Throwing a Party

I'm planning a party. It's intended to be a housewarming and I'm excited to have my family and friends here. My kitchen will get a real workout and I'm happy about that. It's a little short notice so I'm not sure how many will be able to attend.

Parties are such a lot of work. Planning the menu, shopping, cooking, cleaning the house--getting yourself ready (I tend to forget that one). It seems like it's frantic work up till the first guest arrives. Then it all becomes a blur and all of a sudden they're all gone! Still it's fun and a nice challenge.

The photo I've included is from one of my more successful Christmas Parties. Always lots of work and lots of fun. We always sing Christmas Carols (everybody does) and almost raise the roof. Tons of food, beautiful decorations, roaring fire, great company and music to boot. A perfect way to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior.

Composer Trivia

Just a a quick post. I want to mention the new link I've added, Composers Datebook. This is an interesting site. There's an option to have a daily post sent to your email with interesting information about an incredible variety of composers. It may sound like, "oh, no--not another junky email". But it's not. And it's short. One page with usually only 4 or 5 paragraphs. An some of this stuff is pretty interesting. And there's an option to click so you can hear the music while the article is read to you! Almost effortless knowledge!

Old Dog, New Trick

A few years ago the choir director at our church retired after a service of 41 years. I decided to volunteer for the job. Having played in orchestras most of my life, I figured I was on pretty safe footing. I mean, I know musicality, ensemble, and the general music stuff like rhythm and pitch. What I was lacking was specific knowledge of the human voice.

So I asked my daughter, who trained with an excellent (and expensive) teacher for about 5 years to help me out. She did. Not always willingly, but once I managed to drag her to a rehearsal, she was able to miraculously transform that group of mousy, lifeless singers into a beautiful sounding choir. It was magical to watch her work.

At first, I was pretty insecure in this new position. I had never, ever done any conducting. But as the weeks and years passed, I came to love it. These people were all my friends so that was fun. And after the right kind of training and molding, they created the most beautiful sounds. And with the right motivation, they could produce some pretty good volume as well. There were only 10 so they had their work cut out for them.

A couple years ago I found a cantata, "Let Heaven and Nature Sing Gloria!" by Mark Hayes in my box at church. Usually I just toss these things in the recycling with the thought that we can barely learn the Sunday morning worship and had no time for such a grand undertaking as a cantata. But something moved me to open this one up and have a glance. The music was so grand, light, modern and almost attainable that I gave the accompanying CD a listen. It was glorious and I wanted to do it. This was September and it was a Christmas cantata. It wasn't going to happen that year so we planned to present it the following year.

So I asked our praise team at church if they'd join us for this. That gave me a whole bunch of instrumental musicians which were crucial to the performance. It also provided me with 4 more singers. Then I put out a special plea to the congregation for anyone who'd like to sing with us only for this giant undertaking. I acquired a tenor, three basses, an alto and 2 great sopranos. All in all, our ranks swelled to about 20 + singers and 5 instrumentalists.

We began practicing early in spring and worked throughout the summer learning one song at a time. The devotion of this whole group was touching and amazing. Most of us were learning from "the ground up". I had little experience conducting. Most of the singers had no idea how musical they could sound. Some of the instrumentalists surprised themselves. Later on we added two narrators, had some final all-inclusive rehearsals and it was time for performance.

Now would we get an audience? I had sent out notices/flyers to all the congregations in our area to let them know what we were doing and to suggest this might be a great way to kick off their holiday celebrations. In the end, we were very blessed to perform to a full house! Of all the concerts I've done, that was the most satisfying. So MUCH work culminated in a wonderful payoff. A truly great experience for all.

We made a CD, but it's not available online. However, I do have a link which shows our choir joining our praise team at one of their early concerts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JQftBLiBnM.

I learned so much from this experience--about my own ability and about human nature. And about singleness of purpose. Everyone dedicated to one goal. It was unforgettable. Praise be to God!

The Excitement of Music!!!!!

I couldn't live without music! That's it. I simply don't think I'd survive for very long if I couldn't hear those familiar melodies I've learned to love--and sometimes hate. (We're talking ear worms here.) I've even been known to utter the statement, "If I had to lose one of my senses, eyesight or hearing, I'd select eyesight hands down." I feel I've seen a lot of things and will carry the visual of it all forever. But music is a constantly renewing sense of joy and exhilaration that simply doesn't lend itself easily to memory. There's something in the "nowness" of it that I love.

Yesterday I heard the 4th movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony. There aren't words to
describe the magnificence of that piece. I'm usually hearing it in the car and turn up the volume almost all the way so I can recreate the experience of actually being in the orchestra amidst all the instruments. What a rush!!! And it's just unbelievable that the composer, himself, never heard a performance of this work. It is one of my biggest hopes that he will hear it in heaven.

Okay, so that was Beethoven. Today I heard Liza singing "Cabaret". Wow! She feels that song down to the center of her soul. I love her and truly feel that if I met her I actually would love her. She's not had an easy time in life. One thing I admire most about her is that she was brave enough to follow in her mother's wake and make it. And make it big!

If you know of Nancy LaMott, you are very lucky. If you don't, look her up and get her CD's. She sings every single song as though her life depended on it. My husband and I always say that once Nancy sings a song, there's simply nothing else to be done with it. It's fully complete and utterly satisfying. The very first time I heard one of her CD's, "Listen To My Heart", I was drained and reduced to tears by the end. Besides the beautiful music, I had in the back of my mind the knowledge that this was the last CD she would ever make. She died right before it's release. This knowledge made the final song on the album, "I'll Be Here With You" even more poignant.

Later, and I don't even remember how or where, I discovered Michael Feinstein. I listen to Jonathan Schwartz's show and he probably mentioned him a lot. Michael has become my new best friend. He never fails me. No matter what "state" I'm in, Michael smooths me out. I love him and the way he sings a song. Oh, and I'm pretty sure he and Nancy were good friends. It figures.

The featured album here is "Only One Life" and it includes only songs by Jimmy Webb. This albums is mesmerizing and gets moreso with each listening. Try it, you'll like (love) it. Also very good is his Broadway/Movies album which has Michael singing "The Way You Look Tonight" that I feel with every fiber of my being each time I hear it. It's almost as though I can taste it. Crossover senses?

I grew up loving Tony Bennett. My mom loved him and we listened to him more often than I'd like to admit. I still love him. What a performer. I think my favorite of his (and this is really saying something when you consider his repertoire) is "The Shadow of Your Smile". But only the version that includes the introduction. So lovely, you can imagine yourself walking along the beach with the sandpipers.

Music, music, music! I could write forever. I love so many different kinds. To name a few of my favorites I haven't yet mentioned, with apologies to those I forget: Patsy Cline, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Vladimir Horowitz, Claudio Arrau, Itzhak Perlmann, The Moody Blues, The Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, The Beatles, Mac Davis, Dan Fogelberg, Adam Lambert, Bobby Darin.

And, good grief, I haven't even mentioned Broadway! As I was growing up, I had only a few LP's. "The Music Man", "South Pacific", and a Bobby Vinton album. I played them so much I'm surprised there were still grooves.

But enough. You get the point. I love music!!!