Friday, January 30, 2009

Music Memories

Today I took a walk down an "aural" memory lane. I spent two days in a little storage room filled with tattered old hymnbooks, old typewritten chorus books, cassette tapes and other assorted items. A filing cabinet contained years and years of church choral music & books, which have seen very little use in the last few decades. As I opened each folder, the notes and melodies floated from the pages and came to life and I could hear the rich sounds of the choir singing in our little church where the acoustics were so good that no microphones or booming speakers were necessary.
The children's musical book, "Bullfrogs & Butterflies" reminded me of the "Sonshine Singers" choir that I led for many years. How keen the kids were as we presented it several times. "Friends" was a youth production presented thirty years ago when our daughter was in highschool. The robust Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" just jumped off the page. The full harmonies of "O Lord, Most Holy", "Sanctus" and "With A Voice Of Singing" rechoed in my ears.

It was enjoyable to recall all those beautiful songs and good times, but I came away with a deep sense of sadness and loss.

Somehow, I felt like I needed to find a graveyard for these rich musical treasures, thank God for the precious memories and say my last goodbyes.

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