The Music of Black History Month (3)

Traditional spirituals are the songs that come to my mind when I think of music representing Black History Month. In reality, this one style of music has, over many decades, grown, evolved and definitely influenced a lot of other music. Jazz and gospel are 2 styles that can claim roots in early spirituals.

Choirs all over the world have traditional spirituals in their repertoire. One very moving experience I had a couple years ago was hearing a recording of the Men's choir from the Theological Seminary in Cluj, Romania. This choir is led by Canadian Brian Johnston who is sponsored by the Presbyterian Church in Canada, and teaches English and Music at the seminary. The choir toured eastern Canada from Sept. 20-Oct. 10, 2006 and the recording was made during their visit to PCC offices in Toronto. You can listen to it by going to: www.choir.tk/. You will find the video clip under "Table of Contents - Choir Tour 2006". I hope you enjoy their rendition as much as I do.

The Music of Black History Month (2)

When you think of 'global music' in worship what comes to mind? I think back to my childhood and the only 'global' song I can remember singing in church circles was Kumbaya. Maybe there were others, but what I recall is music of British, European or N. American origin. How the world has changed! World travel and communication has made our lives so much more global in scope, and music is no exception. We have access to songs and hymns from all over the world which I feel can only enhance our worship and add to our knowledge of and love for our Christian brothers and sisters in other countries. We are family!

Kudos to the editors, staff and volunteers who worked together to present The Book of Praise (c. 1997) for use in the Presbyterian Church in Canada. I feel they have done an excellent job in bringing more global music to the attention of worshipers across the country. I counted 8 songs from various African countries and traditions, not to mention many other languages and countries which are also included.

For the month of February, we have been using #388 Come, O Holy Spirit, come as our Gathering Song. This piece is from Nigeria. We are singing it in English to make it easily accessible, but the original words and a French translation are also printed. Take the leap! Try adding some global music to your worship and see where God's Spirit will lead you.

The Music of Black History Month

Over the last few years, it has become a tradition to celebrate Black History Month in the music during worship at St. Andrew's. This happens in different ways. Sometimes the choir presents a significant piece; other times the congregation is involved. The anthem sung on Feb. 1st was Amazing Grace, probably one of the best known hymns around the world, in a wonderful gospel arrangement by Jack Schrader. The words were written by John Newton (1725-1807) and are one of the reasons why we still recognize his name today. His mother died when John was only 6 years old and by age 11 he had followed his father to sea where John gradually rose through the ranks to become a slave ship captain. 'Through many dangers' he eventually came to faith in God and, over time, was ordained to ministry in the Anglican church. He supported William Wilberforce in his efforts to abolish slavery in Britain.

The poem we now sing as the hymn, Amazing Grace, was originally titled "Faith's Review and Expectation" and has as its subtitle the reference I Chronicles 17:16-17.

Some info from Out of the Depths, an autobiography of John Newton which was originally published in 1764. Portrait of Newton from Wikipedia.

The Seven O Antiphons

This photo is from the house concert I gave last weekend. The first half of the program consisted of arrangements of general hymns, some from my CD Notes of Faith. I began with Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho and ended with On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand - both a nod to Black history month.

For the second half I decided to play selections from the church year. In every concert, I give notes on the history of the hymn, or the hymn writer, or some personal meaning that piece holds for me. Here I am counting off the seven great O antiphons of that wonderful Advent hymn, O come, O come Emmanuel. I was privileged to relate to my audience an almost mind-boggling bit of information which I read on this blog just before Christmas. There were audible sounds of awe - not sure how else to describe it - when I finished. It is a wonderful feeling to be able to share knowledge of the words of this ancient hymn, then sit down at the piano to play it knowing that I have helped my audience appreciate it even more than they did before.

Hanging on until...

The two photos above were taken about a week apart on Jan. 6/09 and Jan. 12/09. The snow continued to drift and the overhang got even bigger until I really began to wonder how long it would hang on. It eventually fell off on Friday when the temperature here in Winnipeg got above 0 (C). It struck me the other day that I was feeling a little like that drift... hanging on over the edge and looking down at the ground!

January became a very busy month for me. Part of the reason for that was the house concert I gave last evening. For the past couple of weeks, my head has been full of the music I was preparing, and the program notes I was writing, or at least thinking through in my head. One of the joys for me of performing is digging into the history behind the hymns and songs I am playing. I thought for this post, I'd share one of my favourite tidbits of insight from the program.

"Be Thou My Vision" - I love this hymn! The arrangement I play is by Teresa Wilhelmi and it is wonderful in its simplicity in places, and awesome in its power in others. A couple times in the words we find the phrase "High King of heaven". While reading The Fields of Bannockburn by Donna Fletcher Crow awhile back, I learned that the ancient Celts had many kings of small kingdoms. These kings would meet together and elect one of them to be the "High King" - the king of all kings. Singing "Be Thou My Vision" has taken on a new dimension for me ever since.