“The sound should be foreboding. SSSSHHHH is a sound in the English language that has power to silence a restless crowd. It’s SHHHepherd,” J. Reilly Lewis, music director of the Cathedral Choral Society, insists, as the choir practices a brand-new Christmas carol. “Again. SSSSSHHHHHHepherd.”
He taps the lectern in a cavernous alcove of the Washington National Cathedral. Outside, sheets of freezing rain beat against the Gothic wrought-iron doors. Inside, the choir lifts its voice, trying to ascend.
“Diction. Pacing. Rhythm.” Lewis unleashes a rally of commands from the podium. “Bring that melody out. Tenors and bass, stand. Sopranos, let’s keep this a covered veil. It’s not grace. It grrrrrrace,” he says, rolling his r’s. “You’ve got to anticipate. A little more exuberance. A little more bounce to the word ‘sing.’ That’s good. Don’t get louder. . . . Let’s do it again until you learn to love it.”
Each year, the Cathedral Choral Society commissions a new carol for its annual “Joy of Christmas” concert. The choir has three weeks to perfect 2011’s piece, “The Shepherds Sing,” written by renowned composer René Clausen. Clausen, director of the Concordia Choir at Concordia College in Minnesota, hopes his new song will transcend this fleeting season.
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