Behind the Music

Mendelssohn’s Farewell–Three Sections from His “Christus”

June 21, 2022November 10, 2021 by debisimons

O-o-o-o-h man! Are there ever going to be some deep theological highways and byways in this post. So hang on and let’s get started with this wonderful choral piece which was tragically truncated by Mendelssohn’s early death in 1847 at the age of 38. He had apparently planned to write an entire oratorio, Christus, following the same trajectory as Handel’s Messiah, but left only a few finished sections and a number of fragments. A set of three excerpts dealing with the birth of Christ is well suited for use at Christmas, and consists of a soprano recitative, a male trio, and a chorus.

What’s with the Twelve Days of Christmas?

November 20, 2023November 2, 2021 by debisimons

I remember back in elementary school being teased a bit by some Jewish classmates about the superiority of Hanukkah over Christmas: “You only have one day to get presents, but we have eight.” I’m sure I wasn’t quick-witted enough to mention the plethora of gift-giving in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” with its extra days of celebration. So here’s the information I didn’t have back then.

But first, before you read any further, you must watch the absolutely definitive performance of this song by none other than John Denver and the Muppets. Here’s the link (sorry about the horrible low-res quality):

Menorah Mysteries

October 11, 2023November 1, 2021 by debisimons

First question: Why is the pictured lamp stand more authentic and correct as a part of the Hanukkah celebration than the usual candelabra?

Answer: Because the whole story of Hanukkah is about oil, not candles.

Second question: Should there be seven or nine branches on a menorah?

Answer: It depends. . . .

We Are Altogether Unprofitable Servants . . .

November 9, 2021October 13, 2021 by debisimons

. . . We have done that which is our duty to do” (Luke 17:10).

Note: This post was originally written in April 2016 and has now been updated.

I’m not going to try to give the full Scriptural background for this verse since I’m applying it in a very specific way. I will just say that this is something Jesus said to His disciples in a discussion about faith. You can read the entire chapter at Bible Hub.

This verse originally came to mind as I was congratulating myself on how much work I was doing to prepare for an upcoming Cherry Creek Chorale concert, which included the Mozart Requiem. (I’ve since finished a book on this wonderful work; you may purchase it here or here.) I always struggle with learning new music, especially the difficult stuff (of course).

Were the Hills Ever Really Alive with the Sound of Music?

June 21, 2022September 27, 2021 by debisimons

The real Maria von Trapp, late in life. Image accessed via https://www.factinate.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Untitled-28-1.jpg

In other words, is there a true story behind the musical? And of course there is, and it’s much more interesting than the plot that could be crammed onto the stage or into a film. (Note the proper use of prepositions.)

We all know that when we see the words “based on a true story” at the beginning of a biopic or a docudrama that we’d better not take the storyline too seriously. Those warnings don’t appear at the beginning of The Sound of Music, but perhaps they should. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed researching the real von Trapp family and would urge you to follow the links below to get a fuller picture than I can give here.

How Can I Explain the Backstory of “How Can I Keep from Singing?”?

June 21, 2022September 20, 2021 by debisimons

I think this is the second time I’ve had a double question mark in a post title. Always up for a grammatical challenge, that’s me. (That’s I?)

Anyway, when my choir, the Cherry Creek Chorale, recently rehearsed this piece the conductor said, “This is one of the most-frequently arranged songs around.” There’s no way to definitively quantify the number of arrangements out there for any piece, but it does seem to be quite popular. As usual I’m more interested in the words than the music, but the tune is truly lovely, written by a Baptist minister, Robert Lowry, in the mid-1800’s. I was interested to see that his three other most-famous hymns, “Christ Arose,” “Nothing but the Blood of Jesus,” and “Shall We Gather at the River?” are all songs I’ve sung in church myself. I love, love, love “Shall We Gather” and always sort of thought that it was a folk song or spiritual.

Sinuses, Allergies and Tightness–Oh My!

March 21, 2022September 13, 2021 by debisimons

This post may come across as rather self-indulgent, but I thought, since this is a choral music blog, that it might be helpful to my readers to learn about my long and frustrating experiences with trying to get a handle on my voice/throat issues. You may recognize some of your own symptoms in mine and get some ideas for dealing with them. If you find yourself nodding off in the middle of my fascinating story, then I guess that’ll be a hint that you don’t need the information!

