As Something Old, for (I think) the fourth year in a row, I went Christmas caroling in Greenwich Village on Saturday. The meeting place was Judson Memorial Church on Washington Square South and the event was under the auspices of the West Village Chorale. Our group leader (I was in Group 3—I’m not sure how many they had in all) was the new conductor of the Chorale and he was certainly very energetic. A few of his starting pitches turned out to be a little on the high side, though none was totally out of range. And some of the carols were less than familiar to some of our group—I Saw Three Ships and Good King Wenceslas were some of those. And we sang Jingle Bells once and Rudolph twice, but no Joy to the World or We Three Kings. Fortunately, the weather was nice, if slightly breezy and chilly. It made singing “Heedless of the wind and weather” quite appropriate. Fa-la-la-la-la, indeed! Depending, of course, on the weather, I’ll probably go back for more next year.
The Something New was actually pretty old. I happened to see a little notice for a reading of “A Visit from Saint Nicholas,” by Clement Clarke Moore. Sunday’s event was the 105th annual reading at the Church of the Intercession at 155th Street and Broadway. The service was at 4:00pm, with a music program (about an hour) as a prelude. Several groups took part, including the Boys and Girls Choir of Harlem Alumni Ensemble; a handbell choir from the Church of the Good Shepherd, Bronx, NY; Uptown Brass (Artists in Residence at Intercession); and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City at Washington Heights. During the service itself, all of those groups performed again, plus singers from the New York Institute for Special Education, the Trinity-St. John’s Liturgical Dancers, and William C. Rhoden (a sportswriter for The New York Times), reading the poem, accompanied by Ron Carter, bass (a Guinness World Record holder as the most recorded jazz bassist).
Highlights of the prelude were Let It Snow!, and an up tempo Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town (Alumni Ensemble); various hymns from the handbell choir; a mix of classical and seasonal (Uptown Brass); and Christmastime Is Here (Young People’s Chorus). This may be something that is done with some frequency, but when the choir sang the “loo-loo-loo, loo-loo” portion, they pointed their faces up to the sky, evoking (to me, at least) Snoopy. It was new to me, and it was utterly charming.
As I mentioned earlier, it was indeed a church service, but one that was low key—lots of applause for the various groups, most everyone wearing antlers supplied by the church, and the Priest-in-Charge donning a Rudolph-style red nose at one point. For the reading itself, all of the children were invited to come to the front of the church and sit with Mr. Rhoden and Mr. Carter. The bass added some nice aural punctuation, and Mr. Rhoden’s reading had just the right touches of drama. And of course, the kids joined in with him a couple of times. At the end of the service, there was a procession to Moore’s grave across Broadway for the laying of a wreath. I didn’t actually join in the procession, but I did follow along, saw the wreath and the gravestone, and then skedaddled. I’m glad I went early for the prelude, because the church really filled up, but at an hour it was a bit too long, especially when the service ran about an hour, followed by the procession to the grave. While the whole thing was fun, I don’t think this one will be an annual tradition for me. And that is probably the last of my holiday music fun, although there might be some singing when I volunteer at a senior center on Christmas morning. So, in the spirit of Clement Clarke Moore, “Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”
ConcertMeister
No comments:
Post a Comment