It's the most wonderful time of the year! We had our Christmas Choir Kick-Off this past Saturday and the weather turned cool just in time! From red and green Christmas sweaters to the potluck lunch and paper snowflakes to gingerbread houses, a great time was had by all. Here are a few pictures from the day:
My team's gingerbread house creation: notice the woodpile, warm glowing windows, picket fence, garlands, bushes, and fresh snowfall.
Welcome to my home-away-from-home!
Thought you might like a little tour of where I work, practice, plan, and teach! We had a crazy but wonderful night of rehearsals last night - first night back for the children in Singers & Scholars and we even had a couple of new faces! Tomorrow is our Christmas Choir Kick-Off for the Sanctuary Choir (and friends joining us for the cantata - yes, I discovered a stack of cantata scores in the choir library during my Christmas planning this summer!) With rehearsal time, a potluck lunch, Christmas decorations, fellowship, and even a gingerbread house decorating contest, it promises to be a stellar way to begin the season. Pictures to follow...
It's never too early to start planning for Christmas! Such is the choir director's life, at least. I love summer planning. Recently, I've been perusing all the sampler catalogs that have come in the mail over the past month, listening to the demo CDs, searching Pepperfor inspiration, and writing down theme ideas. In my search for old Christmas hymns and texts, I discovered this gorgeous poem:
"Light of the world, we hail Thee Flushing the eastern skies; Never shall darkness veil Thee Again from human eyes; Too long, alas, withholden, Now spread from shore to shore, Thy light so glad and golden, Shall set on earth no more.
Light of the world, before Thee Our spirits prostrate fall; We worship, we adore Thee, Thou Light, the life of all, With Thee is no forgetting Of all Thine hand hath made; Thy rising hath no setting, Thy sunshine hath no shade.
Light of the world, illumine This darkened land of Thine, Till everything that's human Be filled with what's divine; Till every tongue and nation, From sin's dominion free, Rise in the new creation Which springs from Love and Thee. Amen."
- Rev. J.S.B. Monsell, 1863 (from The Sunday School Book)
My current list of traditional hymns/carols:
As for other pieces, I love:
And if you think I'm crazy now, just wait until next month! Christmas folder assembly, Christmas decorations for the kick-off, and Christmas cookie-baking! Merry Christmas, y'all!
It all started with the Kitchen Aid. That's right. I am the very proud owner of a Kitchen Aid mixer. Our very first wedding present! (Am I breaking a rule by using it before the wedding?) I saw a very creative packaging idea on Pinterest (here) and thought it would be just perfect for an end-of-the-year choir gift.
I began by picking out a recipe - "Chocolate Chip Supreme Cookies" from Southern Living.
Now, for the packaging. All you need is address labels (or any type, really), wax paper, and CD sleeves. I designed a label (portrait instead of landscape), wrapped each cookie in a rectangle piece of wax paper, and voila!
This weekend, the Sanctuary Choir performed a concert of their favorite anthems from the 2010-2011 church year. We chose a Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m., dressed in black and white, put together a program, and planned a reception of sweet treats. How did we choose the music? We took a vote! Here are the choir's collective "top 10" anthems (in program order): 1. And the Father Will Dance (Mark Hayes) 2. Blest Are They (David Haas) 3. Come to the Water (arr. Lynda Hasseler) 4. For the Beauty of the Earth (John Rutter) 5. Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming (Michael Praetorius) 6. An Hour of Hallowed Peace (Steve Danyew) 7. Brother James' Air (arr. Gordon Jacob) 8. Speaking Love (Steve Danyew) 9. Prayer for Peace (Mary Lynn Lightfoot) 10. Go Light Your World (Chris Rice)
We had a great turnout (about 80) and it was a wonderful experience for all involved! And there were cupcakes!
We talk often about the text in our rehearsals and preparation of music. It is our way of communicating the message of each anthem to those listening. As such, we thought it important that those attending this concert have at least a few representative lines for each piece. Here are the program notes we included in each program:
And the Father Will Dance is a jubilant anthem based on Zephaniah 3:17: “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”
Blest Are They is a beautiful portrayal of the Beatitudes from Matthew 5:3-12. The alternating verse/chorus structure of this piece brings back recurring text of hope and assurance.
Come to the Water is a powerful, moving anthem; one which reminds us of God’s beckoning call – “Come.”
For the Beauty of the Earth is the first in our set of anthems with old texts. Written by Folliott Pierpont in 1864, the text of this traditional hymn of thanksgiving reads as follows:
For the beauty of the earth, for the beauty of the skies, For the love, which from our birth over and around us lies, Lord of all, to thee we raise this, our joyful hymn of praise.
Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming is the oldest anthem on our program today. With the tune dating back to the Renaissance period (16th century – harmonized by Praetorius in 1609) and original German text from the 15th century (Anonymous), this hymn is traditionally sung during the season of Advent.
Lo, how a rose e’er blooming, from tender stem hath sprung! Of Jesse’s lineage coming, as men of old have sung. It came, a flow’ret bright, Amid the cold of winter, when half-spent was the night.
An Hour of Hallowed Peace is a new composition by Steve Danyew composed for the Sanctuary Choir in April 2011. The text by William Tappan was discovered in an old hymnal purchased at last year’s Westminster Historical Society Sale:
There is an hour of hallowed peace For those with cares oppressed When sighs and sorrowing shall cease, And all be hushed to rest: ‘Tis then the soul is freed from fears And doubts, which here annoy; Then they, who oft have sown in tears, Shall reap again in joy.
