In going through my Cokesbury Hymnal this Christmas season, I’ve enjoyed playing some of my favorite carols. I’m struck by how rousing and jubilant they are, like “Joy to the World” and “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”
A third could be added to that list of upbeat, glorious carols: “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”
Yesterday’s Christmas concert went well, and I’m relieved to have it done. I’m blessed to work with some super talented kids, and they are very dedicated to our Music Program.
I’ll be writing up a full analysis of it, as well as a gig I played with my buddy John last night, for SubscribeStar subscribers. I should have the posted sometime Sunday afternoon.
For now, though, I am celebrating Christmas with my girlfriend. We got each other some LEGO sets, so we’ve been building those this afternoon while watching TV and generally chilling out.
See you soon!
—TPP
Today is the day of the big Christmas concert at school, and despite some moments of despair earlier in the week, I am feeling cautiously optimistic about the whole thing. The kids are going to do a wonderful job, I am sure; I’m more worried about getting all of the tech stuff done in time, but it will happen, one way or another.
That said, it’s going to be a short Supporting Friends Friday this week—at least for me. You, dear reader, get to listen to six minutes and twenty-four seconds of an excellent new Christmas track from my good buddy Frederick Ingram.
My school’s big Christmas concert is tomorrow—the first once since December 2019, the infamous “Corporate Christmas” concert—and my Middle School Music class is playing and singing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.” It’s one of my favorite carols, and is apparently my pastor’s favorite.
We’re doing the iconic first verse, as well as the third verse, which echoes the themes of the first. There’s a great line—“ris’n with healing in His wings”—that just sounds epic. It’s such a regal tune, perfect for The King of Kings arriving on Earth to save His fallen Creation.
Fortunately, my Middle School students seem to agree, and I am proud of their rendition.
With that, here is 8 December 2020’s “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing“:
My apologies to readers who are used to waking up to a fresh Portly post in their inboxes, ready to enjoy over a hot cup of coffee at 6:30 AM. Since Thanksgiving, I’ve been working pretty much nonstop. Since probably 2009, when I started my two-year stint as the Cultural Coordinator at the Sumter Opera House in Sumter, South Carolina, the first half of December has been a brutal yuletide slog for yours portly.
Christmas 2010 was particularly grueling, with an event at the Opera House every night for the first two weeks of the month, including outdoor music on weekends for the City’s Festival of Lights. I was so stressed that I developed a painful sore on the roof of my mouth, which made it unpleasant to eat anything but the softest of foods. That was an unintentional blessing, as it kicked off my 2011 Weight Loss Odyssey, a journey during which I shed a whopping 110 pounds in about eleven months. Even in extreme stress, there are hidden blessings.
Regardless, my Christmastimes for the past decade have been jam-packed with events. That’s not always a bad thing: I like keeping busy, and Christmas gigs can be very lucrative (about four years ago I played a bank Christmas party while suffering from a gnarly head cold, but a steady supply of cough drops and water got me through to the $300 reward on the other side). There is one event that looms over all others this time every year, though, one that I paradoxically love and dread: the annual school Christmas concert.
This past Sunday was the first of December, and my first time back at my little church since Thanksgiving. That meant it was time—finally!—to play some Christmas carols.
We started the service with a rousing congregational singing of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” which is apparently my pastor’s favorite carol. Our second congregational singing was “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear,” a beautiful little hymn with some interesting harmonies and leaping melodies—typical of carols.
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The Christmas season is upon us, and nary did Thanksgiving end did the insane scrambling of the season commence.
Regular readers know I’m a hustler—I’ve always got some moneymaking schemes going: primarily private music lessons, but also gigging, writing, calling sporting events, staging concerts, selling t-shirts, hawking weird art, etc. These are all fun activities in addition to being lucrative, but it’s easy for them to get overwhelming, especially when they all hit at once.
Well, Christmastime—at least the first couple of weeks of December—seems to be a time when everything comes to a head at the same time (thus today’s later-than-usual post). This past week was particularly grueling, with a number of events requiring my attention, sometimes nearly at the same time.
For those interested in the opportunities of perils of juggling different side gigs and responsibilities, today’s post will detail how I managed to teach almost all of my lessons for the week and setup lighting and sound for a pageant; reset that lighting and sound for a play; attended play tech and dress rehearsals; played a dinner at church and will play a longer Christmas set today; rode in a parade; and successfully made it through two stagings of the aforementioned play.
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December is here, and that means it’s time for Christmas music! My students and I are prepping for our annual Christmas concert—back after The Age of The Virus—and have been playing and singing quite a bit of Christmas music.
Indeed, my Music Club—a club designed to get students involved in playing and performing music who, for whatever reason, could not get a music class fit into their schedules—met Tuesday to sing some carols, with the idea being that we will spend lunch and break periods next week caroling for the student body.
As their voices came together in sparkling purity, it reminded me of this post from last year. We started our short rehearsal with “Silent Night,” one of my all-time favorite Christmas songs, and the sweetness and fullness of it with eight or so singers really swelled my heart. We also sang “Joy to the World,” “Away in a Manger,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” and one or two others that escape me.
I once heard that singing is good for you, both physically and mentally. Christmas carols—songs about the Birth of Our Savior, Jesus Christ—surely are good for you spiritually, too. Sing some today.
With that, here is 4 December 2020’s “Singing Christmas Carols with Kids“:
The first short week of the new school year is in the books, and assuming I’m still alive when this post pops this morning, I survived!
That’s reason enough to be joyful, but in case my survival of a three-day workweek doesn’t inspire you, here are some more “the joy of” posts of a decidedly musical extraction that might:
That’s it for this weekend’s joyful musings. Here’s to a musically fulfilling Sunday!
Happy Sunday!
—TPP
Other Lazy Sunday Installments:
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It’s Christmas! Another magical day to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
2020 was a tough year, but Christ is mightier than The Virus. Thank God—literally!—for sending His Son.
Have a wonderful, safe, loving Christmas Day. God Bless all of your for your support and generosity, and for being such amazing readers.
Here’s 25 December 2019’s “Christmas and its Symbols“:
