2020-12-07
Once more, with feeling
The only time I get to "practice my craft" these days during the Coronavirus pandemic is Sunday morning. For an hour, I get to sit on the organ bench and play a handful of selections during the Methodist service. My brother-in-law is usually across the sanctuary on the piano, and we often have a good friend who plays guitar in our trio. At moments, I can't see my hands or feet because of the protective gear I wear, and we are constantly watching for safety issues as the service unfolds; but it feels good to have even a brief chance to do what we all were trained to do, something we love a great deal.
I warned my compatriots last week, though, that I wanted to "reclaim" the organ postlude. Through the year, during our services outside, and on the front steps, and through November in our highly ventilated and spaced out sanctuary, we have played the postlude together. But I finally asked if I could return to my usual practice, which is to play either a score from the vast sacred organ repertory or to improvise on a theme. Because my trio mates are fine people, they said go for it. Weekend before last it was "Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme" by Bach from the Schübler chorales. This past weekend it was the chorale prelude on "Vom Himmel hoch da komm' ich her" by Johann Pachelbel. (Yes, Pachelbel wrote something besides that damn canon. He was, in fact, a prolific and talented composer who wrote many >other< fine scores that deserve our attention. But I digress.) These are both well-known Advent chorales in the organ repertory, so I was delighted to play them. I put my iPad in record mode while I played, so you can listen to the take if you like.
I always wonder, however, whether it is a good thing to return to the same scores each year at the same time. Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter are full of famous scores that are played everywhere at those liturgical times. More often than not, if I >don't< play a particular score "on schedule" I hear about that from parishioners! (Nice to know they are paying attention...). This year in particular the return to "comfort food" aspect of hearing the familiar and beloved is fundamentally good. This lovely chance to visit "old friends", however, is actually making me wonder how old they are. Perhaps it is time to set up a rotation of scores for these times in the church year. I am a big fan of learning new scores on an ongoing basis, and that will have to happen if I am going to lengthen the list of "faves".
Meanwhile, I think reconnecting the church to its traditions may be more important than ever. Let's hope we can revisit practices and celebrations that we love as soon as possible!
If you have more questions about this topic, don't hesitate to contact me and we can chat.
K
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