Put On Your Cowl, It’s Time To Howl– Hallelujah!
Silent monks “singing” the Hallelujah Chorus?? Now there’s a concept!
Take a look, then scroll down for a few reflections on same.
For me, that’s performance art at its best: funny, joyful, ingenious. And that particular piece also represents one of my personal favorite art forms: the affectionate parody– a kind of homage that takes the original to a new level.
What other lessons might the Silent Monks be teaching us? I can think of at least four:
1. It’s all been done before, but creativity is about finding a new way to look at things— a fresh new variation on a theme.
2. Some of the best art is achieved within constraints or given parameters.
3. Humor has the power to make us stop and really pay attention to something we’ve come to take for granted.
4. A good humorist is always trying to work in an extra gag (the short monk jumping up with her sign got a big laugh).
I wish I knew who created this wonderful piece and worked out all the choreography– I’d like to shake that person’s hand. Unfortunately, despite my best googling efforts, I can only tell you that the piece may have been first performed at Winter Park High School in Florida circa 2006– and I can’t even be sure of that.
It’s been covered by many different schools and organizations. You can find dozens of clips on Youtube. I’ll conclude with a couple of others I enjoyed:
These are probably the most colorful in-concert monks, and they get some extra mileage out of the monk height disparity:
This last one goes outside the concert setting and features some very creative filmmaking and editing. It also taps the natural exuberance of 5th graders. (The adult “supporting actors” are pure lead– but it seems to work to advantage!)
What do you think? Does the performance art add extra joy to the music? Is Handel rolling over in his grave?? Hope you’ll leave a comment.
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Other Posts You Might Enjoy:
Once Upon A Time At Westminster Cathedral
Oh, No– Abducted By The Cake People!!
Andy Warhol Meets Film Noir: Biff, Bang, Pop!
