by Next to the 2nd movement in my score of the Brahms Requiem I’ve written, “Veets Theme.” We started rehearsing it not long after my cat Veets died, and for me the 2nd movement was and still is the most evocative of loss. Although Veets died on New Year’s Eve, 1999, even now it pains me to sing it. He was the first pet I lost as an adult. You’d think losing a pet would be harder when you’re young, but actually it’s worse when you’re older. I think because you understand death more as an adult.
To this day, I still want Veets to be not dead. I feel so bad for him that he had to go, that he doesn’t get to be alive anymore. Poor little guy.
We sang the Brahms Requiem at a sing last night sponsored by the West Village Chorale. John Maclay, the director of my choir, The Choral Society of Grace Church, conducted. My sadness aside, it was lovely and I miss singing terribly. Hurry up and get here September.
