Introducing Vox Dulcis Chorale

Today, I'd like to introduce you to this women's choir: the Vox Dulcis Chorale, based in Malta. That's a small island country south of Italy and Sicily.

This choir has chosen to sing one of my Christmas pieces next month, so I'm excited -- I'll share more details about that later. It was something I wrote specifically for that choir -- trying to match their capabilities based on other videos I had seen.

So, check it out. Aren't they pretty singers?

As Saints We Sing -- an Alternative Hymnal

A Hymnal! We've got a Hymnal! What need do we have for another hymnal?

It turns out -- plenty. This hymnal provides 176 new hymns written by various members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and some of them are quite good.

As some general authorities have recently stated, our day is an era of unfolding revelation, which includes inspired music. The arts are one way that inspiration has come and touched a lot of people. With this in mind, I don't believe an "official" hymnal is meant to be a closed book. There is always more room for more inspiration and little revelations.

"As Saints We Sing", compiled by Michael D. Young, represents a few years' worth of work. First, there was a call for hymns. A committee combed through the submissions, and chose the 176. And then the hymns were compiled.

The result is an attractive product. The paper is good thick quality. The spiral binding is strong. The pages stay open and sit nicely on the piano. Its dimension are similar to the "official" 1985 hymnal. And the overall format is also similar.

As for the hymns themselves, I now present a review mostly from a musician's perspective. On the lyrics -- I'll just quickly say they look decent and doctrinally accurate, and I'll leave it to others to judge artistic merit.

As for musical quality, most of the hymns are decent. Every now and then you'll find a parallel fifth (used incorrectly), some strange voice leading, and sometimes some strange rhythms. But on the most part, I like these hymns. Some are very good. I wouldn't be surprised if several of these make an appearance in the next "official" Latter-day Saint hymnal coming out in a few years. Some -- I don't care for at all.

But what most caught my attention the most was the willingness of the composers to try new and adventurous ideas. There was one hymn in particular that I disliked the first time through -- but then one minute later, the structure seemed to form in my mind and identify itself. I said, "Let me try that again," and I understood it the second time through -- a very interesting journey through different harmonies. If only we could see more of this to enhance our hymns!

Before continuing, I should disclose that I have received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I was not involved at all in the creation of this book, as I didn't even know any of the hymn writers until a couple of years ago. It so happens that one of my hymns will appear in a second printing -- but this has no bearing on this review.

So, to make this an honest review, I need to point out some "mistakes of men." As there are a few -- easy to identify within a few minutes. Keep in mind that I'm a perfectionist, so these mistakes may not even faze most people. I find the music print and the lyrics to be on the small side. I would space the music differently -- such as bringing two pages of music into one on several occasions. Sometimes the notes don't line up nicely. There are many hymns that span across a page turn. (The "official" 1985 hymnal has absolutely zero page turns in any given hymn.) I saw perhaps one or two missing words in the lyrics -- though I can't remember what hymns I saw them in. But then again, looking back at several historical hymnals, it's not too hard to find similar "mistakes of men." I should note that I did not find any obvious musical errors other than my personal engraving preferences.

Despite these "mistakes," I think most people would enjoy this collection. I would strongly recommend checking it out. It is geared more toward Latter-day Saint services, but many of these hymns are also compatible with other denomination's services. Overall, I'm happy that this collection exists -- that musicians and lyricists continue to create new music to help worship God -- even on some topics not yet touched in our current canon of hymns. I'm sure these could help bring the Spirit to any church meeting.

Choose Something Like A Star

This is one my favorites I sang in high school: "Choose Something Like a Star" set by Randall Thompson. Back then it didn't strike me as something phenomenal, but growing older, I've come to appreciate it greatly. The harmonies and melodies that were ingrained in me at the time of singing have stayed with me for decades.

And the words by Robert Frost are timeless -- reminding us that all of our problems -- the coronavirus, political strife, racism, murders, and all the hate are absolutely nothing in the universe. There is something larger than it all -- something to which we can all turn to and focus our attention.

The last four lines:

So when at times the mob is swayed
To carry praise or blame too far, 

We may choose something like a star

To stay our minds on and be staid.

 This is one of the few songs that brings me peace.

Peter and the Ambulance

Here's one to file into the "curses of the perfect pitch people" file. My parents gave me the gift of perfect pitch when I was a little baby by playing nonstop classical music as I slept. I've yet to flesh this out to a full-fledged talent, but I still often get hit by these unsolicited gems -- I hear something, and the pitches remind me of something else.

For example, somewhere in this past decade, I started hearing Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf" whenever I heard an ambulance siren, and I wondered why. I then realized -- oh -- it's the exact pitch contour of the bird theme -- the flute solo!

Say what? Here, let me demonstrate.

We'll start with that flute solo, here ...

 

Okay -- got that? This bird them starts somewhere in the middle -- goes up to a high Ab, and then drops down to a lower G, goes back up to Ab, and back down to G.

And now are you ready for this? Once you hear it, it might destroy your commute home. 

Compare with this typical ambulance siren...

Heh heh heh! Aren't you glad you heard this?

BTW -- some of you with perfect pitch may say, "Wait, Mel. This ambulance sound is actually a half step lower than the flute thing." And that would be correct -- the ambulance siren in that recording goes up to a high G and back down to a lower F#. 

But keep in mind that when you first hear an ambulance, the Doppler Shift is going to push the pitch higher -- bringing it back up to being between high Ab and low G. When the ambulance passes, the pitch will then drop to something lower (like Gb to F), but the ear worm damage will have already been done.

So, there you go. Now when you're driving home and you hear an ambulance, you can think of little birds. You're welcome!