I have joined the choir for Advent, which I had considered many other years but never done. I had forgotten the conventions of that art, especially the calculated mispronunciation of vowels, the dropping of "r's," and eliding of consonants onto following words as in Slee pin heavenleh pea-(ts). It seems artificial to me, yet I know it sounds better to those immersed in the craft. As with ballet, whose practitioners believe that their way of doing things is not mere arcane convention but a superior method of movement and expression, choral singers react to the intrusion of some sounds as strongly as I would to a flatted note or a premature entrance.
I had also forgotten that I don't much like a lot of the music, either. It's a world of its own, and they like what they like and write it for each other. The arrangements of older music pleases me more. I'm sure it will all be good for me.
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