For the 2008 festival my organ piece, Villancico:Variations on a song by Francisco de la torre, was performed by the festival director, Martin Stacey. Below is the link to my program notes and a recording. The sound file should be available in mid January.  

http://www.afnom.org/2008/Programme_Notes/zufall.htm

The organ is a recetnly restored 1963 45 rank three manual Walker. It has a 32' pedal reed called "Oliphant".

(Photos by Oscar Rook) 

As soon as I joined the MCC, I was recruited to sing in something called “The Ensemble,” a smaller choir made up of MCC choristers. I wondered what I was doing there: Most of the members had much stronger voices than me. I figured it was because the director of the Ensemble remembered me from when I was the choir director in Southfield ward, back when I could still sing.

An added bonus was that our choir director had a degree in voice from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and was very good at explaining how to sing better, in every way. My voice did improve, a lot, and eventually I was wailing along in the Ensemble just as well as the other members. There were times when I couldn’t participate in concerts because I had laryngitis again, but, unlike other episodes, my voice came back more quickly. By the end of the last concert, my voice had finally come back completely, including a few notes in the middle range that had been holding out on me.

The second thing that I leaned from signing in this choir was how to be a better composer of choral music. Some of the numbers were pieces that I had performed in the past, either as a chorister or a conductor. It was nice to refresh my memory of these pieces, as well as learn new ones. Being around choral music so much made me “think choir” as part of my compositional process. Even though I have been involved with choirs all my life, the MCC gave me a much greater exposure to a number of musical styles and composers. It was a good way to jumpstart the creative juices as well as increase my enthusiasm for composing choral music.

#16  “What Glorious Scenes Mine Eyes Behold”

I have never been able to get this melody in my head; it always seems as if I am hearing it for the first time. This hymn is in LM  (long meter 88888) which means that these words can be sung to the more familiar tune 84 “Faith of our Fathers” (ST. CATHARINE), which is 888888. All you have to do is to sing the last two lines of each stanza twice: “Ephraim’s records I unfold/All things appear divinely new/"  I have never tried this, so try it at your own risk. Some people have problems with singing hymns to other tunes, and, if they are not used to it, they find it particularly confusing. I would experiment with the choir first, and then the relief society. I don’t know about sacrament meeting; you’d probably have to get approval first. These sorts of things work best when the text is printed in the bulletin. 

#215 “Ring out Wild Bells” Unfortunately, some of my favorite hymns are on this list. I like everything about this hymn, except the way that it sounds the first Sunday after New Year's Day, sung by a congregation that struggles to remember how it is supposed to go.

# 56  “Softly Beams the Sacred Dawning”  A hymn with five flats is most likely something your accompanist will not want to play. When I hear a hymn that sounds a bit like an opera aria, I begin to wonder about feasibility. The fact that there is a high E-flat in the first line does not bode well, and neither does the complicated rhythm. The worst gaffs that I have heard in congregational singing have to do with rhythm: organists who are sight reading, and/or congregations for whom the hymn is relatively unfamiliar.

#70  “Sing Praise to Him”  is another one of my favorite hymns. Alas, the 3/2 meter tends to throw people off, even accomplished musicians. If using it as a congregational hymn, I recommend that you either sing it either frequently enough for the congregation to lean it, or don’t sing it at all.  

#86 “How Firm a Foundation” (the last four verses). This is one of the great hymns of all time. The text is based on Isaiah. Other Christian denominations sing it to a different tune, LYONS. I like the tune we use in the LDS hymnal, but it doesn’t work as well with the text. If I remember correctly, in the previous LDS hymnal, at the end of the first verse, the words “You who unto Jesus…” became “Who unto the Savior…” in the current hymnal. What happened in the earlier version was that, because the word “who” was sung over two notes, the“you who” sounded too much like a call “youhoo,” as in “yoohoo Jesus are you there?” It felt sacrilegious, and made some people laugh.With the newer version, things go along okay as long as the text is under the music, but how are the last lines of the last four verses supposed to go? There is always some nice church lady sitting next to me (not my mom, she never got over the "youhoo") who has it all figured out, but it always sounds strange to my ears. Part of the problem is that there are fewer syllables in the latter verses. The end of verse 4 “And sanctify to thee,” if you follow the model of the first verse, should go “and sa-an-cti-fy to-o thee.” This is counter-intuitive, because the stress should be on the “thee” and not the “to”.  I applaud the hymnal committee for including these final four stanzas, and I am glad to have them, but perhaps they would work better when spoken from the pulpit.

Is it over yet?

There was a clock next to the organ console. I never paid it much attention, until one day the alarm went off right in the middle of the pastor’s sermon. Happily, he has a good sense of humor, and segued into a clever comment that made everyone laugh.  

