It's several days now since we had our Masterworks performances of Vaughan Williams' Dona nobis pacem and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. It was a wrenching, emotionally overwhelming weekend for me. To begin with, the music itself is so powerful, particularly the Vaughan-Williams for me (believe it or not), with its crushing anti-war message. To follow this with the Ninth Symphony was a lot of emotion for one concert.

But so much more was going on. One of the HSO's cellists, John Zurfluh, died a week before the concert weekend. I do not want to go into much detail, but his illness had a profound effect on the orchestra, and his death was very difficult. It is always tough to make memorial dedications before concerts - this one was particularly hard.

There were a few other internal issues going on in the orchestra. Again, I don't want to get into them here. But the sum total of this was a highly charged performance. I have to admit, I don't remember much about Saturday night, other than the intensity of the experience. Sunday was much more lucid, and I was very proud of the performance. The reaction from the audience was tremendous. Admittedly, one expects that from Beethoven's Ninth. But the Vaughan Williams was equally well received.

I would be terribly remiss if I did not take this opportunity to praise the chorus - a combination of four choruses, the Susquehanna Chorale, Messiah College Concert Choir, Messiah College Choral Arts Society, under the direction of my friend and frequent collaborator Linda Tedford; and the Alumni Chorale of Lebanon Valley College, directed by Gregg Mauroni. Gregg has just taken the reins of the Alumni Chorale - Pierce Getz, their long-time conductor, died last year. This combination choir was absolutely superb - and on a most demanding program. I am spoiled to have such singers and directors at my disposal. Bravo to them all.

The orchestra, as always, was magnificent. I love making music with them.

All four soloists were terrific.

But for me the heros of the evening were the composers. To write music of such power, that says so much about the human condition, and has such potential to move an audience, is a miracle.