Synchronicity is defined by Wikipedia as the experience of two or more events which are causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner.
I hired a soprano from the university’s vocal studio for the Christmas Eve mass at the local Catholic Church where I play organ. Normally we have a little choir showcase prior to the mass, but our numbers were down and the priest wanted a simpler service this year. The student’s name was Lauren and she showed up an hour early to go over “O Holy Night” prior to the service. While we were rehearsing, the priest heard her sing and wanted another selection, so we added “I Wonder As I Wander” just prior to the service.
The soloist was a good sport about the extra songs and added a descant or two during the hymns. Father Miley loves incense and obviously loaded down the censer; –at one point it looked as if a fogbank had rolled in over the altar! During communion, she sang “O Holy Night” and really nailed it.
Unknown to us, a thunderstorm had formed and during the high note at the end (”O night divine”) a huge single clap of thunder shook the church and surprised everyone. As we finished the solo, everyone sat spellbound; -a true miracle of synchronicity, the song’s climax and the thunderclap shaking the church at the same time. No one spoke and I started the congregation singing “Silent Night” and kept pushing stops off until it was completely a cappella for the last verse.
Before the dismissal, the priest conveyed his thanks to our visiting soprano and the congregation burst into applause. He then asked her to sing “Ave Maria” (another surprise) and luckily I happened to have a copy in the right key in the book of preludes I had on the organ and somehow she quickly found the Latin words in another arrangement in the hymnal. Many people don’t understand how scary it can be for musicians to take impromptu requests in front of an audience. She managed to handle the request with grace, but I’ve known that same feeling of terror in all too many situations.
I’ve played for many services since my first church gig for a little Presbyterian church at the age of 12, but I’ll never forget this Christmas service. Nothing like this has ever happened before. You might say it was a “religious” experience.
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December 27th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
That’s very cool J. I agree that people don’t get the implications of the impromptu request. It comes down to you don’t want to do a poor job of something you haven’t prepared. But, you really can’t tell the Priest, “uh..we don’t know that one” on Christmas Eve either, can you?
One for the books there man.
January 17th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
In some cases I have been audience to highly charged performances during holiday services. In my simpler understanding of music, bear me out, some performers afterward told me they actually were “playing in the spirit.”
In other words, what was experienced had little to do with what was intended or practiced. So, if I may, sometimes a brush stroke, or scribble is a work of the spirit; other artists have told me they had nothing to do with the great artwork as it appears before us. Alpha states of minds, or unidentifiable time lapses, bone, grizzle and brain in sync, or just a matter of pushing in all the stops ’till it’s a’ cappella? I think it is truly a wonderful part of art… eh?
I have been terrified in similar instance to pull out a song for the group. I think I have a repertoire of about two I could do: Turtle Dove and Stardust.. I think I’ll stay in audience from now on. You guys get to go to Confessional and say: “Padre, that wasn’t really a song we know, last Christmas Eve.”