Category: Missionary Work

The Days of '47

7/24/2023

The Days of '47 is a holiday in Utah celebrating the Pioneers first entry into the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. We honor those pioneers who pushed across the plains hoping to build a new community in the batten mountain lands west of the current United States. Those early Latter-day Saints had been kicked out of the USA for their religious beliefs. They were being persecuted and oppressed and by moving west hoped to find a place where they could practice their religion in peace and safety.

We honor those early pioneers for their courage and endurance. We also honor today's pioneers who believe in God and also push forward with faith to practice their religious beliefs.

Several years ago I was asked to write a song to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the creation of the Baltimore Maryland Stake. The Stake President requested a song that would recognize the faith of the early pioneers of the Church as well as capture the strength and spirit of the new pioneers who are currently building the kingdom of God in the Baltimore area. There are many converts in the Baltimore area who are first generation members and truly new pioneers. The inspiration came in an instant. Of course, they were "Building on a Legacy of Faith" of those who went before, but they were also forging onward in new territory with new challenges and new triumphs.

"Building on a Legacy of Faith" may be sung to commemorate the efforts of the early Pioneers of the Church as well as to celebrate the many new pioneers throughout the world in our day who are bravely pressing on, ever seeking Zion.

It is a stirring Pioneer Anthem as well as a wonderful Missionary Anthem. These words exhort us to continue onward:

"Serve the Lord. Trust His word.
Make known His wondrous works in all the earth.
Learn of Him. Call upon His name.
Prepare for the day when Christ will come again."

"The time has come to stand a little taller,
To demonstrate our faith in the living God.
To do the work of His Beloved Son, our Master,
To follow in the ways that our Savior trod."

"Building on a Legacy of Faith_____
Ever moving forward; ever seeking Zion.
Servants of our God, working hand in hand,
Ever building on a legacy of faith."

0 Comments

Buiding on a Legacy of Faith

6/8/2023

0 Comments

Several years ago I was asked to write a song to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the creation of the Baltimore Maryland Stake. The Stake President requested a song that would recognize the faith of the early pioneers of the Church as well as capture the strength and spirit of the new pioneers who are currently building the kingdom of God in the Baltimore area. There are many converts in the Baltimore area who are first generation members and truly new pioneers. The inspiration came in an instant. Of course, they were "Building on a Legacy of Faith" (SATB, Piano, 2 Flutes) of those who went before, but they were also forging onward in new territory with new challenges and new triumphs.

The song needed to link the past with the future. It needed to be painted with broad strokes on a large canvas. It needed a heroic scope and concept. This song came about as if I was writing a screenplay and score for a movie. I knew what needed to be written because I could see and hear it unfolding in my mind like a movie in Cinemascope. The scene opens with the purple mountains in the distance and as the camera sweeps in closer, the wagon trains appear with many pioneers struggling, but ever pressing forward with faith, determined to reach their goal, ever seeking Zion. Then the scenes continue to unfold to see the growth of the Church due to missionary efforts in many lands around the world. Yet it is only through the faith, diligence and obedience of these new pioneers, those exceptionally courageous individuals, that the work rolls on.

Oh, how I wanted this song to be premiered by a large choir accompanied by a large orchestra, but I knew I was limited in scope to a 50 voice choir, piano, string quartet and two flutes. What we lacked in orchestration, we more than made up for in spirit and enthusiasm. The song was received well and the 30th Anniversary Celebration was a success. The song went on to win an Award of Distinction in the annual Church Submission contest and was performed on Temple Square in Salt lake City.

"Building on a Legacy of Faith" may be sung to commemorate the efforts of the early Pioneers of the church as well as to celebrate the many new pioneers throughout the world in our day who are bravely pressing on, ever seeking Zion. It is a stirring Pioneer Anthem as well as a wonderful Missionary Anthem. These words exhort us to continue onward:

"Serve the Lord. Trust His word.
Make known His wondrous works in all the earth.
Learn of Him. Call upon His name.
Prepare for the day when Christ will come again."

And then these words of President Gordon B. Hinckley provide the reason we do what we do:

"The time has come to stand a little taller,
To demonstrate our faith in the living God.
To do the work of His Beloved Son, our Master,
To follow in the ways that our Savior trod."

