A couple of weeks ago, I attended the BYU Organ Traveling Workshop in Raleigh, NC. And here is my report.
Since I live a couple of hours away, I chose to stay in a hotel, catch the organ recital Friday night, and then attend the workshop early Saturday morning.
Also, to make it fun, I decided to visit my work's building in Raleigh, attended the temple nearby, and met with family. And after the whole event, I met with a good friend and we got some tasty brick oven pizza.
I'll start with a few pictures I took.
Here's me attending the temple ...
Parking at the organ recital was more packed than I had expected ...
A rainstorm while we were there ...
And a crazy sunset on the way back home ...
I wish I had taken more photos, like -- some actual pictures from inside the workshop? But oh well. I present all this introductory material just to say: I know these workshops may be a long ways away from where you live, but hey! Why not make a fun trip out of it? You can learn lots of new organ techniques and see the sights along the way. Life is a journey -- live it up!
BYU Organ teachers host a traveling workshop that visits different cities around the US, so that others can enjoy some of the same instruction that occurs at their annual conference each August in Provo, UT. This is all due to the generous donations of one benefactor who believes in educating new organists and help transfer this knowledge to others.
You can visit here to see where they are going next. In our case, the one in Raleigh featured an organ recital on a Friday night, and about 6 hours of workshops the following morning. Our teachers were: Neil Harmon, Connor Larsen, Felipe Dominguez, and Kymberly Payne.
I knew I was in for a treat when I saw how many cars were pulling into the church parking lot for the Friday night recital -- and yes, seating was quite packed. It was an hour-long recital with some impressive organ music. Larsen's performance of Harmon's Variations on "Book of Mormon Stories" seemed to steal the show.
The next day, I attended all the "Beyond the Basics" seminars, where we discussed advanced pedaling technique, creative registrations, simple reharmonization techniques, alternative voicings of hymns, how to encourage and teach new organists, and more.
There was even a beginners course for children, which at the end of the day involved building a small functioning portable organ. Part of me wish I could have witnessed some of that.
I also got to see a lot of organ players from the extended Raleigh area, including several organists from my own stake. I was joking around with one of my friends for most of the seminar. And we remarked that we had both learned words for things we were already doing and also some new techniques.
I also learned that I had been sitting too far back on the organ bench, and I know what I need to do next to improve my organ playing.
Oh -- and big tip. If you attend one of these seminars, you're going to be tempted to start using some of these new ideas right off the bat. Well, for me, the next day was stake conference, and I made that mistake, and it failed miserably. It got so bad that I couldn't find the pedals on the closing hymn and ended up just dropping the pedals. Dang. Luckily most people thought it was just a unique registration choice. They were like: "You were making mistakes?"
So -- you're probably going to want to practice first before actually employing some of these new techniques.
Oh -- and did I mention that the whole thing is free? (Except for amounts you might have to pay for outside food, a hotel room, and gas. But hey -- looks like we were in the same hotel as some of the organists.)
If one of these workshops comes around in your neighborhood, come check it out. It'll be fun!!
For the past several months, I've been busy with different projects, including two amazing experiences.
In October 2023, I had my first orchestral debut in Seattle. The Ensign Symphony and Chorus performed my arrangement of "Come, Come, Ye Saints" in Benaroya Hall.
They also gave me a backstage tour. Here I am with my wife and singer friend among all the other singers.
What Benaroya Hall looks like from backstage ...
They also showed me an Easter egg in the carpet ... can you see a flamingo?
Here I am with my family -- getting ready to hear the concert.
Here is the orchestra and choir getting ready to perform my piece.
When it was all over, the conductor asked me to stand up so they could see me. Afterward, people told me how much they liked my rendition, and I signed a few autographs.
This is only part of the story, but I'll come back in a couple of months to give a lot more details, and even provide a recording of the arrangement.
And then a couple of weeks ago in June 2024, I got to sing in Carnegie Hall. "What?" you may ask. "Carnegie Hall? How did you score this?" Here I'll tell the quick version of the story.
In high school, our choir teacher, Thomas Yackley was and still is a very proficient teacher. He knows how to take ordinary people and make them into top-notch singers. He not only taught us the music, but he taught us countless techniques so that we could learn the music on our own - talents that have helped me to excel throughout my life.
