Choir rehearsal this past Wednesday almost did me in. Sunday's material wasn't hard at all. It was the focused work on a Bach cantata, a joint project with another choir, that pushed all of us hard.
Wednesday tends to be my most demanding work day. The day starts around 6:30 and trammels nonstop down the track. After leaving work at 6:00 p.m. I head straight to practice, finding time to munch an apple on the way if I'm fortunate. We work for several hours, by the end of which I'm usually both starved and ready to hit the pillow. This time we didn't start the most difficult part of rehearsal until almost 8:00. It took all my power of concentration to focus on the intricate runs that proliferate throughout the St. John's Passion, especially since we're doing it in German, which isn't a language I find easy.
Although it's hard at the time, periodically working at this intense level is good. It can help you break through barriers that won't budge under gentler pressure. By the end of Wednesday's rehearsal I was so tired I don't remember details of how it went. But the act of pushing aside fatigue and mustering up the necessary focus helps build stamina. Like muscle strength, such reserves of willpower can come in handy when you're in the midst of hectic preparations for a demanding show or concert.
You don't want to sing like this every day, but done periodically, it's like musical weight-lifting.