Organists can make fashion statements and not even know it

One day I got back from playing a wedding, looked in the mirror, and realized that my earrings didn’t match. Later, a fashion designer friend of mine told me that this was a current trend, so I didn’t feel quite as bad.

(Ave Maria. May she save us all from our bloopers)

Ouch, those opera singers sure can sing loud

Once I performed Schubert’s “Ave Maria” at the UMW church with Barry McCauley. During rehearsal, I suggested that he go to the back of the church and sing from the loft. This was because his world class operatic voice may have been fine for Paris Opera, but not for the organist’s tender ears.  

How protestant are you?

This same singer went with our pastor (who was also an organist) to a local protestant church, where they planned to participate in an ecumenical service. The pastor at the church refused to let them perform Schubert’s “Ave Maria”, because this was banned form their church for theological reasons. Well, Methodists don’t worship Mary either, but I guess some protestant denominations are more sensitive to this issue than others.

This is what happens when I go out of town

The pastor had a wedding to perform. When I got back home he told me what happened in my absence. My replacement organist had accompanied a soloist in “Ave Maria.” They never rehearsed. During the wedding, the accompanist played the Schubert version while the singer performed the Gounod. They didn’t even stop, but kept on to going to the bitter end.

How organists can help stop crime

This happened to the late William (Bill) Farleigh Smith when he was playing Sunday services at his church in the Bronx. His brother Ted shared this story with me.

It was business as usual: Bill was playing the organ while they were passing the plate. Then, for some strange reason, he began to play some really weird music. The congregation started to look around, trying to figure out what was going on. Then they saw him, a stranger with a gun.

Fortunately the pastor was able to diffuse the situation by telling the gunman, “you don’t want to do this, you really don’t want to do this.” It worked, and the money was saved.

(I have to hand it to Bill. If it were me, I’d be hiding behind the organ console.)    

Well, I’ve done everything from trip on my way to the organ, (during a recital) and pretty much anything else that can go wrong. Any stories to tell? Feel free to share.  

2. This was the year that I decided to branch out and actually write music that was not church music. It went a lot better than I thought it would. There is something to be said for trying new things. My organ recital piece was premiered in London last November.  

3. This was the year that I took myself on vacation to California and Utah. It was not until I was there that I realized I couldn’t remember when I had last gone on a vacation. I went to the Moab Music festival, and became a big fan of Bill Bolcom’s  piano rags.

Day 1 “A partridge in a pair tree” represents the mom, who collapses from exhaustion from having to do so many things for everyone else.

Day 2 “Two turtle doves” represents the newly wed couple in your family or circle of friends, that reminds all the married people what marriage was like before the honeymoon was over.

Day 3 “Three French hens” represents the three busybodies whose mission in life is to get all the eligible bachelors and bachelorettes married as soon as possible.

Day 4 “Four calling birds” represents the telephone bills from the house phone, cell phones, and the surprise bill for all the marathon phone calls to India that your guests made.

Day 5 “Five Golden Rings” represents the hoops that you have to jump through every day for the next month, in order to lose the weight you gained during the holiday season.

Day 6 “Six Geese a Laying” represents the newly pregnant women you just found out about in Sterling Heights ward.

Day 7:  “Seven swans a swimming” represents the gifts you finally got around to returning.

Day 8:  “Eight maids a milking” represents every hour of snow you had to shovel so that your family and friends could get in and out of the driveway.  

Day 9:  “Nine drummers drumming” represents the sound of the children playing with their Christmas toys.

Day 10: “Ten pipers piping” represents the sound of the children crying when their toys break.

Day 11:  “Eleven ladies dancing” represents the ladies you know that became engaged to be married.

Day 12:  “Twelve lords a leaping” represents the men who asked them.  Eleven are leaping for joy, and one is prancing away as fast as he can, glad that he narrowly escaped commitment. 

Domingo and Carreras

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qFMY4ciRXk&feature=related

Pavarotti Domingo Carreras - Dormi, o bambino

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsqank6AAEY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIcdwa2XJdg&feature=channel_page

Here is the final product

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D4gCODJu7U

This dress rehearsal is even funnier. Good thing Mehta has a good sense of humor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ai6F9y7DzrY&feature=related

He started out as a baritone and then retrained as a tenor. He has kept his voice by being very careful with it, and doing lots and lots of warm-ups.

His father and one of his sons were also named Placido Domingo.

He is a great team player. Everyone likes him.

He is religious and happily married.

