I've just been having some music fun with the kids -- first, we practiced allegro and adagio and crescendo and diminuendo (learned from Disney's Little Einsteins) and then the kids danced around while I played some ragtime. I'm thinking about holding the allegro/adagio and crescendo/diminuendo in reserve for the next time I do primary music time -- our last music leader used animal signs (turtle/rabbit and lion/mouse) to play games with tempo and volume, and it would be fun to expand the game by teaching them the musical terms. I confess to using diminuendo around the house quite regulary, because M's standard speaking voice is SO loud. Wow.
Speaking of music, I also spent time today copying an arrangement of Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing for our choir to sing. It's one of the best hymns ever! And three of the lines have the same melody and it's still great. Another lovely one? We performed All Creatures of Our God and King last week as part of our Easter program -- we had nice arrangments for almost everything else we sang, but we did just the standard hymn version for this one and it's so powerful, all on its own. Nice stuff. (Yay for Vaugh-Williams) Any other all-time favorite hymns? Tell me in your comments. Here are some more of mine:
Know This, That Every Soul Is Free
Lord, We Come Before Thee Now
Be Still, My Soul
Our Savior's Love
About Me
- Morgan
- I'm a mom of 4 living with my fantastic husband (N) and kids (M1 - age 8, V - age 5, E - age 3, M2 - very small) in Texas. With Wicker for a last name, we are all true basket cases here. This blog is about us and my interests and anything else that comes up. Enjoy! I'm trying to preserve at least some privacy for the kids, so I refer to them by initial only. Thanks for doing the same in your comments!
4 comments:
I have lots and lots of favorites. And, of course, Christmas carols would get a category all their own, right? All hymns have a great message but I prefer some because of the music: If You Could Hie to Kolob, The Wintry Day, Praise to the Man (Scotland the Brave!) and As the Shadows Fall (D Flat). Some are my favorites because of the words: Jesus the Very Thought of Thee, There is a Green Hill Far Away, Abide with Me and Abide with me Tis Eventide. Others remind me of my Baptist days: How Great Thou Art and Rock of Ages. And then some are a perfect combination of words and music: For All the Saints, Come, Come Ye Saints, The Spirit of God, and I Stand All Amazed. If I had to pick one (and that's so hard) it would be Come Thou Fount of Ev'ry Blessing. I think it's time we wrote to the Church music department to ask to have that one restored to the next hymnbook that comes out.
I know, right? Why is it not in the hymnal?? I used to drag my old brown one with me for prelude just to play than one hymn (for Dave, of course. It is his favorite).
I love love love Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken purely because it is the theme of my favorite Haydn quartet. It also happens to be the German national anthem. Heh.
The kids favorite (from the Children's Songbook) is Samuel Tells of the Baby Jesus. I'm pretty sure we've sung it every FHE for a year. Although this week we sang the Super Why! song. Very reminiscent of Jingle Bells.
Guess who's a ward organist as of this morning? So I'll be playing all your faves.
Just came across your lovely post. I also love the poem "Know this that every soul is free"
Some of my favorites to sing are "O How Lovely Was the Morning" (an entire first missionary discussion set to music), "The Spirit of God" (very powerful and rousing), and the beautiful "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" (this was removed from the old hymnbook because no one sung it. Shortly afterwards, Mack Wilberg did his famous arrangement for the choir and it is now in the LDS "top 10"! If they ever do a revised hymnbook I am positive it will return. That is not likely in the near future, as putting the 1985 version together - with subsequent choosing what would stay, what would go, and what would be added was just a mammoth, exhausting and generally unpleasant undertaking for the church music committee!
As a side note: The gorgeous and internationally beloved "Amazing Grace" is often requested for me to sing at funerals. (simply beautiful in every way, but sadly not included in our cannon of hymns - however, I have been told by someone involved in the 1985 process that it almost did make it, and was cut in the '11th hour')
Take care and keep raising a joyful noise to the Lord!
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