a masterpiece
I received an invitation from a good friend to sing in a choir for an upcoming conference. Of course, I am kind of a closet groupie for the director and her husband, and so the answer was easy. But then it became irresistible. My favorite arrangement of my favorite hymn in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' hymnal. I missed the first rehearsal, but attended tonight, and will next week as well.
I would probably walk over broken glass on top of burning coals to sing that song. Okay, not really, but if memory serves, I think I have sang it in performances one season, my first with the Heartland of America Community Choir and Orchestra, in 2004. Fourteen years. Now, those who have had me as a choir director know that as we sang songs I would say this was my favorite, or that one was, but really there is only one favorite. (no don't cue the Highlander music). Know what it is?
The lyrics and music were written by a frequent duo in the hymnal. It was written partly because most songs that are for funerals are either dirges, or sound like dirges when sung at funerals. They wanted to write a song that was more cheerful, and upbeat. I know, funerals are supposed to be sad, right? Gotcha, no, they aren't. While we can't help but grieve for the dead, and mourn with those left behind, for those with faith, we believe that this separation is but a brief moment, and we will see them again. No doubt the days seem impossibly long for the surviving family members, particularly if it is a spouse, or a parent that had lost a child, but as we hold onto our faith in Christ, that pain can be borne. But I didn't want to talk about mourning, or death.
The doctrine of Eternal Families is an essential part of Christ's church and our Father's plan for us. And while few churches actually have doctrine regarding the eternal nature of family, we have an instinctual feel that this is true. This is the light of Christ telling us that it is so. We will live again, and this is one of the missions of the church, to unite man in one eternal family, with those links going back to Adam. This is part of temple work that we as Latter Day Saints do. But we were talking about a song, weren't we? Yes, we were.
#286 in the hymnal is Oh What Songs of the Heart, by Joseph Townsend and music by William Clayson.
Oh what songs of the heart, we can sing all the day
When again we assemble at home
When we meet ne'er to part, with the blest o'er the way
There no more from our loved ones to roam
When we meet ne'er to part, oh what songs of the heart
We shall sing in our beautiful home
Though our rapture and bliss there's no song can express
We will shout, we will sing o'er and o'er
As we greet with a kiss, and with joy we caress
All our loved ones that passed on before
As we greet with a kiss, in our rapture and bliss
All our loved ones that passed on before
Oh, the visions we'll see in that home of the blest
There's no word, there's no thought can impart
But our rapture will be, all the soul can attest
In the heavenly songs of the heart
But our rapture will be in the vision we'll see
Best expressed in the songs of the heart
Oh, what songs we'll employ, oh what welcome we'll hear
While our transports of love are complete
As the heart swells with joy, in embraces most dear
When our Heavenly Parents we meet!
As the heart swells with joy, oh what songs we'll employ
When our Heavenly Parents we meet!
Take a moment and read the lyrics. Can you see the joy of this time? The joy of meeting those that passed before? The music is beautiful that goes along with it. And yes, it said Heavenly Parents. As children of our Father in Heaven, it seems logical that God is not a single parent. Families are eternal.
As beautiful as that music is, the arrangement that we are singing sets the bar so high that it leaves the very same words, and the same tune in the hymnal feel lacking. I can't ever sing the song without hearing organ notes at the beginning, whether they are played or not. The arrangement is by Mack Wilberg of the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra on Temple Square.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_NCGrwn4o8
A beautiful song, a beautiful arrangement, I am so happy and blessed that I have the opportunity to sing it once again.
Fun fact. When the new hymnal for the church was released in 1985, it did not ( and still doesn't) include the song "Come thou Fount of Every Blessing". People often ask why. I have on good authority, that it just wasn't sung all that much. That surprises people, because now everyone loves the song. Why do they love it now? comment below.
Curious about the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square? Website below
https://www.thetabernaclechoir.org/
I would probably walk over broken glass on top of burning coals to sing that song. Okay, not really, but if memory serves, I think I have sang it in performances one season, my first with the Heartland of America Community Choir and Orchestra, in 2004. Fourteen years. Now, those who have had me as a choir director know that as we sang songs I would say this was my favorite, or that one was, but really there is only one favorite. (no don't cue the Highlander music). Know what it is?
The lyrics and music were written by a frequent duo in the hymnal. It was written partly because most songs that are for funerals are either dirges, or sound like dirges when sung at funerals. They wanted to write a song that was more cheerful, and upbeat. I know, funerals are supposed to be sad, right? Gotcha, no, they aren't. While we can't help but grieve for the dead, and mourn with those left behind, for those with faith, we believe that this separation is but a brief moment, and we will see them again. No doubt the days seem impossibly long for the surviving family members, particularly if it is a spouse, or a parent that had lost a child, but as we hold onto our faith in Christ, that pain can be borne. But I didn't want to talk about mourning, or death.
The doctrine of Eternal Families is an essential part of Christ's church and our Father's plan for us. And while few churches actually have doctrine regarding the eternal nature of family, we have an instinctual feel that this is true. This is the light of Christ telling us that it is so. We will live again, and this is one of the missions of the church, to unite man in one eternal family, with those links going back to Adam. This is part of temple work that we as Latter Day Saints do. But we were talking about a song, weren't we? Yes, we were.
#286 in the hymnal is Oh What Songs of the Heart, by Joseph Townsend and music by William Clayson.
Oh what songs of the heart, we can sing all the day
When again we assemble at home
When we meet ne'er to part, with the blest o'er the way
There no more from our loved ones to roam
When we meet ne'er to part, oh what songs of the heart
We shall sing in our beautiful home
Though our rapture and bliss there's no song can express
We will shout, we will sing o'er and o'er
As we greet with a kiss, and with joy we caress
All our loved ones that passed on before
As we greet with a kiss, in our rapture and bliss
All our loved ones that passed on before
Oh, the visions we'll see in that home of the blest
There's no word, there's no thought can impart
But our rapture will be, all the soul can attest
In the heavenly songs of the heart
But our rapture will be in the vision we'll see
Best expressed in the songs of the heart
Oh, what songs we'll employ, oh what welcome we'll hear
While our transports of love are complete
As the heart swells with joy, in embraces most dear
When our Heavenly Parents we meet!
As the heart swells with joy, oh what songs we'll employ
When our Heavenly Parents we meet!
Take a moment and read the lyrics. Can you see the joy of this time? The joy of meeting those that passed before? The music is beautiful that goes along with it. And yes, it said Heavenly Parents. As children of our Father in Heaven, it seems logical that God is not a single parent. Families are eternal.
As beautiful as that music is, the arrangement that we are singing sets the bar so high that it leaves the very same words, and the same tune in the hymnal feel lacking. I can't ever sing the song without hearing organ notes at the beginning, whether they are played or not. The arrangement is by Mack Wilberg of the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra on Temple Square.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_NCGrwn4o8
A beautiful song, a beautiful arrangement, I am so happy and blessed that I have the opportunity to sing it once again.
Fun fact. When the new hymnal for the church was released in 1985, it did not ( and still doesn't) include the song "Come thou Fount of Every Blessing". People often ask why. I have on good authority, that it just wasn't sung all that much. That surprises people, because now everyone loves the song. Why do they love it now? comment below.
Curious about the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square? Website below
https://www.thetabernaclechoir.org/
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