School Christmas Concert in the Petrikirche.

Excitement was in the air days, even weeks before the actual event. Grade seven pupils were asking to postpone the big French test because the night before would be the Christmas Concert and certainly what with the length of the concert and the reception afterwards, it would be too much to ask a 12-year-old to take a test the next day. After checking around with various colleagues it appeared that this pupil didn't have a case. And since French doesn't meet everyday, the only other possible day for a test would have to be the day we are assembling our Bûches de Noel (French yule log cakes). So, needless to say, the French test took place as planned and the grade distribution was even better than before. I had been told that to get a seat at the Christmas Concert I would need to arrive about one hour early because most of the parents were delivering their musical offspring at 17:00 for the 18:00 performance. I was fortunate to get a seat at the end of a bench facing the center of the church. Most of the benches faced the center. In fact, music was coming at us from all directions. From my position I could see up into the cloistered interior balcony above where the brass players and the full choir had their seats and from which some performances emanated. At the ground floor level the grade five and the grade six pupils flanked the entire length of the church. The brass choir held us enthralled with music as diverse as Bach and "Friends for life" by Dizzy Stratford. The quality of the playing was superior. These are musicians who far out-play what you might expect from 13-19 year old young people. The tradition of well-polished brass music at Paulinum is long and well-established. We were then treated to a performance by somewhat younger string players, flute, organ and grade five singers. Their songs all hailed from the 16th century. So old music stays young in Germany today. The grade six singers were split into antiphonal choirs, one located in the downstairs alter area and one at the other end of the church up in the organ balcony. The organist from grade 9 and choral directors on each level kept the timing in place. There were no noticeable mistakes. French horn trios by Mozart played by grade 13 virtuosos provided an interlude before the youth choir took over with "Away in a manger" sung in English. This was followed by an Alpine Christmas song, sung in dialect by two boys, one soprano and one alto, accompanied by two of the horn players. You could see the high, rugged mountain peaks as they sang. The full choir which included several of my grade 8 pupils sang several songs in English including "Hark! The herald angels sing". This gave me a bit more courage to sing in English class with the kids. The culminating moment, the finale, came when all the choirs gathered en plenum downstairs and the spectators could join in to sing "Adeste fideles" in Latin, all four verses. It's interesting that German-Latin sounds different than English-Latin. But in any case, the singing, the brass and the high descant of the children's voices brought the house down. The applause was long and rhythmic until finally all the brass players descended the narrow stone steps to join the others on the ground floor. It was perhaps the first time a song in Latin had brought me to tears. From the Petrikirche it is a short walk or ride to Paulinum where we were all invited to an "Umtrunk", literally, a "drink around". I went, I spoke with a few folks, but decided that long lines weren't really my thing and took off into the night. I hear that we are going to have to wait until Easter for the next major music event. Keep in mind that most of this music is prepared outside of regular school time. These groups practice after school. Choir and band are not school classes. I would be singing with them if it were 2009. Apparently the combined adult/pupil choir sings only during alternate years.