This morning we went to church in Friedrichsdorf. I hadn't realized this before, but the Gospel of Luke begins and ends in the temple. Luke is always full of surprises.
After church we had another dress rehearsal, but this time in the Villa next to the temple where the temple presidency lives. I had never realized how different acoustics and instrument availability affect traveling musical groups.
The dress rehearsal was preparing for the Adventsempfang, an annual event in the Villa on the 1st Advent. From the information I could gather by talking to various choir members, the choir has existed for 7-8 years and Adventsempfang has happened since the Frankfurt temple was dedicated in 1987. Adventsempfang was started to calm some political opposition to the construction of the temple. Relations are now much better, but still every year they welcome the mayor of Friedrichsdorf, various pastors, and a few other local leaders to a VIP musical celebration in the villa. It was simply beautiful, but I don't have any pictures.
We sang most of our songs except for the Glorias, but there was still some Vivaldi: the Meissner family came from Vienna wearing very Austrian clothes, and they played the violin, cello, and harp, and sang a few songs, too. It was the kind of Christmas party I want to have in my house in a few years, with very fancy snacks afterwards.
There was another performance of the same thing for the area and mission presidencies, but those of us from the north left before that one. I got home in Quickborn quite late as it is, and others are driving further north.
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