A few years after I had graduated, he arranged for his choir(s) to sing in Carnegie Hall -- they were that good. My sister got to go on that trip as a teenager, and she had a blast. I was a little jealous, though. (Heh.)
Here, I'm not up on all the details, but in short, Thomas made friends, and with those connections, one of them was able to arrange another concert three decades later. Now Thomas has retired and now leads a community choir in Alpharetta, GA. And for a group of amateurs, they are surprisingly good. As such, they were worthy for a gig at Carnegie.
Thomas invited me and other alumni singers to join in. So, it became my turn to go to Carnegie. And -- yes it was a blast.
It did take some work. I had to work up the music on my own -- well, that part wasn't hard. But I went down to Alpharetta in May for a preview concert. This would give us a chance to rehearse and combine, and actually perform in front of a live audience, and learn what we needed to work on.
Here's a recording of our Durante Magnificat. (And yes -- we got a standing ovation that day).
And then came the big NYC city trip. Lots and lots of sightseeing! I saw my first Broadway show on actual Broadway.
As part of our Carnegie deal, we had to combine with a couple of high schools that had won many awards. It ended up being a large crowd, and we had two really long rehearsals to get it all together. Tiring, but lots of fun.
Here we are during break time ...
A picture of me outside of Carnegie Hall pointing at our poster...
Me on performance day right before going in ...
Practicing up on the 6th Floor -- and yeah, we had to take the steps.
Hey look everyone! I'm practicing in Carnegie Frickin Hall!!
And here's our fearless leader ...
After our portion, we got to sit in the audience for the rest of the show. Some Dvorak and Richard Strauss.
And a celebratory cruise after the performance...
Oh ... and here's a recording someone captured -- I don't think anyone got the Magnificat, though, which was crazy good. And yes -- we got a standing ovation again ... in Carnegie Hall.
There you have it -- two awesome experiences. I've taken mental snapshots so I can remember them forever. The only sad part is that I have no more such experiences lined up. But then again, I've only just begun. The best is yet to come.
Hello. This is Mel Windham, composer and owner of Melkim Publishing. And today I'd like to talk about our very first album, "Christmas Celebration." We're going to go behind the scenes while I tell the stories of how this album came together.
Before I begin, let me first invite you to visit our website: melkimpublishing.com/christmas-celebration. There you can see where this album is available: Where you can buy it, where to listen to it for free, and where you can get the sheet music. If you're watching this before our launch on Nov. 24, 2023, I also invite you to help us have a great first week. I'll tell you how you can participate toward the end of this video.
What you're hearing now is "Joy," my own arrangement. It matches the classic "Joy to the World" with other joyful songs, such as Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" and Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring." I wrote this piece in 2016, the same year I launched Melkim Publishing. I had wanted to open with a modest collection of Christmas selections: piano pieces and choral arrangements. And so I wrote "Joy" to open the series: a nice happy joyful rendition to catch everyone's attention. And likewise, it opens this album in 2023. And as you may hear already, I have a hard time writing easy music. I play what my brain hears and ... well ... it's never quiet in there.
"Joy" may be a great opening piece, but today's story really begins with "The First Noel," which I also wrote in 2016. It was the last piece I wrote for the grand opening, and knowing my pieces were on the difficult side, I wanted to write something short, very pretty, and easier. Well, it is a little easier, but I've come to learn that it's still "advanced." I just can't think of which notes to get rid of. I hear soft bells ringing at the top. I hold the pedal down for the entire first verse so we can hear the sonorities -- each note of the melody leaves a memory, and I make sure to pause often so you can hear them. And then it moves into a nice accompaniment with slightly jazzy chords, and a return to the bells at the end.
I also adapted this for women's choir, and I posted that rendition on Facebook. And someone named Daniel Carter commented: I really like this. And I blinked ... and said ... wait a minute. Is this the guy who wrote my favorite Christmas song growing up?
That's what you're hearing right now, "Shine for Me Again, Star of Bethlehem." It's a song about a shepherd boy who saw the Star, went to the manger, and then grew up to witness uncertainty when a voice reminds him, "Do not despair, your star is still there."
I pulled out the music, and sure enough, that's who it was. I pulled out the hymnal -- and yeah -- he was the one who also wrote "As Now I Take the Sacrament."
