the EVERGREENS presentation on November 30th, I presented "Sounds of
Christmases past" for the Evergreens group of
Sewickley Presbyterian Church. I shared some of
the music I've played at Christmas over the last
35 years as a church musician. These are the
pieces I played, in recordings that date from
those previous churches I mentioned. Some, like
the second and third, are the actual
improvisations (I later wrote the music down
from the recordings). And, of course, you can
hear what it sounds like to be in the pipe room
from one of them. I've also included the other
three Pintaric Pastorales for your listening
pleasure. I only played no. 2 at the
presentation.
Our Featured RecordingIt's the
Vivaldi Gloria, as performed by "The Chorale" of
East Central Illinois, in 2019, on the group's
last concert. They have recently been reborn.
Here they are under the direction of Dr. Craig
Jessop, our favorite guest clinician. I am the
little dot at the organ. The group's founding
director was Julie Beyler.
After the joyous
reunion this year of all
of the tiny members of
the creche we keep atop
our entertainment
center, one of whomhad
been separated from
the rest for a very long
time, ourseasonal
mousegot
a bright idea: why not
go caroling at the
gingerbread house across
the way? And there was
much rejoicing, and of
course much off-key
singing. In fact, the
carolers enjoyed it so
much they asked our
humble mouse to organize
a caroling tour to
various creches in the
neighborhood. Our house
boasts several. Some are
made of felt, some
glass, some are
ornaments on our tree.
The mouse, an ambitious
fellow, thought he'd try
them all, but that was
before they thought of
the cat that patrols the
house, and before they
realized just what sort
of treacherous terrain
they would have to
overcome.
The first stop was a
creche made of glass, on
the mantle in the front
room.
number 3 will
just completely amaz--honestly, I
can't even remember number three.
My
wife thought I was a little bit
cracked, but she humored me. A
couple of Christmas Eves ago I kept
a close and fascinated eye on
the Norad Santa tracker.
If
you've not heard of it, let me catch
you up. In 1955, one company decided
to advertise in the newspaper that
kids could call in and talk to Santa
Claus 24/7. The number they
published was off by one digit. It
actually (and I am completely not
making this up)--it was
actually a very
restricted number for a
senior officer at the command
center for the North
American Aerospace Defense
Command or NORAD (this is where
they launch the nuclear missiles,
kids!). The commander who answered
the phone from the first kid asking
to talk to Santa Claus wasn't very
pleased. Apparently he made the kid
cry.
[t]here's one thing that I do enjoy
every year. Not the Christmas carol
parodies, or the Night Before
Christmas parodies, or all the radio
stations playing Sleigh Ride 45
times a day for a month and a half.
It's something our Bible study group
does the last week of the semester.
We go to the local Toys (reverse R)
Us and buy toys for kids who might
not get any this year because their
families are on hard times. ....
This
year I went with a dinosaur. Not
just any dinosaur, mind you. This
one was over two feet tall! With a
very pink tongue! And scary all the
same, even if he had just swallowed
a vat of Pepto Bismol.
