Lorem Ipsum Part 7 State of the Art, or Heart? Essential Re-choirments Gordon Borror No matter what you may be shopping for, a TV, refrigerator, car, and computer you are probably looking for the latest and greatest with just the right bells and whistles. To say something/anything, from a recording device to a saw, common knowledge says I want the state of the art tools so I can have the best possible result. Of course, this carries over into the musical arts whether buying a new instrument or preparing to perform a symphony the desire is to have a definitive performance which requires the knowledge of music history and style, technic in conducting, and the superior skill of all the musicians involved, the standards are VERY high if you intend to re-present the state of the art in performance! In schools of music around the world, professors/students are all looking to prepare the artists capable of such standards but all agree there is no such thing as a perfect performance there is ALWAYS room for improvement. In Church choirs over the years, we ve all discovered our musicians are usually ordinary people without sophisticated degrees in music we all are used to working with the willing to achieve the best result of which we are collectively capable always working to improve while attempting to do our best for the glory of God and our fulfillment. It s similar to the goal of achieving maturity in Christlikeness; there is ALWAYS room for growth and improvement. We know God requires righteousness and excellence in our lives, He doesn t settle for the mediocre. What He makes is truly artistic look at the flowers coming into bloom in Springtime, the details of design and color, shapes and sizes God s work is remarkable wherever we look, obviously HE IS a perfectionist! It is all a part of His revelation of Himself, which should leave no doubt in ANYBODY that HE IS and what His demands are. By His grace He furnishes the power of the Holy Spirit to empower us and lead us to His expectancies. As a choir we strive for excellence not to try to impress God (which we can never do) but BECAUSE we know Him and appreciate His standards and work to reflect
them! The big understanding here is to know what God treasures from His children He knows our art will never measure up to His standards but He desires for us to strive for improvement, with His help as we represent Him, His glory, His salvation, His love-mercy and grace! He knows the limits of our abilities, although we often don t measure up to our potential. He IS interested and invested in our art but He is more interested in our heart! He looks for a yielded and submissive heart, a pure heart, a committed heart a heart determined to love as He loves, serve as He serves, be sacrificial when it s called for and devoted to His glory at all cost! His redemptive plan is designed to redeem our hearts from sin and its consequences and to give us a new heart which has been purified by His shed blood and re-shaped in His likeness ready to serve and devote ourselves as needed to serve Him better! Many of us have grandchildren (and greats ) our little 3 year old made a picture of me the other day hopefully it bore (Borror) little likeness to my standards, but it was an honest attempt and she worked as hard as her ability allows at this stage, and I loved it!! (Of course, because I love her!) I believe that s the way God looks at our attempts as we handle the art He as bequeathed to us with which to re-present His glory we are to do our best with what we have to offer because we LOVE GOD and all HE has done and will do into the future not because we are worthy artists trying to impress HIM, but because HE knows the state of our hearts and our sincere desire to serve HIM with our best! HE sees right beyond our art and into our heart, inspects it for purity (which HE provides), and accepts our sacrifice of praise coming from thankful voices that s why we SING and prepare!! 2
Foundations Of Faith I Stand Amazed Of the 7000-8000 songs Charles Gabriel wrote, I Stand Amazed in 1905 is by far his most popular hymn. Self trained in music, he went from leading singing school educational events, to church service and working in a publishing house. The Rev. Carlton R. Young, editor of The United Methodist Hymnal, notes: "This song of gratitude and praise for the atoning death of Jesus is a personal and Adventist interpretation of Luke's account of Jesus' sweating blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, a portion of the passion narrative not included in the other Gospels. Although with not the same poetic skill, Gabriel captures some of the same joy as does Charles Wesley in "And Can It Be" when he says, "Amazing love! How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?" How s your memory? Memorizing music can be daunting, but choruses that require it report that their singers connect better with the conductor, with the music, and ultimately with the congregation. That doesn t mean we need to never use sheet music on Sundays. William Metcalfe, conductor of Oriana Singers of Vermont, believes that holding the music helps singers understand how the vocal parts of those pieces interact with the instrumental accompaniment. I have always felt that choirs, especially amateur choirs with a good deal of musical sophistication, learn music differently when they have all the parts of the score in front of them, William says. Let s be clear on memorizing: you don t have to memorize the entire music in order to engage better with the director and the congregation. If you can memorize everything, great! However, you can also memorize just a few critical points in the music score and thereby have a positive impact in the service. Select places to pay attention to: 1. Very beginning of the score Just as the first paragraph of a book sets the expectation for the whole book, so does the beginning of the music. Seeing our faces is most important here. 2. At the end of a phrase before long rests This ensures we watch the conductor so we all cut off at the same time. 3. Start singing after many measures of rests As a transition, we need to watch the conductor for a proper start again. 4. At any point there is a fermata (a hold) How long to hold is always at the discretion of the director. Depending on the style and mood of the music, the hold may be quick, or slow. Knowing the words before and after the hold is important. 5. When there is a retardo Memorizing the words is especially important here, as every retard is different. The only way for the entire choir to match the same retard is to watch the director, and that means to memorize the phrases there. 6. When a music line is repeated in several places in the music Nothing helps memorization and keeping the head up like repetition. 3
By no means can all this be done at once! As you practice your music at rehearsal, focus on just one of these six areas for the night. When at home, listen to the recording and continue to practice memorizing that one area. Start with memorizing a few words, and then memorize the notes. Do everything in small amounts for best results. Like a muscle, your brain will become accustomed to the process. Memorizing is purposeful act and unless you re blessed with a memory that s like fly paper, it take doing this over and over before it becomes natural. Remember, this is not about a performance. It s about communication. Whatever we can do to get our heads out of the music binder and looking up will allow us to better minister through singing. Fools for Christ April Fools Day isn t a religious holiday, though it may date to Pope Gregory XIII and his new calendar. In 1582, he shifted New Year s Day from April to January, and people who didn t believe the change were called April fools. April Fools Day may also be connected to the lightheartedness that comes with warmer weather, as well as to medieval Christian festivals that involved pranks, disguises and a temporarily inverted social order. Yet, in Scripture, such reversal characterizes the kingdom of God. In 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, Paul writes that the Gospel seems foolish to people who don t know Christ, that God uses the foolishness of our proclamation to offer salvation to all and that God s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. Jesus foolishly inverted the social order, saying the last will be first and the first, last. So if on April 1 and every day we live as fools for Christ, we re precisely what he calls us to be! Main Adult Choir Website: http://tiny.cc/t0si2x 4
Choir Member Spotlight Carol Brown Seems music is in Carol s blood, since she s been singing and whistling since she was 2 or 3 years old. She started singing in a choir in high school and continued in to college. Since 1984, she s been singing in the church choirs where she s attended. Carol and Max have been attending Village since Dec. 2000. Like most of us, one of her favorite hymns is How Great Thou Art. One of her favorite Bible verses is: Phil. 14:13, NLT "For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." Betsy Adams Betsy is a closet alto disguised as a second soprano. (Don t we all wish to be Altos!) She began singing in high school girl s choir as an alto and has sung most of her life. She missed singing a few years in college due to shyness (what??), but 10 years ago when she and Jake start at Village, she headed right to the choir. Her favorite hymns are Great Is Thy Faithfulness (because He is) and O The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus (because it is mysterious & rich just like His love). Her life verse is Galatians 2:20 and next favorite is Romans 6. April 13 David Moxley, 26 - Magdelena Davis 5