So, I'm thinking -- surely this isn't the same Daniel Carter that said he liked my music -- right? Well, it took me a while, but I finally got up enough nerve to reach out to him. It was little notes at first. A couple of months later he announced a clearance sale as he was closing up shop: he was giving up self publishing to focus on other ventures. So, I hurried to buy his music -- I bought one of EVERYTHING: Christmas selections, piano duos, hymn arrangements, excerpts from his musicals, classical vignettes, and so on. I desired to preserve his music so it wouldn't be lost to obscurity. I asked him if I could publish some of his music, and he ultimately relented.
He let me have a couple of pieces at first, and one is this piece you hear right now: a jazzy rendition of "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." This is a piece -- he tells me -- that he revised many, many times, because he wanted it to be perfect. He wanted to give us an entirely different sound attached to this old chant, and I believe he succeeded. It's why it's one of our best in sheet music sales.
As time continued on, we became great friends. I provided him with another outlet for composing. And in turn, he let me publish more of his pieces, and he even started promoting my business. I helped him, and he helped me. And we ended up trying several different larger projects.
What you hear now is Daniel's "Silent Night." I know he's revised this one a lot, because I've seen several versions throughout the years. He let me publish one beautiful arrangement for piano, flute, and soprano -- on the advanced side -- you should check it out. And if you know that arrangement, you'll recognize pieces of it in this piano solo rendition. Kind of like plagiarizing himself -- well, that's the wrong word -- he's just putting the material together in different ways to meet different stylistic goals.
There's one more song Dan has in this album: "Snowflakes Are Dancing," but it's quite short, so I don't have long to talk about it. He tells the story of his friend David who loved the piece for years and wanted to call it "Snowflakes Are Dancing." Instead, Dan called it "When Winter Dances," but David kept insisting. Even in the middle of a performance talk, David yelled "SNOWFLAKES ARE DANCING!" and the name stuck.
You may wonder: why did we include this piece that's not so Christmasy? Well -- we wanted to include two original compositions. One by Daniel, and one by me. And we both happened to have winter-themed pieces capturing snow, peace, cold, and wind. What you hear now is my own piece, "Winter." I wrote it originally in high school -- the first movement of my own Four Seasons. Move over, Vivaldi! It won third place in a statewide competition in Georgia, even though the judges seemed to deride my tonalities. If you listen carefully, you can pick up some Chopin quotes in there as well.
Here's another older one I wrote shortly after high school. This was when I lived in Korea, and they asked me to put together a version of "We Three Kings." And let me tell you -- Koreans really love their classical music. It's nearly impossible to walk by apartment buildings without hearing someone practicing the piano -- and several of them were quite capable. So, I tried to capture some of the melody styles I heard every day. After I state the theme, I venture to represent each of the three kings with three different kinds of music. One is mysterious, one is joyful, and the other is thoughtful. And then I bring back the theme to finish it out. I also decided to give it a funny name: "The Three Kings of Orient Are." This makes fun of the inclusion of the word "Are" in many hymnals. "Are what?" Exactly!
And that brings us to the last piece: "Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains." I wrote this in 2016 to finish off my Christmas piano collection -- I wanted it to be really big, with lots of bells. I also wanted to apply text painting -- where the styles of each verse matches the lyrics. The first verse is far away -- and slowly approaching. The second verse is somewhat angelic. The third verse is songlike, channeling Les Mis, and in the fourth verse, the heavens open up -- lots and lots of bells -- so many it takes three staves in the sheet music to hold it all. Possibly the hardest piece I've ever written, and it took me a LOT of practice.
But why did Daniel and I decide to do this project? Well -- I had been in the works of putting together some kind of album for years -- training myself slowly how to do sound engineering -- how to record and master the music. I wanted to start with piano recording and then work up from there.
When I talked about my plans with Dan, he said -- well, let's do one together. What? He wanted his name next to mine? So, we started putting together a general Christian collection, but as time passed, he said -- how about we do Christmas instead? So over the past year we recorded ourselves and I pulled it all together. You wouldn't believe how many hours we put into this.
The result? Now you can hear the composer playing their own arrangements. Well -- except for "Shine for Me" -- I needed to provide a quick sound sample for Jackman Music, who owns the song, to help convince them to give us permission to include it in our album. So I did one take, and sent it off. When Daniel heard it, he said it captured what he had intended perfectly, so he asked me to keep my version. I guess I liked that song so much that I couldn't help but pour my heart into it. Just one take. I'm honored that he chose to go with that recording. But other than that, we're playing our own pieces.
