Sounds of Silence

Handel's "Messiah"--sung in a structure designed for just such a work of art. The orchestra and 30+ voices answered each other eagerly, and the Slovak singers dared Handel's English to trip them up! Triple Forte'/Pianissimo--Crescendo-Decrescendo alike reverberating from the high ceilings--stunning. But the most magnificent moments were the silent pauses that musicians call "rests", for in the hush of a rest, the preceding chord would echo and spill over the listener and linger, just for a moment. The Sounds of Silence, I suppose. And to think, we almost didn't go!