And I was going to watch SportsCenter.......
But something else happened. I watched a choir. Now mind you, I am not a huge choir aficionado. I live in Southern California, mind you. Flip flops and Hawaiian shirts are the typical attire in our area. Sacred music in our world is often played by dudes who have forgotten modern shaving techniques, and who are also wearing Hawaiian shirts. Sacred music, schmakred music. Please.
Pictured above is the Choir of St. Olaf college, in Northfield, Minnesota. The other night, as the day ended, I flipped on the TV to see what might be on, and found on PBS the St. Olaf Christmas Festival. This is big time choral music, one of America's longest running musical celebrations of the Holiday Season, and has been named one of five significant global Holiday events by the New York Times. This is serious, major league, unbelievable music, performed on a scale that will nearly blow your shoes off. At one point in the program, I think there must have been more than 250 voices together. Whew! I want to go to this Festival once before I die.
Three words describe this concert and this choir. Oh. My. Goodness!
One song deeply touched me. Know alternately as This Christmastide, and also "Jessye's Carol" (as it was first performed by opera star Jessye Norman), composed by Donald Fraser. This is a choral piece that is, all at once, loud and resounding, praiseworthy, yet gentle, sweet, and thoughtful; referring to the gift of the Christ Child. The song develops in a perfect sine wave. I was a complete mess by the time it was over. Wonderful.
This Christmastide
Green and silver, red and gold and a story born of old,
Truth and love and hope abide, this Christmastide.
Holly, ivy, mistletoe and the gently falling snow,
Truth and love and hope abide, this Christmastide.
From a simple ox's stall came the greatest gift of all,
Truth and love and hope abide, this Christmastide.
Children sing of hope and joy at the birth of one small boy,
Truth and love and hope abide, this Christmastide.
Let the bells ring loud and clear, ring out now, for all to hear,
Truth and love and hope abide, this Christmastide.
Trumpets sound and voices raise
in an endless stream of praise,
Truth and love and hope abide, this Christmastide.
Green and silver, red and gold and a story born of old,
Peace and love and hope abide, this Christmastide.
We need these things. In a world that is wandering - Truth. For lives that feel empty - Love. For us all, facing loss, struggle, confusion - Hope.
This Christmastide.
Thank you, St. Olaf College Choir. Every last one of you. I have been blessed beyond words. You have expressed in song, things that reside deep within my soul.
You may be in a place where this is being rebroadcast. If you can watch it, drop everything, and do so. Forget SportsCenter, just for one night.
The video of the PBS broadcast is not yet on the web. To give you a taste of the musical ability of this choir, check this out:
But something else happened. I watched a choir. Now mind you, I am not a huge choir aficionado. I live in Southern California, mind you. Flip flops and Hawaiian shirts are the typical attire in our area. Sacred music in our world is often played by dudes who have forgotten modern shaving techniques, and who are also wearing Hawaiian shirts. Sacred music, schmakred music. Please.
Pictured above is the Choir of St. Olaf college, in Northfield, Minnesota. The other night, as the day ended, I flipped on the TV to see what might be on, and found on PBS the St. Olaf Christmas Festival. This is big time choral music, one of America's longest running musical celebrations of the Holiday Season, and has been named one of five significant global Holiday events by the New York Times. This is serious, major league, unbelievable music, performed on a scale that will nearly blow your shoes off. At one point in the program, I think there must have been more than 250 voices together. Whew! I want to go to this Festival once before I die.
Three words describe this concert and this choir. Oh. My. Goodness!
One song deeply touched me. Know alternately as This Christmastide, and also "Jessye's Carol" (as it was first performed by opera star Jessye Norman), composed by Donald Fraser. This is a choral piece that is, all at once, loud and resounding, praiseworthy, yet gentle, sweet, and thoughtful; referring to the gift of the Christ Child. The song develops in a perfect sine wave. I was a complete mess by the time it was over. Wonderful.
This Christmastide
Green and silver, red and gold and a story born of old,
Truth and love and hope abide, this Christmastide.
Holly, ivy, mistletoe and the gently falling snow,
Truth and love and hope abide, this Christmastide.