Here is Placido Domingo at home. There is a really cute photo of him as a young boy, also, clips of both of his parents singing.

http://www.animationplayhouse.com/vid/xmas/video_lJ0CbEaJjl0.html

Here is Domingo conducting

http://www.animationplayhouse.com/vid/xmas/video_8Vgj-jH9l0E.html

Placido Domingo sings "No puede ser" from La tabernera del puerto by Sorozabal, 2006/

http://www.animationplayhouse.com/vid/xmas/video_8qyTFJ4z6XI.html

Placido Domingo giving a master class

http://www.animationplayhouse.com/vid/xmas/video_8tfOK7LnO6E.html

Here he is singing and playing piano

http://www.animationplayhouse.com/vid/xmas/video_dETCzYOSQsk.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CiVVB3TrJE

Handel “And the Glory of the Lord”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZorcMYb3fPo&NR=1

In Dulci Jubilo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXze_TLUTqM

God Rest you Merry, Gentlemen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMdGGs81f2c&feature=related

Coventry Carol (great arrangement and the boy soloist is wonderful.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy1l1PAvXCA&feature=related

Sussex Carol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKSM4kmpX9s&NR=1

I saw Three Ships

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waTafOG-QoQ&NR=1

Dormi Jesu (an arrangement by John Rutter just for this service. I’ve never heard it before. It’s beautiful.  Discovering this just made my day, if not my whole week.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58F4SZc37sA&feature=channel

Love Came Down at Christmas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAjB0GVpleg&feature=channel_page

  “Adoration of the Magi” by Rubens.

The radio announcer said that they had been singing this song at the beginning of Lessons and Carols since the early 20^th century, and that they always begin with a chorister singing the first verse a cappella. The carol builds gradually, first with the choir singing SATB a cappella, and then the organ comes in. There is a descant on the final verse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RC34N1TfCQ

Maurice Durufle’s setting of “Ubi Caritas” is sung by the King's College Choir.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwR_dM-1MlU

Latin

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.

Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor.

Exultemus, et in ipso iucundemur.

Timeamus, et amemus Deum vivum.

Et ex corde diligamus nos sincero.

Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.

Amen.

English

Where charity and love are, God is there.

Christ's love has gathered us into one.

Let us rejoice and be pleased in Him.

Let us fear, and let us love the living God.

And may we love each other with a sincere heart.

Where charity and love are, God is there.

Amen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJEfyZSvg5c&feature=related

Born in 1098 in Germany, Hildegard was one of the great women in ecclesiastical history. She was a Catholic nun who was also a composer, poet, artist, theologian, visionary, doctor, and herbalist.  

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/hildegarde.html

http://www.geocities.com/ddstone48/

A great resource for choir directors. Lots of free stuff.

http://www.choralcds.org/title.htm

For recorded music, try The Choral Compact Disk Clearing House. Includes albums from BYU Choirs.

http://www.ldsmusicnow.com/store/christmas-music/christmas-music.shtml

Here is a list of LDS Christmas sheet music for sacrament meeting performances, ward choirs, and more. This is great, because you can listen to and look at the music. It looks like some of the music is only a buck fifty. There are links to web pages of various LDS composers. 

http://www.sibeliusmusic.com/cgi-bin/show_score.pl?scoreid=48237

Here is one of my favorite carols, “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming”

The video is from “Christmas in Baylor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jyuOIYCERc4

This is one of my favorite Christmas music videos: Domingo and Carreras singing “Carol of the Drum” from Christmas in Vienna 1999. I like the way Domingo tries to make the “rum-pum-pum-pum” more musical and the way that Carreras’ eyebrows go up and down. There is also a full orchestra and children’s choir.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIXkH2MkWG8

Check out my blog entries for December 2007 where there are many links to wonderful Christmas music videos. 

Speaking of poultry, I am on a cooking binge. Among other things, I am making chicken soups for my daughter, who may or may not be sick. The first one involves roasted garlic, white onions, cauliflower, chicken broth, black pepper, and thyme. (It’s a version of the Martha Stewart recipe but without all the cream and cheese.) The second one is just regular chicken noodle soup.

Yesterday was the laying-on-of-hands of the bread.

My daughter called me from school to tell me that she had locked her car key in her car. I was in the middle of making bread, and was just about to put it in the oven. I turned the oven off, left the bread to do with it would, and drove to the school to give her the spare key. When I returned home the bread had tripled in size. As usual, I asked myself what my mom did in these situations. She would take the bread out of the pans, knead it back down, and let it rise all over again. My son had another idea. He gently laid his hands on each loaf of bread as if he were giving it a blessing. He then applied just enough pressure to deflate some of the larger pockets of air. The bread turned out just fine, despite the fact that I had to leave hearth and home to rescue a damsel in distress.

I occurs to me that nobody will be reading this because they will be too busy cooking for tomorrow’s dinner. I will be trying new cornbread stuffing and apple pie recipes.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!