit Dominus ala Vivaldi reminded me of his four seasons... light.. breezy.. and happy tunes... and ofcourse.. relatively short... hehee.... the 2 main singers of the night were Cecilia Yap (Soprano) and Anna Koor (Alto)... they were fantastic (really!).. I especially like the alto.. her voice is deep and carries alot of meaning in it... (She's from the SLO, btw!)... soprano, as always, sing the 'better' tunes XD... and she was a good singer too!

i wonder WHY.. these singers (and la traviata, phantom of the opera singers..) they all dont open their mouth while they sing.. but they can produce such a loud and beautiful voice O_o'.... they dont look like they're sucking air to breathe too XD.. i think they master the skill that nana said 'stealing breath' XD ------ but.. the Magic Flute singers DID open their mouth when she sang, remember? the queen of the night? why? wads the difference?

Well i was really enjoying Vivaldi's Dixit Dominus..! oh.. the translation part.. was not a problem XD because they only sing most 2 sentences in a song.. n they only repeat it again and again.. for example.. 'Dixit.. dixit.. diiiii....diiixit... do.. mi.. nus.. dominus dominus doooo miii nusss' u get the idea XD

The organ player was quite poor thing hehee.. She had to look sideways almost every half a minute to see the conductor =p i wonder why they didnt move the organ nearer or facing the conductor.. ofcourse i had to crane my neck to see the conductor conducting.. I could only see 2 double bassis, and 1 violinist... and.....then, there was.... timpani!!! XD.... hohoho!! i nudged marlin.. "gantenk!!" huehuee.. well not to say he's utterly good looking.. just that.. he was MUCH better than the Masumi-chan in Nodame Cantabile XD XD XD XD XD XD XD n smehow marlin was also commentng the same thing XD "ga kayak yg di chiaki" XD

Then the message came.. The preacher, Elder Yong Tech Meng asked us to open psalm 110.. n i was like 'OOOOOOOO this is the lyrics!!' n he mentioned many composers have composed songs based on this psalm... hehe.. never knew =p

The interesting he pointed out, is that how music works in human brain is unexplainable.. he said that there are cases of an alzemer (is this how u spell it? the disease whereby u gradually forget things from the most recent happenings... and then u start to forget things in ur past.. etc.. - bukan pikun loch) patient.. he forgot the people surrounded him... he forgets things, events, etc.. but when he hears a song, he could suddenly sing it out....

The second case was a conductor who also got this disease.. when he hears a song, he could CONDUCT the orchestra to the very detailed precision... =] that's the power of music in human lives!!

Actually those are the things i got from him XD for afterward, he only recite and elaborate more on the Psalm 110 (the lyrics)

Then we got back to Dixit Dominus.. this time, by Handel.... His first piece struck me as 'handel banget!!' u know.. grand entrance... with pipe organ.. like those tune when they show kingdom of England? n just then... imam said 'buset.. handel banget ya?!' haha..... n ofcourse, handel's piece was more... hm.. complicated? more thrilling notes for the choir.. or maybe because they have stopped singing for a while listening to the message, that they somehow couldnt reach some high notes =.= ok lah.. forgivable when the alto came out for her solo song.... n with that song, i really applauded her.... as i said, her voice was deep.. smooth... n rich...!! *hugs her* n i think this is one of the rare occassions i like the alto better than sopranos XD

The songs afterward got more and more complicated tunes... (but again, they only sang 2 sentences within 1 song!)...... that three of us got distracted with funny2 faces in the choir XD we noticed someone at the back row started to 'conduct' using his left hand while the right hand held the music book..... n three of us giggled together... n then we started to guess which was Pdt. Johnny Silas' son...., pointing to this guy who seemed to have such a red face.... and there's mr. potato too..... (ok.. we're really crazy.. werent listening thoroughly to the song!!)

So the program booklet became our 'chatting' window.. Imam asked whether i know this guy from bandung.. n i tot his name sounded v familiar.. 'moe fa kat'.... then.. i remembred the 3 musketeer back when i was in first year junior high.... my fav music teacher (ganteng-kind), singing with my other fav music teacher (nice- kind) and this i-duno-what-he-taught-back-then teacher... his name was v unique.. n YES! it was him... XD Apparently SBC Chorale and Hallelujah Singers have a handful of indonesians!!!!

There was this song alto singing with the Tenors... erhm.. i dun really like that song XD The last song from Handel's Dixit Dominus is 'Gloria Patri, et Filio' which was really a grand song.. with many parts from the song sounds almost like Messiah's 'hallelujah'

Afterward, they asked us, the congregation to sing with them 'Give Thanks' and "great is Thy Faithfulness' medley...... oh man.. i really love the arrangement ^_^... i love singing with the orchestra.. i love singing with the chorale..... huhuhu... it was majestic (at least to me).... i was really happy that i decided to watch =] $25 for listening to two great composer's pieces... really not a bad deal! XD i think i would still watch even if it's more ex....

Im gona support SBC's music ministry.. wooohhhhoooo!!!!!!!!!! all praises, glory and honor just for Jesus!! Gloria Patri! ^_^v