At approximately 2:51 AM Eastern Time (7:51 London Time) aboard the plane: listening to Nat King Cole’s L-O-V-E on repeat. So tired that my mind is lagging in the key change, and the first part of the song sounds W-R-O-N-G.

Fifteen hours or so afterward, I’m more cogent, but not much. Exhaustive euphoria (after I turned off the song and forgot about key changes) helped with the airport shuffle, and now I find I’m not tired at all.

After eating, some of us headed to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. There was only an hour before the concert at St. Martin-in-the-Fields began, but from rushing through the exhibit I still saw artwork ranging from the 15th to 18th centuries (and surely I’d had seen a wider range if there weren’t time constraints) and from varying European nationalities… a single room was comprised nearly wholly of Monet pieces. Perhaps my favorite was Hogarth’s whimsical Marriage à la Mode series which depicted, from what I recall, married life in upper-class families. Each painting caught my attention. Some were interesting, and most were breathtaking not only in the lifelike detail of the subjects but also in the way they captured the emotions of the subjects. However, what most captivated me was the ambiance of the place, the echoes of footsteps that indicated not only tall halls but, with a little imagination behind closed eyelids, past and present time compressed in agelessness. And sitting there I felt creativity seize me, that from the momentum of all these greater others I could find it in myself to find my voice and craft something uniquely powerful. If only.

Fauré Requiem by Candlelight didn’t come until the second half of the concert, but I enjoyed the first half as much. Throughout the choir, St. Martin’s Voices, had a great sound and blend, and the baritone soloist, James Newby, carried well, had impeccable diction and an exquisite tone. In fact, the choir was completely intelligible, as well—yay. Hearing Vaughan-Williams’ Five Mystical Songs brought me back to singing that piece in WYHC at Interlochen. The Requiem was a treat to listen to, also… right away I noticed the chant-like beginning was similar to Verdi’s Requiem and Britten’s War Requiem, and we listen to those in class (or at least portions of the first). I’m sure that there are other similarities I’m missing and many things I’m missing due to general exhaustion.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz