Today I am presenting a post that goes back a while (well, eleven years to be exact).

The post itself floated up while searching my files for prose to complement a new talk I am giving at this year’s conferences: a consideration of the critical, yet elusive, quality of “enthusiasm.” I’ll look at what enthusiasm is, where it comes from, and how to keep it a positive factor in daily work and life. At least, that is what I hope to cover!

As you know, a sister quality of enthusiasm is “passion.” Those who know our Early Sacred Music course are aware of the passionate artistry these Italian singers of “Ring Around Quartet” offered. Their gorgeous singing of Gregorian chants, medieval polyphony, and songs from the Cantigas di Santa Maria, as well as their words describing the art of making music, tangibly enriched the course. When their musician friends volunteered on the third day of filming to bring medieval instruments and jump in, that was icing on the cake!

Enthusiasm and passion help every person plow through difficulties. These qualities help us keep our “vision” even when problems arise and spirits flag. Standing out in the Milanese icy weather, wondering if the back-and-forth machinations inside that cold church could come to fruition, I could not have envisioned the stunning episodes that resulted. Once we added these performances to the examples of Ancient Greek and Roman music we filmed in warmer weather at Castellammare di Stabia (on the Mediterranean coast near Pompei), Early Sacred Music rose to a new level.

We do not always see the value of our daily effort, be it small things (emptying the dishwasher, cleaning the dog’s bowl) or large events that are critical to a project. Either way, all good work consists of small steps, moment-to-moment adjustments and quiet actions. It is only in retrospect that we see how the strands come together and can delight in what has been fashioned.

So, if you didn’t catch this offering in 2013, I hope you will enjoy the story now, as well as the short video we have inserted below.

It’s freezing in San Gervasio, a 15th-century church outside Milan where we’re spending three days filming the singers of Ring Around Quartet. Today is devoted to Renaissance motets, so they’re wearing white gauze sheaths and trousers reminiscent of Pantelone from Commedia dell’arte. Their feet are bare.

How can they sound so luscious in this cold air? I’m wrapped in a coat, hat, scarf, and gloves, and I’m still shivering. But they stand graciously, singing like angels, with an ensemble so tight the ear cannot separate the parts.

Being here is a testament to modern technology and human trust. Technology? We arranged this adventure as complete strangers, relying on skype and email. And trust? Well, that’s the critical ingredient. There was an immediate willingness to trust each another’s enthusiasm. So now we find ourselves between the resonant walls of this Romanesque church, its pastel frescos smiling warmly at us.

I never have heard such luscious sounds except in dreams. It’s a sound I hope my imagination will never lose. Impeccable pitch, dissoluble ensemble, crisp diction. And did I mention their smiles? Their mischievous dark eyes, darting to and fro, enjoying the confidence of each other’s strengths.

When our new Sacred Music Course comes out, students will hear sacred chant sung by Ring Around Quartet several times. As we extend Discovering Music backwards in time, the motets we’re recording this weekend will be key in our discussion.

But perhaps the greatest thing, for me, is that each of you will get to know these lovely people. They are consummate professionals in technology, physics, music education, and administration. They met as fellow students in Genoa and formed “Ring Around Quartet” exactly 20 years ago. As their lives unfolded, moving them across Italy and abroad, into jobs and families, their music has kept them together.

This is a moment when I wish everyone, literally everyone, I know could be here with us. Here they stand, suspended in time, four singers in fragile white costumes, bare feet on ancient cold stones, burned by their passion for music.

Ring Around Quartet. Of course, the music itself says it best.