I hope you enjoy this recording that my choir made in 2021 during the pandemic lockdown. We each recorded ourselves singing alone at home and then sent the files to our choir director. She mixed them together using some sort of software and it really sounds quite good, especially considering she’d never done anything like this before. It was also very meaningful to the choir, and to the congregation, to hear our voices blended again after being separated for so long. Many were struggling with loneliness and isolation.
The text “Dona nobis pacem” means “Grant us peace.” The melody has been passed orally, although it is sometimes attributed to Mozart. English-language hymnals usually mark it “Traditional.” It is sung as a round, so you can sing any of the three parts at any time. You’ll never be wrong.
Beyond use at church, the round has been sung around the world in secular settings as a prayer for peace.
In the past, I wrote about how we did a lot of puzzles during the pandemic, but then I decided I really only enjoy doing them once a year – at Christmas. It’s so nice to work on it together in the same room as the Christmas tree.
The only hard part is figuring out what music to listen to while we puzzle. I like the “Classical Christmas” station on Amazon Music, but after a while that tends to drive my husband out of the room. (To be honest, one too many versions of “Greensleeves” by the Celtic Women is annoying – even to me – and I love that stuff!) I came home the other day and he was working on the puzzle all by himself and listening to everyone’s favorite holiday band: Black Sabbath. 😂
I think we’ll finish by Christmas. We’re making good progress.
I love music and always have. I took years of piano and voice lessons, sing in a choir, and work for a music school.
Due to some recent hearing loss on one side, I’ve been fearing this very thing. What if I couldn’t hear music anymore?
And also, somewhat relatedly, how in the heck did Beethoven compose his 9th Symphony, Missa Solemnis, and other major works after he went deaf??
It would be terrible to go deaf and no longer hear music. But if I had to make a Sophie’s Choice between my vision and my hearing, I’d choose my vision. I think I’ve internalized enough music at this point in my life that I’d still be able to hear it in my head—like Beethoven…just not as well. Obviously.
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter are the only holidays we reliably celebrate together as a family. Thanksgiving is food. Easter is church and food. Christmas is church, food, presents, and MUSIC.
Christmas music is special and I’ve always enjoyed it. When I was a kid, I liked learning carols on the piano and singing along. We actually went door-to-door Christmas caroling in my neighborhood a few times. I also liked the kitschy Christmas albums that pop stars would drop, especially the Carpenters’ Christmas Portrait.
In high school, our annual holiday concert was a beloved tradition. The highlight was the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. Alumni were invited up on stage to sing it with the students. The Music Director, Mr. Phinney, was known to leave the podium and walk around behind the tenors to help them out on their big string of high notes.
I’ve performed Christmas music with many church, school, and community choirs over the years. In my current Unitarian Universalist (UU) church, we do a candlelight service on Christmas Eve. It concludes with everyone singing “Silent Night” in the darkened church as a real flame is passed from person to person. On the last verse, the piano drops out, many sing harmony, and everyone holds their lit candle high for the final “sleep in heavenly peace.” It’s a beautiful moment.
Me singing Christmas music with my high school Double Sextette, 1980sVery old sheet music that I still keep handy in my piano bench
Growing up in the 70s in suburban America, my sister and I watched a lot of TV. Our parents were not strict about it. We could basically watch as much as we wanted, but we were not allowed to watch late into the night. We had fairly strict bedtimes.
As little kids, we watched Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers—two fantastic PBS productions. From the vowels and the days of the week to how to process grief over a deceased guinea pig, we learned so much from those programs and we were lucky to have them. As we got older, Zoom was another fantastic PBS production created in our own backyard (Boston’s WGBH) that encouraged us to write our own plays, experiment, and learn to speak Ubbi Dubbi. You could write to Zoom for instructions on how to do activities seen on the show or send in your own ideas. I will never forget Zoom’s mailing address: Box 350, Boston, Mass, Oh, Two, One, Three, Four. The zip code must be sung!
We also watched hundreds of episodes of The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island, including many re-runs. Everyone in the neighborhood knew and talked about the important episodes, like when the Brady family went to Hawaii. Very exciting! We were not big Star Trek kids, but I remember certain episodes like the “Trouble with Tribbles.” The tribbles were so cute, like our guinea pigs.
For years, we could not miss an episode of Happy Days or Laverne & Shirley. They were both on Tuesday evenings. We loved those shows. My entire concept of the 1950s (my parents’ teenage era) comes from Happy Days. Laverne (played by Penny Marshall) immortalized the capital cursive L with those sweaters and made me want to get everything monogrammed.
It’s funny how I remember so few individual episodes of those shows, but can still sing virtually every theme song.
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