Brother James’ Air was first published in 1915 by the Scottish composer, James Leith Macbeth Bain (known as Brother James). Gordon Jacob set the text of Psalm 23 to the tune in 1934:
Speaking Love is a new composition by Steve Danyew composed for the Sanctuary Choir in December 2010. Though written for the Christmas season, the message is one to live by all through the year:
Giving joy, sharing hope, Cheering spirits, sing noel, Being comfort strong enough, Peace on earth, speaking love.
Prayer for Peace is a beautiful, lyrical anthem – a reflection on our desire for peace in our hearts and across the nations.
Go Light Your World is an upbeat, contemporary piece – a call to reach out to the lonely, the lost, and those in need; to light a candle, to share the light of Christ.
The Sanctuary Choir has had an exciting year! First of all, look how we've grown from 12 members last summer to 21 members at Christmas time! We have a great group of enthusiastic singers who are very faithful to the music program and are eager to learn! What more could a director ask of a choir? Take a seat on one of the red velvet pews in the back of the Sanctuary and observe one of our Thursday night choir rehearsals...
Stretches, sighs, sirens, humming, chewing, facial massage
Breathe in for four counts, hold for four counts, breathe out for four counts
Me-ahh (starting with a D Major triad going up: 15-4321)
Vi-va (starting with a D Major triad going up: 1234-5656-54321)
Vocal Siren
Reminders: singing through the consonant to the vowel, sitting on top of the note instead of reaching up to it
Prayer for Peace (Lightfoot)
Reminders: tall mouth-shape, tempo changes, dynamics, cut-offs, more breath preparation before entrances
Introit: O Worship the King (Traditional Hymn)
Prayer Response: Breathe on Me, Breath of God (Traditional Hymn)
Benediction Response: Amen (Danyew)
Reminders: breathing together, imagining first note before singing it, singing into the sound around you, enunciate!
Come to the Water (Hasseler) - new
Reminders: direction of phrases (most important word of phrase), breath preparation, phrase-shaping
An Hour of Hallowed Peace (Danyew)
Reminders: "hushed" text painting (singing the word in a way that depicts its meaning), breath support for soft singing, preparing to sing 5ths, direction of phrases (most important word of phrase), phrase-shaping
Jesus, Savior, Friend (Glass)
Reminders: consistent tempo, syncopated rhythm review, tall mouth shape/vowels, confidence, relationship of vocal parts to accompaniment
Choir picture is up on the website!
Joke Time
You Are the Song (Courtney)
Reminders: syncopated rhythm review, parts review, relationship of vocal parts to accompaniment
The Gift of Love (Traditional Hymn) - a cappella, rehearse in circle
Reminders: look up!, blend with people around you, direction of phrases, phrase-shaping, dynamic contour
What does your church choir rehearsal look like?
I’m two weeks into my new job and absolutely love it!
I am the Director of Music at the congregational church in town – about a 3-minute walk from home. The people have been incredibly supportive and welcoming and made us feel right at home from the very first week. You may be wondering:
Here’s a sneak peek into my first week on the job.
July 4th! I wanted to program something a little patriotic without being too blatant so I settled on the vocal arrangement of “Simple Gifts” by Aaron Copland with Steve on the saxophone. It was the perfect Americana prelude.
The rest of the music for the service included three hymns (selected by the pastor), an anthem, the Lord’s Prayer, an offertory, two congregational responses, two pieces for communion, and a postlude. All in all, a lot of music!
I was a little surprised when I received the first draft of the bulletin but I was also reassured that music plays a significant role in the life of this church. I did a little bit of searching for arrangements that I could substitute for the last verse of each hymn. It was a bold move not knowing how the congregation would respond. For the closing hymn, “O Beautiful,” I segued quickly from verse 3 into a 4-bar interlude and I heard the congregation inhale and then pause when they realized my plan. They came in right on time for the last verse, singing proudly and many came up afterward to tell me how much they loved being caught off-guard!
Note to self: need more hymn arrangements.
Also, a note on the Lord’s Prayer – when the previous director, Ann, wrote in the music, “Follow them here,” she really meant it. In addition to altering the rhythm throughout, the whole last section transitioned into a duple meter in the score (the congregation stayed in triple). That will keep you on your toes!
Note to self: before next Communion Sunday, transpose this piece down a whole step.
I have a desk! And a chair! I was excited to set up an informal workspace (and have internet) and get started on my work in the choir room.
The room is a good size – two rows of oak spindle-back chairs stretch out in a subtle arc in front of the Clavinova. There are two windows, a closet for storage and at least three sets of choir robes (children to adults), a bookshelf with files and stacks of hymnals, and a bulletin board.
There is a small hallway connecting the choir room to the Sanctuary where the choir folders are kept on a white built-in bookcase and where decades of music is filed.
Where to begin?
I started in the closet – I found stacks of old choir folders, empty choir robe boxes, handbell gloves, a drum, and the tablecloths for the altar. Nothing too out of the ordinary. I straightened the bookshelves and found stacks of reference copies collected by previous directors. Publishers love sending packets of free music for your perusal hoping that you’ll like something they send enough to buy it. The goal is to sort through everything that’s sent so that the things you don’t like or won’t buy get recycled… good thing I have a recycling bin!
The next task was to begin exploring the filing cabinets. I set up my laptop on a music stand and began the long process of inventory. Everything seems to be alphabetized and in order but many of the anthems are outdated and most likely out of print.
Should I keep them filed and pull everything else out? Or should it all stay combined in one filing system?
This week has been more of the same – inventory, updating the church website, preparing for Sunday, and a few planning meetings for the fall. Stay tuned for more updates!
