So, I [ed.: Lisa] traveled on Sunday to Grace United Methodist Church in Naperville, IL, to hear Chicago Bronze perform their spring concert. I got there a couple minutes late, and upon viewing the program, I was very much afraid I had missed the performance of "Cumulonimbus," Matthew Prins's secular piece, which was second on the program. But thankfully, I arrived during the first number, Beethoven's "Hymn to Joy" (arranged by Michael R. Keller).
When the director, Philip L. Roberts, introduced "Cumulonimbus," he mentioned that it was composed by Matthew Prins specifically for handbells (rather than being arranged for handbells from a pre-existing piece). He began talking of how beautiful these big fluffy clouds were behind a blue sky. He described the scene as "one of the most beautiful things in nature, but...when the storm draws near, well, you'll see..." and then he began the piece.
The piece had a more beautifully haunting, urgent, and exciting quality than a lot of the other more traditional pieces. The ringers really seemed to enjoy playing it (although, they enjoyed all of the pieces of course). The audience seemed fairly rapt, and after the director let his hands rest following the abrupt ending, there was a healthy amount of applause. The director came back to the mic and remarked, "what a hoot" (which received some chuckles), before moving on to the next piece. Personally, I really liked it! It gave me chills, and I still remember the basic theme now even though that was my one and only time hearing it, and I stayed for the entire concert and enjoyed many other pieces, including a Taiwanese folk song.
[Ed.: Lisa was again very nice and sent me a couple scans of the concert program, which can be seen below.]
i sincerely do not know what you are doing here. are you lost? were you
looking for your delicate calico cat, and did you follow her up two flights of stairs
to this room? she is not here. she was here, yes. we gave her a warm bowl of milk, we talked with her about campaign finance reform for a time, and then she bid us good day. i believe she was
going to the post office two blocks down, but i don't quite recall.
for surely you did
not find your way from prinsiana, the least traveled site on
the internet. if you did, though, perhaps you are looking for humor. perhaps you are looking for profundity. perhaps you are looking for answers.
i'm sorry, but you shall go naught-for-three.