And why venture away from sheet music? Because streaming music reaches more people more quickly. You don't have to know how to read music and play the piano, like you do with sheet music. All you have to do is turn on Spotify or Pandora, and listen to it for free. It becomes a win-win situation for everyone.
And there you have it -- the glorious behind-the-scenes detail. Dan and I are having a blast doing all this, and we have future plans for more fun albums and other projects. Exciting!
Now, if you're watching this video before Nov. 24, 2023 -- you can help us to have a big launch. That's the day after Thanksgiving -- you know -- the day most people like to start listening to Christmas music? If we can get a lot of streaming hits and album downloads during the first 7 days, then that will help many others to hear this music, leading to success ... and who knows? Maybe in 2024, we'll hear these songs on the radio. Wouldn't that be something?
So, what can you do? Check out the website I mentioned earlier: melkimpublishing.com/christmas-celebration. It'll give you the most up-to-date information as to where you can see the music. It also gives preview videos, including this video for people to watch.
You can preorder the albums on Apple Music and Amazon Music. You can pre-save on Spotify for free -- so that you will get a reminder and hear the music once it's available. And most importantly: please share the website link with your friends.
And if you're watching this video Nov. 24 or later: knock yourselves out. Download the album. Listen to it for free on different streaming services. Add the album (or your favorite songs) to your personal playlists. If you have the option to give thumbs-up, go ahead and do it. Every click goes a long way.
Thank you for listening, and I hope you enjoy the music!
I'm not sure why I'm on this "growing up" music kick. But hey -- I should go ahead and get it out of my system, right?
This one is kind of funny. First, to get the full effect, make sure to revisit my earlier post on the 1978 show "Battlestar Galactica." That one remains one of my favorite openings in the way of music.
But then there was that show that aired right next to it: "The Hardy Boys." And it looks like they added Nancy Draw at some time. The shows aired right next to each other, but I can't remember which one came first. So, as usual back then before streaming, I would turn on the TV a little early to catch "Battlestar Galactica," which meant catching the ending of the previous show. And sometimes, before we turned off the TV, the next show started.
Either way, the theme song for "The Hardy Boys" is just so cool, so it caught our attention. All of us kids loved it. And the most funny part -- we never watched a single episode!
So, here you go ... possibly one of my most favorite theme songs from a show I had never watched ...
Okay -- in continuing with my childhood reminiscing, here's another one to help us celebrate 3/21, and perfect day for countdowns.
3-2-1 Contact was a Children's Television Workshop show that ran in the 1980's -- just in time for this kid to enjoy it. Though, I have to be honest -- it wasn't exactly my favorite show. It was one of those I'd watch if it happened to be on. They did show some cool things. It was the first time I saw a demo of a personal computer. I think it was a color Apple II-E computer.
But on the most part, I just loved the intro music. And now, you get to, too.
Hey. Mel Windham here ... and I know. It's been five years since my last music video. I've been a little busy. So I thought I'd take this moment and just talk -- catch you up on what I've been doing, and give a preview of things to come.
In the more recent past, I've been spending my time on two main ventures. One is my music business: Melkim Publishing, which started in 2016. I publish sheet music for church services, and also classical music: piano, organ, choirs, and more. I've written much of the music I sell, including some of the pieces you've seen performed on this channel. And I've also published music of some big-named composers as well. It's a new fledgling company, so it needs a lot of time and attention. It's doing okay, but I'm working on some big projects right now that may help it grow even more in the near future.
I invite you to check out my website here and see what we have to offer. While there, feel free to sign up for the newsletter, so you can keep up with future developments.
And the second venture is ... another YouTube channel! Instead of music, it's a series of self-help videos geared to help us all become better people. I call it "Always Be Better." As in: no matter how good we're doing, we could always do better. I pull from my own experiences, using logic, the 7 Habits, economics, music, science, religion, and other random aspects of our lives.
And get this: if you watch my videos in order, you can actually see them get better with time. I've learned how to make better recordings, how to master the sound, and other new talents related to making videos. I still have a long ways to go, but I'm enjoying every minute of this journey.
I invite you to check out my new series. And that's not all. You can start with this video here, where I give a tour of Melkim Publishing, and demonstrate how I put together a music book. You can kill two birds with one stone: check out my new channel AND my new business at the same time.
