"Requiem," the choir had sung, "aeternam dona eis, Domine,"
"et lux perpetua luceat eis."
It was the second repeat of 'luceat eis' which had brought the performance to a halt.
Normally a man of placid and even temperament, Vaclav Sembera was aroused to passion by only two things; God and music. Although he often felt that the burden of religious duties fell on his broad shoulder without any assistance what so ever from the other members of his order, he did not object too strongly, and he looked sadly but kindly on the distracting scientific endeavors of his abbot and his fellow monks. But when it came to music, the Prior was much less tolerant.
God, he believed, spoke to sinners and true believers alike through great music. The sound coming from the voices in the choir, his choir, was the purest expression of God's message to earth and the heavenly notes created as man's voice was raised in glory were a sacrament equal to none other. When music was performed badly, it was not only a sin, it was one of the worst sins.
"Ducet - softly - do you know the meaning of the word?"
After mass, held promptly at 6:00 am that morning, there had been a Chapter meeting, the first in several days. Abbot Napp had spoken briefly to his monks and pupils, bringing them up to date on various news items, Monastery business and upcoming events in Brno. He had paid more than usual attention to the grumbles concerning the poor 'zabijacka', the 'slaughter of the pigs', at the monastery. This was a pagan ceremony held at the end of January in which every part of a pig was prepared and eaten. This year, ethnic tensions had run higher than normal. A minor Czech ceremony that Napp tolerated rather than encouraged, the 'zabijacka' was normally ignored by the ethnic Germans and thus celebrated more than normal by the ethnic Czechs. Unfortunately the monastery pig had been of poor quality on this occasion and had not faired well at the table, leading to some pointed remarks from the Germans. This in turn had caused sharp words to be said by the Czech contingent and the temperature of the debate rose rapidly. Abbot Napp wanted to put to rest these rumblings of discontent before they got out of hand. Winter was a harsh time in which the members of the monastery lived in very close proximity with little outside activity to distract them. Tensions often flared in these dark months.
But he had ended the Chapter meeting on a high note. "As usual our choir will be singing in Easter celebrations." He smiled in the direction of Sembera. "Brother Prior will, no doubt, bring great credit to our order from all his efforts."
Many around the room also smiled, but for a different reason. It was well known that Prior Sembera had a private feud with the Kapellemeister of St Peter and St Paul's Cathedral on the Petrov Hill. Every year their respective choirs competed for the honor of singing first in the Easter services, the prize going to the choir that performed best in the pre-Easter warm up held on Palm Sunday.
This year Prior Sembera felt he had a secret weapon; Mozart and the glorious Requiem composed on the great composer's death bed. While regal and deeply moving, the Requiem was cantata-like in form and the 'Confutatis' contained a ferocious verdict of damnation, which Sembera felt applied appropriately to his unfortunate rival. Every year, as soon as the 'zabijacka' finished in January, he began rehearsals. At first the reluctant choir practiced once a week, but today began the dreaded series of daily workouts that Sembera lived for. After breakfast he had rushed his choir into the Chapel with less than dignified haste. There was not much time left before the great day, and the Prior had a lot of work to do before he could stand in the great Nave of St Peter and St Paul's, tap his score and bring his choir to its full potential.