"Building on a Legacy of Faith_____
Ever moving forward; ever seeking Zion.
Servants of our God, working hand in hand,
Ever building on a legacy of faith."

A simplified version of this song is also available. "Building on a Legacy of Faith"- Unison or 2-Part

0 Comments

Tried and True Planning Strategies

3/20/2023

0 Comments

What do you say about a special program that was well-prepared and the actor/singers gave good performances, but the concert was still lacking? As an audience member, I wanted to give appropriate applause to show the performers that I appreciated their efforts. However, I could not bring myself to give the show a standing ovation.

There seemed to be two major problems. The first was that the individual songs went on too long! Each one was over 4, maybe over 5 minutes. The second problem was that all of the songs used many of the same musical ideas. Those few rippling flute lines and other motives were nice in the first song, but quickly got old by the later songs. And those same accompaniment figures and chord progressions were very reminiscent of the love themes from 1990's soap operas and movies. They just seemed out of place for a sacred program performed in a chapel even when the subject matter included love stories from the scriptures.

Our directors used to tell us during Tabernacle Choir rehearsals that planning a Music and the Spoken Word program, whether you believed it or not, was SHOW BUSINESS. All of the elements had to fit in the proscribed time period and follow accepted norms. However, there always needed to be elements of surprise to keep the audience engaged.

People really have short attention spans. They need to have VARIETY as well as FAMILIARITY. They like what they know and they only stay engaged for the amount of time they expect. Even the best prepared and executed performances can suffer if they stray from certain expectations. Who knows when the audience will decide to lose interest?

So, how does a director or composer put together a pleasing show? According to sources I respect, they should always remember the 2-3 minute attention span limit. Plan VARIETY into the program --- periods of new material followed by familiar material, vary TEMPO, MOOD, ACCOMPANIMENT and MELODIC IDEAS while not straying too far from what is known and expected. This is a tried and true programming strategy.

Some songs CAN go on for more than 3 minutes and still provide enough VARIETY to stay interesting. RONDO, for example, is a song form where one section comes back between other melodic adventures.

"O That I Were an Angel" is a Sacred song in RONDO form. The text is from Alma 29:1-9 and are the words that Alma the Younger spoke as he shared his desire to cry repentance to every people. The repeating Rondo section contains the following text and is used to tie the other sections to the whole:

O, that I were an angel that I might have the wish of mine heart,
O, that I were an angel that I might have the wish of mine heart.
That I might go forth to preach with the trump of God,
With a voice to shake the whole earth!
With a voice to cry repentance to every people, every people!
O, that I were an angel that I might have the wish of mine heart.

0 Comments

Remembering the Fun Grandpa

3/11/2023

0 Comments

March 11th is always a difficult day for me. It is the anniversary of the passing of my dear husband. But it is also a time to remember all of the wonderful times we had as a couple and as a family. Ellis was a builder, a hiker, a surfer, a story-teller, a "foodie," a swing dancer, an engineer, a problem-solver, and could play harder than any of the kids.

Even before we had children of our own, the neighborhood kids would come by our house and ask, "Is that big kid home yet? We want to play with him." When we were just new parents Ellis grew out his beard. At one family reunion where there were many extended family members who didn't know Ellis, some of the second cousin's kids came into the house asking to play with that "fun" grandpa. Nobody knew who they were referring to until they said, "No, the grandpa with the beard. We want to play with him!"

It has been fun to go through all my photos in hopes of organizing them into some sensible arrangement. Pictures of Ellis having fun with the kids and grandkids are so numerous. He looked as good in a Hawaiian shirt as in a Tuxedo. I love pondering those good times. It makes me happy that we have so many pictures to remember him by!

But of all of the good things that Ellis was, he mostly was a missionary. He never shied away from sharing his love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I like to think of him now preaching to the souls in the spirit world who never had the chance to learn about the Gospel while they were on earth. These words of Alma in the Book of Mormon make me think about Ellis. He's probably having fun preaching right now.

"O, That I Were an Angel" vocal solo based on Alma 29:1-9

0 Comments

The Days of '47

Buiding on a Legacy of Faith

Tried and True Planning Strategies

Remembering the Fun Grandpa

Author

Archives

Categories