To those of you who celebrate the Christian festival, I'd like to wish you a happy Easter. To others who, like me, don't subscribe to such matters, I hope you have a happy and peaceful Sunday.
As it's my last day off until my long weekend starts on Friday week, I'm intending to chill out, and little more. Given I've decided not to do much, though, you may have the dubious pleasure of being regaled by more than one post today. Hopefully it won't be too traumatic!
An Easter memory has just struck me. From when I was 10 until my voice broke (shattered into a thousand pieces, more like!) when I was about 14, I was a church chorister. Easter Sunday was absolutely my favourite day of the ecclesiastical year, because we always, amongst the hymns and psalms, sang an anthem called 'Ye Choirs of New Jerusalem' by C.V. Stanford, and I loved it. Even though I was pretty much an atheist by the end of my time in the choir, I still enjoyed the actual singing, and nothing more so than that anthem.
Love & best wishes to all
Sammy B
Oh yes - some of the best music was written and then dedicated to a church - coz it might well mean that you could get paid for it and if not - well, perhaps you could get absolution for something!
ReplyDeleteBut yes - Happy Spring Solstice! Pete and I will be enjoying our chocolate eggs (his will be milk chocolate and mine won't) but of course the egg is a symbol of fertility and rebirth. We have celebrated spring in this way since long before anyone ever made up those stories about ghosts who died and then walked again.
Mind you - the chocolate incarnation of the egg is, of course, pure commercialism from those Quakers, I presume, who ran our chocolate companies.
So many things come back to commercialism on one level or another, don't they?
Enjoy your roast chickens or spring lamb and your eggs - however you take them!
Hello Micky
ReplyDeleteDoesn't everything come down to money and commercialism these days? I won't be enriching the chocolate manufacturers, anyway - whatever else is the cause of my being a lot more substantial than is realistically good for my health, it isn't a sweet tooth!
Enjoy your day!
Love & best wishes
Sammy B
Never been religious, however I joined my local church for the sake of singing. Always loved that. Unfortunately, when my voice broke I basically got kicked out. Recognize the story? :D
ReplyDeleteHave a great Easter, you too.
Love
Daniel
Hello Daniel
ReplyDeleteI went to a church affiliated primary school, so I was kind of indoctrinated into religion as a young child, but soon grew out of it as my intellectual faculties developed. I did enjoy the singing, though, until my voice had other ideas!
Love & best wishes
Sammy B
It's interesting that over here, children's choirs, with a few exceptions, tend to be groups of kids catterwawling in ten different keys, more or less - usually less - in unison. Over there, children's choirs are taken seriously, the music is so beautiful. We have youth choirs, that usually start about 13 or 14 years old, after most of the ravages of puberty are finished with the voices, since I guess the boys would refuse to sing soprano or alto because they might be considered "gay" of course. I loved my time in the youth choir, beginning when I was about 12 years old and continuing through uni. Easter's music was always my favorite.
ReplyDeleteHappy Easter, Sammy, I hope this is a blessed day for you and yours!
Peace <3
Jay
Hello Jay
ReplyDeleteChoirs, in the sense that they were understood when I was a chorister have changed over here, too - mind you, it was 40(!!!!) years ago when I started - there are probably more girls than boys involved now, and the sound is different. I on't want to seem prejudiced, because I'm really not, but the more traditional type of church music that I used to sing was written for male voices, boys and men, and just doesn't sound as good sung by mixed choirs.
Happy Easter to you.
Love & best wishes
Sammy B