Christmas in the summer

This was supposed to be a summer of Christmas music. It still has been, to some extent - to the extent that all church musicians have to think and plan ahead to order music, choose anthems, etc. No, this was supposed to be the summer of recording a second album focusing on Advent and Christmas arrangements. My husband, Gord Keeley, will be my recording engineer again, and we'll record in the living room on my very own Petrof baby grand. So, what happened? New windows are what happened - and not on my timetable! I 'thought' (read, 'unrealistically hoped') they'd be in by mid-July and I'd have a good month to get the tracks down the way I wanted. A change in windows means a change in the acoustics of the room so I really had to wait until the project was complete. Well, finally today it is finished. A little late for a summer recording project. But maybe it's just as well - we've had a very wet, humid summer and I doubt the piano would have held its tuning well at all. Is there a lesson here? Probably. Do I know what it is? Not really. But I do know the new windows look nice.

You hear hymn tunes in the most unexpected places!

Yesterday I had occasion to drive out of the city. It was a lovely day for a drive - sunny and not too hot - and I enjoyed being out on the open prairie where the sky is the whole horizon and the bright yellow canola fields border the highway. I took along 2 new CD's to keep me company, and I listened leisurely as the kilometers rolled by. The first selection was by Debussy - En blanc et noir: Three pieces for two pianos. This is not repertoire I am familiar with, I guess mostly because it is for 2 pianos. Anyway, the second piece of the three is called "Lent, sombre" (slow, sombre) and I was absentmindedly listening when I thought I heard one of the pianos playing Ein feste burg. My ears perked up - yes, undoubtedly it was! Isn't it true, you hear hymn tunes in the most unexpected places!

First time ever...

I was listening to some Chicago the other day. Now before you get all agitated about that being on a blog about hymns, take a deep breath! As I listened, I realized again the power of music to transport us in so many ways - time and emotion to name just two. Chicago takes me to my teens and twenties in a flash. Sometimes I even recall where I was when listening to that tune 'way back when.

There are a few hymns on a similar list - the list of "The first time I remember singing that hymn". Today I'm sharing one of those experiences with you, my reader. (I had to actually check back to see that I hadn't already written about this. I guess I just thought about writing it!) The first time I remember singing "Blest be the tie that binds" was at a family reunion in 1967, Canada's Centennial Year. I must have sung the hymn prior to that, but this occasion really sticks out in my mind. The reunion was my paternal grandfather's siblings and their descendants and until that day, I never knew how many Bull's there were! I don't recall the actual number of people attending, but to a 9 year old it seemed like an awful lot. As we were getting ready to go our separate ways, someone suggested we sing this hymn together. It could have been Dad I suppose but I don't know for sure. I know we sang at least one verse together - maybe more - and when I look back on it, I think that was pretty remarkable. What a blessing to share a hymn together at a family reunion!

Do you have a particular memory of the first time you sang hymn X? Please do share the memory with me.