We Never Remember days, only Moments - My Musical Moments for the Easter Season... Open Memoir

 

In one of the churches I've attended, each service would start with choruses to move into a prayerful attitude before the service started...

In our church the Easter Season began with Palm Sunday, On that day we would have palm leaves to distribute to those who were there. But as you can see by the videos I choose, they rarely relate to any specific religion or denomination, but rather to share the historical event that occurred during that last week of Christ's life... We would sing songs that appeared in our hymnals for that day, such as the following...

I remember these words from a cantata I was once singing in a choir from various churches. I loved that short vwrse sung--I am crucified with Christ, yet I live, but not I. Christ liveth in me... I sang the solo part. But I could only find one individual putting the words to music... It's not sung like I did, majestically, but I wanted to share how the words sound musically...

But that was afterward...after Jesus was crucified, of course. But my favorite of that event was On a Hill Far Away...

But the song I most liked to sing solo, was The Robe of Calvary. I'm going to go out to see if I can find it... When I saw this one by a woman, and heard the opening, chills rose up on my body. I hope you can hear me singing; I'm a strong singer like Jilly, LOL.

But the most powerful experience for Easter happened many years later when I had moved to Morgantown, WV, and invited to attend a church that at that time was meeting in what appeared to have been a large furniture store--hundreds were seating there in foldup church as a new church was being built... The song was Were You There (when they crucified my Lord?)

The congregation had sung the first verse and was moving on to the second...you know the words...Were you there when they nailed him to the cross... BUT, just as we sang the word nail, over the loud speaker, suddenly the soldier was hammering the nails...slowly keeping time to the song, as we heard the nails being pushed into the body of Jesus! I felt I was there being crucified with Christ... The steadiness of the pounding of the nailes as each one was placed and broke the skin of Our Savior... I know I cried that day... But, even now, as I close my eyes remembering that Moment, I know I felt the pain of Jesus as he was nailed to the cross...for...me... For You...

But then three days later we would sing again! Low in the Grave

Normally somebody from my family would sing a solo. My brother especially liked this one...

One day an elderly woman in church asked me to sing Living for Jesus as a solo.  My sister would be my pianist and she wasn't sure about the chorus; broader finger range, while I didn't think I could reach the high notes any more... We delayed until one Sunday she looked up at me expectantly, but it was not the song, so I explained afterward that I had tried but could no longer reach the higher notes. She looked at me and said, simply, well, then go lower... Me the soprano who was always selected to reach the high notes in our choir had never even thought of "going lower..." LOL But I did... I always loved this song and had sung it many times as the following singer, although I have a stronger voice than this singer... Note that the chorus is sung as a duet, which my sister and I had done as well at other times. She is a soprano, so I normally did harmony, the lower part since I had the ability to "hear" different parts as a song was played...

May you Celebrate the Risen Lord!

Gabby

How Great Thou Art!