Life Changing

This is my friend Véronique, a 5th grade teacher in one of the schools I work in. I give her private English lessons as well. She's a lot of fun and a really neat person. She spent much of her childhood in Africa~ her parents were school teachers in Morocco. When she was 14, they moved back to France. Anyway, she's a dear friend and we've really had a blast this last year. Véronique is in an amateur choir here in Grenoble, and she has been telling me for a few months now that their big performance was coming up. I told her I would love to come~ but I had no idea how incredible this performance would be until I actually experienced it. They performed "The Passion of St. John" by Bach (in English, I believe it's officially called "St. John Passion"). The performance was over two hours long, but I barely noticed. This piece was so moving. It is all about the Atonement of Jesus Christ; the text is taken from John 18-19. The power of the music is indescribable. You really have to hear a live performance to understand what that means. They sang in German, the language of the original text, but we were able to follow a French translation in our programs.

These musicians were something else~ especially the soloists. The man on the right touched me the most. I couldn't stop watching him, and his obvious profound love for this work of art helped me appreciate it much more. I have never seen someone so passionate about a piece of music. He would often sing along with the choir, like he just couldn't hold himself back. Throughout the performance, he would just close his eyes and be lost in the music. It was written all over his face. A few times, I saw him wipe away tears. I don't know if I have ever been so touched by one person's performance.

It is no coincidence that one of the greatest composers in the world's history teaches us about the Savior. I think the most moving element for me was the text. The fact that they are set to such glorious music empowers these words and amplifies their meaning. You cannot listen to this piece and not feeling something special, emotion that floods your soul with gratitude for the Savior Jesus Christ. It touches the deepest chords of the heart. I want to seek out more performances such as this. There is nothing like the power of truly great music. I hope you get to see it one day! It will change your life too. :)