Now, what does this all mean for this music channel here? Well, over the past few years, I've been improving my piano technique greatly -- doing things the right way this time. And I've been composing more. I've been making friends and doing more collaborations as well. So it makes sense for me to start making music videos again.
You may see a few Melkim Publishing related videos pop up.
But I'm also thinking about doing a regular live series called: "Mel at the Piano." It'll just be me over here at this clunker piano, but I'll make it interesting. Many have asked me what it's like for my family to listen to me play music. So, maybe I'll give you a taste of this. I'll mix in some talking, demonstrate sight reading, perform some pieces I'm working on. I'll touch on technique -- how we can all get better at the piano, tell some stories, and so on. Instead of happy trees, I will promise happy keys. And these will be live events -- no editing -- just whatever happens, happens.
But first I must test my current technology -- see if it can handle live video. We'll see -- I'll run an experiment in a couple of weeks. And if it works, I'll kick off the series. I'm thinking Thursday nights.
Whatever comes next, I thank you for watching my videos over these last 15 years, and invite you to fasten your seatbelts, because we're going to have fun.
This is Mel Windham signing out, and I'll catch you soon.
A couple of weeks ago, I said goodbye to Burt Bacharach, and presented one of his songs from my childhood. And here's another big one from around the same time (for me) ...
The Bee Gees: How Deep Is Your Love.
You might laugh, but the local Channel 46 in Atlanta provided me the biggest exposure to this song. Whenever they had technical difficulties, or just plain killing time between shows near the top of the hour, this is the song they played. And they seemed to have a lot of down time.
So much that I started looking forward to the next time Channel 46 would go down, just so I could hear the song again. And just like people get big kicks from that certain logo bouncing directly into a corner of the screen, I would live for the day when the channel was down long enough for me to hear the part they rarely got to.
And there you have it ... random childhood memories. Music bringing back the memories!
The legendary Burt Bacharach has died, so here's a little tribute.
What's funny is that I've been thinking about writing about him recently, as over the past few months, I've had a little Bacharach revival. I knew he had written a couple of songs that were cool, but I had no idea that he had written nearly ALL of my favorite songs growing up in the 70s and 80s. It was getting so that I'd dream of a song, and my mind would analyze it and tell me: "Burt Bacharach wrote this song, too." And sure enough, when I looked it up: it was Burt!
He has a unique style -- he loves the major seventh chords and other popular jazz chords. His melodies often jump to the 7th scale degree, and sometimes even hover around the 7th. I even just now learned that he studied from the prolific and unique composer Darius Milhaud.
My father would tell me how much he loved Burt's music, and that's probably where I got my exposure: he most likely played his Bacharach vinyl several times while I was going to sleep.
And what songs has Burt created? Perhaps you know one of the following:
(They Long to Be) Close To You
Do You Know the Way to San Jose?
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head
What the World Needs Now Is Love (Sweet Love)
Magic Moments (Yeah -- the Perry Como song they play at Christmas)
I'll Never Fall in Love Again (and a lot of other Dionne Warwick songs)
What's New Pussycat?
Arthur's Theme: Best That You Can Do
That's What Friends Are For
... and so on.
Here is one of my faves. I've always known it as "I Need Your Love," but it's really called something cheesy: "This Guy's In Love With You." I want to say I heard it played every now and then on TV stations when they were experiencing technical difficulties -- like that Bee Gees' song on Atlanta's Channel 46. (Oh -- I haven't posted that yet? I'll come back next week with that.)
Here's another blast from my past. It's one of the first tunes that I "remember," though not the first I heard. Either way, when I was 4, I imagined this as the opening credits music to my life. Yeah, I was that weird.
This is "Love's Theme" by Barry White, composed in 1965, but released in 1973 during the beginnings of disco. Totally orchestral with disco guitars and drum set interjecting, this piece hit #1 on the charts, helping to expose more to disco and launch more similar-sounding music.
And get this -- I had never known this was one of Barry White's creations until a week ago. Now that I know, I can almost hear his bass voice saying -- well -- just about anything.
For today, check out this video of Beethoven's 5th (first movement -- condensed) with sledding line-drawing hilarity. That's right, you can watch sleds and bodies flail all over the place to the music of Beethoven.
