Topic: Instrumental Versions - Handbells
Continued from previous post dated 16 December 2018.
Notes on Movement
Hudson Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Six people stood along the table facing the pews, with two at abutting tables to the left and right. The director stood with the ringers at stage right. Music stands were set on the tables covered with red cloths.
Christ Church
Two women and a man stood behind a table facing the director; two men were at the table to his left; a man and a woman were a table to his right. He used his forearms to direct, bent upwards from the elbows. Music stands were set on the tables covered with black cloths.
Grace Lutheran Church
The Joy Ringers were arrayed in a single line along the back of the choir. The female director stood in front of them in the center. Music stands were set on the tables.
Notes on Audience
The congregations applauded at the end of all three performances.
Audience Perceptions
Calvin Institute of Christian Worship recommended this arrangement as an offertory, [1] while the James River Ringers of Mechanicsville, Virginia, included it in the repertoire for a 2-3 Octave Festival in 2010. They warned participants about a "tricky page turn between m.74 and m.75" and that
"a few mixed meter measures pushes this piece to a Level 3 rating, but it’s not out of reach for most choirs." [2]
Other churches that performed Wilson’s arrangement according to their church bulletins were, in chronological order:
First Presbyterian Church. Rochester, Minnesota. Nothing But Angels Handbell Choir. Prelude. 17 March 2008.
Duke University Chapel (United Methodist Church). Durham, North Carolina. Prelude. 5 December 2010.
Grace United Methodist Church. Moorhead, Minnesota. Hand Bell Choir, directed by Sharon Fangsrud. Prelude. 26 March 2015.
Central United Methodist Church. Muskegon, Michigan. Joy Bells. Before scripture lesson. 24 April 2016.
The Church at Litchfield Park. Litchfield Park, Arizona. Heavenly Handbells, directed by Marilyn Chandler. Before scripture reading. 15 May 2016.
First Unitarian Universalist Society. San Francisco, California. Bell Choir, directed by Reiko Oda Lane. 5 March 2017 and 6 December 2017.
Urbandale United Church of Christ. Urbandale, Iowa. Adult Handbells, directed by Bobby Stinnett. Prelude. 11 February 2018.
First Congregational Church. Bloomfield, Connecticut. The Accidentals Handbell Ensemble. Between prayer and first lesson. 18 February 2018.
Community United Methodist Church. Columbia Heights, Minnesota. Before children’s time. 22 April 2018.
Notes on Performers
John Floyd Wilson was born in Youngstown, Ohio, [3] and earned his music degrees from the American Conservatory of Music and Northwestern University. [4] The Moody Bible Institute, where he taught, published his Introduction to Church Music in 1965. In turn, he organized the music and drama camp [5] for Cedar Lake Ministries, which the Moody Church founded in 1914. [6]
Hudson, Ohio, was part of the western extension of Connecticut before the American Revolution, and sold to speculators in 1796. Hudson, itself, was founded in 1799. [7] The Evangelical Presbyterian Church was associated with a group that broke away from the Presbyterian Church in 1981 after it disciplined individuals with dissenting views that did not contradict the Westminster Confession. [8] Donald Fortson said the denomination was in the tradition of the evangelists who broke with the church during the First Great Awakening. [9]
The church had three octaves of Malmark bells. [10] Its handbell choir director was from Evansville, Indiana, where her mother taught instrumental music in the elementary schools. Sarah Norman’s own degrees were in photography and law. [11]
Des Plaines was much like Tinley Park, discussed in the post for 13 December 2018. Its growth in the 1850s was fueled by a railroad, this one on the northwest side to Janesville, Wisconsin, and by German-speaking immigrants. [12] Deutsche Evangelische Christus Gemeinde was established in 1892. It received its first pipe organ and church bell in 1893, and the first "choir was organized in 1894." [13] Christ Church became affiliated with the United Church of Christ in 1957 when the Congregational Church absorbed the Evangelical and Reformed Church. [14]
The Handbell Ensemble rehearsed once a week. Bob Schumm began singing with the church as soon as he was confirmed and remained active for 41 years. [15] He moved to Tallahassee, Florida, where he died a few months ago when he was 55 years old. [16]
Grace Lutheran Church was organized in Tampa, Florida, in 1970 as a member of the Evangelical Lutheran synod. Laurie Sweigart began directing the Joy Ringers in 2016, and was also a member of the church’s praise band. [17] She earned an accounting degree from West Chester University of Pennsylvania. [18]
Availability
John Wilson, 2-3 octave
Sheet Music: Carol Stream, Illinois: Agape, 1993
3-5 octave
Sheet Music: Carol Stream, Illinois, Agape, 2001
Hudson Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Hudson, Ohio
YouTube: three-octave version uploaded by SGNorman on 6 May 2012.
Christ Church, Des Plaines, Illinois
YouTube: uploaded by fozzy1962 on 30 January 2014.
Grace Lutheran Church, Tampa, Florida
YouTube: uploaded by Alison Tietz on 20 February 2018.
