As I entered the Conference Center this morning, the Tabernacle Choir was singing Brother James' Air, a beautiful hymn based on Psalm 23 which I first heard as a 6th grade student in a music class. That the choir would be singing it today was a celestial hug, as within six hours I would be singing in my branch my own version of Psalm 23, The Lord is My Shepherd, set to the music of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto.
The music that most touched my heart in both the rehearsal and the broadcast, however, was "Somewhere" from West Side Story, as it reflects the wish of my heart to be with my Sweetheart. I know the time is flowing swiftly--just a bit over 9 months until we marry on 20 May--but sometimes that seems like a very long time.
My solo seemed to be well-received, and seemed also to touch some hearts. I believe my prayer was answered that it brought the Spirit even more strongly into the meeting. I sang acapella, but one sister, who indicated that the Clarinet Concerto was one of her favorite Mozart compositions, said that she could imagine an orchestra playing while I was singing.
On some level I feel that this melody was meant for the KJV Psalm 23. I first heard that concerto in 2001 as my mother was declining. My Mom had six children and had designated a psalm for each of us. As my sister and I were planning for her funeral, we thought it would be appropriate for us to each recite our psalm during the service. I thought, "I wish I could get a melody for these psalms." A few days later I was given a CD of Mozart Concertos as a door prize at a nursing conference, I was actually supposed to get a coffee mug, but the person handing out the door prizes knew me, and knew that I did not drink coffee, so she gave me the CD instead. As soon as I listened to those Concertos, I knew that the Clarinet Concerto fit Psalm 23 beautifully. It took a while for me to get the theme arranged, but I have felt for many years now that the psalm and that melody were made for each other.
Today is a rather fitting time for me to reminisce about getting the melodies for those psalms my mom assigned to us as it would have been my brother's 77th birthday today. At his memorial service last fall, his psalm was performed with the melody I had written for it [not a Mozart concerto!!]. I am glad to remember my '"little" big brother today.
Early in the morning I read The Book of Mormon, and did a batch of arbitrating Kentucky marriages. I downloaded a batch of German church books to index from the same area as the ones from last week. The handwriting looks the same, so this should not be too hard a batch to complete.
After supper my Cuban sister and I prepared the sheets for signups as hosts for Young Elder Dinners in September. Later in the evening I completed filling out and sending off the forms for next Sunday's dinners. My day has been completed and blessed by talking and praying with my Sweetheart. It was a blessed Sabbath day.
No comments:
Post a Comment