Sunday musical offering — Father’s Day edition
June 17, 2018
5 Comments | 
comfort & joy, musical offerings | Tagged: Concordia Choir, Father's Day, René Clausen | 
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Posted by bluebird of bitterness
Happy Flag Day
June 14, 2018Everyone knows the concert band version of “Stars and Stripes Forever” by John Philip Sousa. Heard less often — probably because it’s so diabolically difficult to play — is the piano transcription by Vladimir Horowitz, which requires one person with ten fingers to cover all of the parts normally played by dozens of musicians on brass, woodwinds, and percussion.
(While picking through various performances of the Horowitz arrangement on YouTube, I found that he was not the only musician audacious enough to turn “Stars and Stripes Forever” into a piano piece. I found, among other things, a version for three pianists playing one piano, one for four pianists playing two pianos, and another for eight pianists playing four pianos — all of them delightful.)
6 Comments | land of the free, musical offerings | Tagged: Flag Day, John Philip Sousa | Permalink
Posted by bluebird of bitterness
Sunday musical offering
June 10, 2018
Through all the world below
God is seen all around;
Search hills and valleys through,
There He’s found.
The growing of the corn,
The lily and the thorn,
The pleasent and forlorn,
All declare God is there.
In meadows dressed in green, God is seen.
See springing waters rise,
Fountains flow, rivers run;
The mist that veils the sky
Hides the sun.
Then down the rain doth pour,
The ocean it doth roar
And beat upon the shore,
And all praise, in their ways,
The God who ne’er declines His designs.
The sun with all his rays
Speaks of God as he flies;
The comet in her blaze,
“God!” she cries.
The shining of the stars,
The moon when she appears,
His awful name declare;
See them fly through the sky,
And join the solemn sound all around.
1 Comment | comfort & joy, musical offerings | Tagged: Alice Parker, Collegium Musicum | Permalink
Posted by bluebird of bitterness
Sunday musical offering
June 3, 2018
O they tell me of a home far beyond the skies,
They tell me of a home far away;
And they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise,
O they tell me of an unclouded day.
O the land of cloudless days,
O the land of an unclouded sky;
O they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise,
O they tell me of an unclouded day.
O they tell me of a home where my friends have gone,
They tell me of a land far away,
Where the tree of life in eternal bloom
Sheds its fragrance through the unclouded day.
O the land of cloudless days,
O the land of an unclouded sky;
O they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise,
O they tell me of an unclouded day.
O they tell me of the King in His beauty there,
And they tell me that my eyes shall behold
Where He sits on a throne that is bright as the sun
In that city that is made of gold.
O the land of cloudless days,
O the land of an unclouded sky;
O they tell me of a home where no storm clouds rise,
O they tell me of an unclouded day.
2 Comments | comfort & joy, musical offerings | Tagged: Shawn Kirchner, Wheaton College Concert Choir | Permalink
Posted by bluebird of bitterness
In memoriam
May 28, 2018
6 Comments | land of the free, musical offerings | Tagged: heroes, John Williams, Memorial Day, Mormon Tabernacle Choir | Permalink
Posted by bluebird of bitterness
Sunday musical offering
May 27, 2018In honor of the birthday of Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910), here is a rousing rendition of her greatest hit, “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
2 Comments | comfort & joy, musical offerings | Tagged: Iowa All-State Chorus, Julia Ward Howe | Permalink
Posted by bluebird of bitterness
Sunday musical offering
May 20, 2018
Come and taste along with me
Consolation flowing free
From the Father’s wealthy throne
Sweeter than the honeycomb.
I’ll praise God and you’ll praise God
And we’ll all praise God together;
We’ll praise the Lord for the work that He has done,
And we’ll bless His name forever.
All that come with free good will
Make the banquet sweeter still;
Now I go to mercy’s door
Asking for a little more.
I’ll praise God and you’ll praise God
And we’ll all praise God together;
We’ll praise the Lord for the work that He has done,
And we’ll bless His name forever.
Goodness running like a stream
Through the new Jerusalem
By a constant breaking forth
Sweetens earth and heaven both.
I’ll praise God and you’ll praise God
And we’ll all praise God together;
We’ll praise the Lord for the work that He has done,
And we’ll bless His name forever.
Oh return, ye sons of grace;
Turn and see God’s smiling face.
Hark! He calls backsliders home;
Then from Him no longer roam.
I’ll praise God and you’ll praise God
And we’ll all praise God together;
We’ll praise the Lord for the work that He has done,
And we’ll bless His name forever.
1 Comment | comfort & joy, musical offerings | Tagged: Alice Parker, North Dakota State University Concert Choir | Permalink
Posted by bluebird of bitterness