From a simple ox's stall came the greatest gift of all,
Truth and love and hope abide, this Christmastide.
Children sing of hope and joy at the birth of one small boy,
Truth and love and hope abide, this Christmastide.
Let the bells ring loud and clear, ring out now, for all to hear,
Truth and love and hope abide, this Christmastide.
Trumpets sound and voices raise
in an endless stream of praise,
Truth and love and hope abide, this Christmastide.
Green and silver, red and gold and a story born of old,
Peace and love and hope abide, this Christmastide.
We need these things. In a world that is wandering - Truth. For lives that feel empty - Love. For us all, facing loss, struggle, confusion - Hope.
This Christmastide.
Thank you, St. Olaf College Choir. Every last one of you. I have been blessed beyond words. You have expressed in song, things that reside deep within my soul.
You may be in a place where this is being rebroadcast. If you can watch it, drop everything, and do so. Forget SportsCenter, just for one night.
The video of the PBS broadcast is not yet on the web. To give you a taste of the musical ability of this choir, check this out:
5 comments:
December 23, 2007
I am so pleased to post a response to the St. Olaf Choir. Over the years I have heard them, but they were especially excellent this Christmas Year. I would simply second everything that the original poster--Steve wrote, including his comments on Jeseye's Carole.
I was most impressed with the young men and women who sang their hearts out, and also the musicians. The directors also allowed for fun moments such as watching that group of young men making the bell sound. You could tell by their faces and the face of the conductor that it was planned fun.
What a great way to prepare to celebrate Christmas. That was my choral experience and now I can focus on the "Catholic thing."
Steve from Oklahoma City
As a current member of the St. Olaf Choir, I can't express in words how amazing it makes me feel to read how Christmas Fest has touched your life. Dr. Armstrong is always reading us letters, but somehow reading this myself has further inspired me to sing me heart out for people I will never meet.
God's Peace,
A.S.
Please know, sir, that it is truly an honor to sing for you. I am one of the voices lucky enough to sing in that concert and am twice blessed to be able to don the purple robes in the lower left corner. To be making music with so many is like having a room full of brothers and sisters embracing you.
Choral singing gives more reward to the soul than most people could dream to experience. Not only is it a simple joy to sing with the voice that every human being is given, but we get to share that gift with each other and, through an experience like our Christmas Festival, the world. To participate in pure creation as in choral singing is, to me, to connect my heart to a divinity that at once gives me the thrill of being alive and human, and paradoxically transcends the boundaries of flesh in order to see into the light of all life.
Know that when we sing, sir, we see directly into the hearts of all we sing with and all we sing for. So I say again that it is truly my pleasure to have sung for you.
D.T.
Amen. Amen. I get a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye when I hear this song in my recording of the 2007 concert. And especially when I think of Who it's all about, One worthy of all praise.
It is great to see the faces in this "rainbow choir," all showing unity of purpose and sincerity of heart.
This may not be politically correct to say but let me quote a saying I heard in my childhood long ago: "Islam has its sword, but Christianity has its song." Read the Bible and the Koran and you'll see the truth in that.
This is over two years later, after your blog entry about the St. Olaf College Christmas choir concert, however, I will go ahead and post anyway. I had watched the PBS broadcast, on our local PBS station, of the St. Olaf College Christmas Festival earlier this week (the week before Christmas 2009). I have, for several years, watched the St. Olaf Christmas Festival on PBS. Like you, I have always found it very touching and inspirational - AWESOME, in fact! It has always been very uplifting and I found it to be that again this year as well. The broadcast was from a previous year and sometimes I have wished that they could record and broadcast the current year festival, however, it was great nevertheless. I had always found "This Christmastide (Jessye's Carol)" to be especially touching and uplifting. I couldn't always make out all the words but found it awesome nevertheless. I decided to try to find out what all the words are and something about the origin of it. As I did my Google search, I found your blog and was happy to find that you have the same opinion of the St. Olaf College Christmas Festival as I do. I was also happy to find that you have the words to "This Christmastide (Jessye's Carol)"! Wonderful, thank you! May God bless you and yours and the St. Olaf College Choirs, past, present and future! AMEN!
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