I’ll begin with the fact that I have always had incredibly tight/stiff neck, jaw, and shoulder muscles. When I was a speech major in college and taking a class called “Voice and Diction,” our teacher gave us an exercise in which you were supposed to take hold of your chin and move the

The Kings of Rock and Roll (Queen) and their Mega Hit “Bohemian Rhapsody”

March 8, 2023September 6, 2021 by debisimons

https://debisimons.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Bohemian_Rhapsody.png — This is the cover art for Bohemian Rhapsody. The cover art copyright is believed to belong to the record label or the graphic artist(s). This low-res image was provided to Wikipedia and is used here under my understanding of fair use in a non-commercial and educational context.

I found myself in an interesting situation writing about a choral arrangement of songs by the British rock band Queen. I’d kinda sorta heard of them, but I would have been hard pressed to come up with any of their song titles. Until, that is, I started listening to their four hits included in the arrangement by Mark Brymer, “A Tribute to Queen.” ‘Hey, wait a minute!’ I thought. ‘That’s that song they play at football games.’ (“We Will Rock You.”) “Hey, hold on here! That’s the song Chicken Little sings after he’s improbably scored the winning run for the Oakey Oaks middle-school baseball team.’ (“We are the Champions.”) ‘Hey, what gives? Those are Weird Al Yankovic songs.’ (“Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Another One Bites the Dust,” only they’re really “Bohemian Polka” and “Another One Rides the Bus.” Not a Weird Al fan? Well, I’m sorry to hear that.) I was also vaguely aware that there’d been a movie not too long ago titled Bohemian Rhapsody which seemed to be sort of a big deal and which was about the band. (The lead actor, Rami Malek, won Best Actor for 2018.) And the name “Freddie Mercury” rang a faint bell. Well, I have to say that it’s been pretty interesting to dive into the world of Queen. I used to be a real music snob, but singing with the my own choir, the Cherry Creek Chorale, has revamped my musical taste. We sing such a variety of music, from ABBA to Alberti and Broadway to Biebl, every piece prepared and performed at the same high level of artistry, that it’s simply impossible for me to maintain my snooty attitude.

A Song about Singing—“It’s a Grand Night for Singing”

June 21, 2022August 29, 2021 by debisimons

The long road to this song started with a novel, State Fair by Phil Strong, written in 1932. Its unifying event is . . . wait for it . . . the three days of the Iowa State Fair, in which a farm family consisting of a husband, wife, daughter and son have various adventures and romances over that period. And in case you were wondering, yes, the fair is still being held. I just looked it up. Now it lasts 11 days instead of three; the 2021 dates were August 12-22. It’s quite a production these days with all sorts of entertainment and events, some separately ticketed and some included with the general admission charge. There are still the various competitions including livestock, beekeeping and beermaking, and, of course, you can still get food in ample supply—including anything and everything you can eat off a stick. The fair had some COVID advisories in place this year but nothing mandatory; the fair was, however, canceled in 2020, marking the first cancellation of the event since World War II.

A Timeless Text Set by a Timely Composer—Elaine Hagenberg’s “Alleluia”

June 21, 2022August 18, 2021 by debisimons

One of the greatest pleasures for me in writing these music posts lies in finding out about choral composers who are active today. Yes, it’s always rewarding to find out more about the creative geniuses of the past, and I’m typically surprised when diving into the life of someone such as, say, Antonio Vivaldi or Robert Schumann. So fascinating! But guess what? I can’t go onto those guys’ websites and use the contact form. I can’t message them on Facebook. It’s very gratifying to get info straight from the composer’s mouth, as it were, as I’ve been privileged to do a number of times.

So I was pleased to find out that we’re singing a piece by Elaine Hagenberg for the October 2021 concert of the Cherry Creek Chorale, my beloved community choir. Our conductor, Brian Leatherman, had told us previously that a consortium of choirs had commissioned a 20-minute piece from Hagenberg which will be premiered in May 2022, but I didn’t know until the music list came out that we were also performing an already-published short work of hers. The title led me to believe that we were singing the Randall Thompson version, which we have done before and which is seriously, seriously great. But so is the Hagenberg piece! My take, as a totally underqualified music analyst, is that Thompson is . . . sturdier? And Hagenberg more . . . lyrical? Or is that too gender stereotypical? What I think is really interesting is that Thompson’s piece is more than double the length of Hagenberg’s but that he uses only the single word “alleluia,” while Hagenberg has a middle section in which she uses text from St. Augustine. Very different approaches, totally masterful results.