This animation uses an app called Line Rider -- a sandbox where you can set up lines for these sleds to ride on. If I had time, I'd probably try to do something like this -- but we'll see. So many other "good and fun" things to do.
Or I can just enjoy what others have already put together. On YouTube, you can check out DoodleChaos' channel and see several of these animations set to different types of music. Fun!
Have you ever wondered where the beginning/ending theme of Mr. Bean comes from? Well, wonder no more.
It turns out that the music, named Ecce Homo was composed specifically for the show by award-winning English composer, Howard Goodall.
The words in Latin turn out to be utter nonsense. This video reveals the translation:
Howard Goodall is also responsible for the main themes in other popular British shows such as Red Dwarf and Blackadder. And turns out he has an impressive repertoire as well.
Here is one of his classical offerings -- the first movement from his Eternal Light: A Requiem.
With the passing of Vangelis, I thought I'd share my two biggest exposures to his music.
I have a vague memory of attending a concert in the late 70s or 80s where this guy played in some kind of pyramid-shaped synthesizer ... probably Vangelis? At the Fox in Georgia? I can't remember any of the music, but I do remember thinking: I'd love to do something like that one day.
But I definitely remember the music that played through all thirteen episodes of Carl Sagan's COSMOS. You can enjoy this theme now ...
I also enjoyed the mood the music of Vangelis sets in the movie Blade Runner. It fits the noir atmosphere perfectly. First off, here is the opening sequence ...
And here is the "love" theme from that same movie (with random city pics) ...
Vangelis may be gone, but his music will last forever.
Earlier this year, I shared one of my newer favorite pieces, Pat Metheny Group's Last Train Home.
Then I came across a nice cover of this piece -- a guitar solo. Though he doesn't nail the chords and the time perfectly, it's still a really nice and relaxing rendition. It even comes with nice imagery during parts of the song.
This past year, I've been learning how to more effectively use Logic Pro, including how to master the music toward the end of the process.
What this means is after the music is recorded and prepared, you can set an overall level, add effects for richer sound, apply compressors to soften loud consonants, and so on. This is something I'm going to try with my voice in the very next video I record in a couple of weeks -- and also with a theme song I'm putting together for my "Always Be Better" series.
So, while being educated, I've started picking up some of these mastering techniques in the music we hear around us each day. It's kind of cool -- kind of like eyes being opened.
Anyways -- this strange experience happened. It starts with this sound clip from Close Encounter of the Third Kind ...
Because I've seen this movie so many times, that one song playing in the background -- "The Square Song" has stuck with me for years. And if one were to ask me, I would have said it was from Sesame Street, though I wasn't exactly sure. It could have been Electric Company for all I knew. So, I thought I would research.
I first found this ...
So yes -- definitely the same song, but something just wasn't right. The cover of the record lists some Sesame Street songs -- so I thought perhaps it was proof ... but then I also saw other non-Sesame Street songs, such as "Archie's Theme." So -- nope -- I wasn't convinced, yet.
And then I found another one ...
And immediately -- just from the sound alone -- my memory kicked in. Yes, it was definitely Sesame Street. If you listen carefully, each of the three clips above have different sound quality. The songs, themselves (the original sound file) is exactly the same, but in each case, that sound file has been mastered differently.
The top one sounds kind of tinny. As -- well -- it was a record being played while the aliens were messing with the electronics.
The middle one is probably the clearest recording, also on the bright side. It's probably the mastering done on the album itself.
And the last one sounds a little muffled -- exactly what I remember from "Sesame Street." I'm not sure -- but maybe applying a muffled mastering helps it to sound better on TV back in the 70's?
So -- give it a try. Listen to each of the three examples, and see if you can hear the difference. Do any of the recordings sound more "Sesame Street"-ish than the others to you?
This week, I bring a guilty pleasure. This is a classic piece that I had somehow gone decades without hearing until I finally heard it at the end of a Jo Jo episode. It immediately caught my attention -- some kind of slow train song. At first it sounds simple -- some kind of gospel chord progression. But then it became interesting. And then I was hit by a strange sense of sadness ... I think because it seemed to be foreshadowing the death of at least one of the main characters.
And then a sense of wanting to return home.
Anyway ... if you've heard it before, you probably already know what I'm talking about. And if you've never heard it before ... enjoy!
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.
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.
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.
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!
