L'Mariage de Marion et Louis-Marie

At times, I find it extremely hard to write on this blog because the days unfold like movies, movies which I have a hard time believing myself. And yet it's better than a movie, because it's life -- my life here in Paris. For my thesis at USC with Prof. Annie Chu, I naively created this term called 'erlebnis erafhrung effect' which is defined as an individual living through an event or an experience in which emotional responses are evoked. Every day here in Paris has evoked emotional responses, has executed the EEE, but today's recordings were on a completely different level.

When I was younger, I was obsessed with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, so I am always observing the scenery around me with the eyes and ears of a detective. I clued into the wedding 30 minutes before it started because the entire parking lot in front of Louis Vuitton was empty except for one lone Aston Martin DB9-it may have nothing to do with the wedding, but I new something was up. Then I noticed some women tying lilies to the chairs along the aisle, and I also saw a number of instrument cases strewn across the floor of the choir area. I knew something must have been up, so I waited and then I saw the family filing in as if it were a promenade. Luckily, I was dressed to the nines today, so no one mistook me as a tourist even though I was surrounded by long-tailed suits and hats that made the women look like moving sculptures from another time. So I sat down just to the right of the bride and groom, and in the time of two hours, this is some of what I heard:

1. The sound of wedding vows echo through a church, a confident "oui, je t'aime" from a man to his future wife...

2. The sound of a family cheer on their newest extended family...

3. Two best friends wishing the couple a happy life together...

4. The sound of the entire wedding party surrounding the new bride and groom and singing them a song of good fortune as they skip out of the church...

5. A glissando from l'orgue, sortie avec l'orgue... incredible.

I didn't even know these people, but I was still moved. Today's recording was so different that the others because it was a familial effort, hundreds of voices singing in a tone so cheerful that it felt warmer than the sun coming into the church. I still wonder, how can I achieve the same emotional response that a composer achieves in a piece of music in the experience of a building? Any suggestions?

I have so much work to do beyond this fellowship to answer that question, but I am moving forward, blindly. (pun intended-when are they not?)

To Marion and Louis-Marie... Thank you for letting me be a part of your day. Cheers, and a long life to you both!