End Notes
1. Calvin Institute of Christian Worship website
2. James River Ringers 2-3 Octave Festival brochure, sponsored by Mechanicsville Church of Christ. My copy of the score did not have a page break between the indicated measures.
3. "John Floyd Wilson." Hope Publishing website.
4. John F. Wilson obituary. NWI Times [Munster, Indiana]. 12 November 2014.
5. Northwestern University commencement program, 13 June 1960.
6. Doug Ross. "From Profane Park to Sacred Ground." NWI Times [Munster, Indiana] website.
7. Wikipedia. "Connecticut Western Reserve."
8. Wikipedia. "Evangelical Presbyterian Church (United States)."
9. S. Donald Fortson. The Presbyterian Creed: A Confessional Tradition in America. Milton Keynes, England: Paternoster Press, 2008. Cited by Wikipedia, EPC.
10. Sarah Norman. Notes for "Hudson Presbyterian EPC: ‘A Mighty fortress is our God’." Uploaded to YouTube by SGNorman of 5 November 2017.
11. Sarah Norman. "About Me: Who I Am and What I Have Done." 12 September 2011. Facebook.
12. Wikipedia. "Des Plaines, Illinois."
13. Denise Fleischer. "Christ Church Celebrates 125th Anniversary." Journal & Topics Online [Des Plaines, Illinois] website. 15 September 2017.
14. Wikipedia. "United Church of Christ."
15. Holly Schmidt. "Handbell Ensemble Director at Christ Church Retires." Chicago Suburban Daily Herald website. 24 June 2015.
16. Obituary for Robert A. Schumm. Chicago Suburban Daily Herald website. 6 July 2018.
17. "Laurie Sweigart." Grace Lutheran website.
18. "Laurie Sweigart." LinkedIn.
Showing posts with label Presbyterian Hudson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Presbyterian Hudson. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Sunday, December 16, 2018
John Wilson - Kum Ba Yah
Topic: Instrumental Versions - Handbells
Change ringers in England, who were mentioned in the post for 9 December 2018, learned they produced the loudest tones when the bells began facing upward and sung in a full circle. From there, they made technological changes to the bells’ superstructures so they could make the clappers connect to the bells at predictable times. [1]
The English, however, did not move beyond playing permutations to performing recognizable tunes. That step was taken in the Netherlands where carillons were developed. Today, a distinction is made between a carillon that has at least 23 bells and a chime that has fewer, but then the term was still generic. They were played with keys, levers, and/or pedals connected by wires to the bells. [2]
Jacob van Eyck isolated the overtones produced by bells so they could be forged to sound in harmony. Then, in 1645, he began working with Pieter and François Hémony who, independently, had cast a tuned set of bells the prior year. [3] This was the height of the Dutch East India trade and the newly "rich mercantile towns of the lowlands exhibited their status by installing fine carillons in their church towers." [4]
The Hémonys had no successors and their casting secrets died with them in 1680. Interest in bells themselves waned with the French Revolution, [5] only to be revived by wealthy Americans at the end of the nineteenth century. In Hudson, Ohio, a man who made his money from coal mines paid for a clock tower with four chimes in 1912. [6]
The development of handbells paralleled that of carillons. Van Eyck had a small keyboard with 30 bells installed in his home for practice and teaching students in 1631. [7] Nicolas Jullien established what became the Petit and Fritsen bell foundry in the Netherlands in 1690. Since this was before Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, it used the overtones of the time, which differed from those that would develop in England after William of Orange ascended the British throne in 1689. [8]
Like carillons, handbells are held in an upright position to produce the maximum sound. Instead of a superstructure controlling the motion, handbells have internal mechanisms that direct clappers to the optimal strike points. [9] Unlike tower bells, the duration of the sound can be limited by "damping the bell with a hand or on the body or a padded surface." [10]
The Encyclopædia Britannica noted the music that adapted the best to carillons was from the period when they first were developed, the Baroque. Romantic music that developed after the French Revolution had to "be chosen selectively." However, it said improvisations on "folk songs and other familiar themes" also worked. [11]
The most popular handbell arrangement of "Kumbaya" was published in 1993 by John Wilson for two or three octaves. He was the executive editor of Hope, a Chicago religious publisher closely associated with Methodists. Its founder, Henry Sheperd Date, had attended the organizational meeting of the Epworth League in 1889. [12]
By the end of the twentieth century, Hope and its Agape subsidiary had expanded their marketing to meet demands from other denominations. Wilson himself had worked for Methodists, Anabaptists, and the Moody Church. [13] He reissued his version of "Kumbaya" for three to five octaves in 2001.
Wilson emphasized the melody throughout, usually scoring it in octaves. The other instruments played chords like a piano accompaniment that required precision attacks by the players. Toward the end, the higher bells had a descant, but the sheet music advised players to "bring out melody."
The time signature varied, but the bell choirs played every melodic section slowly enough that the overtones dissipated between strokes. The clamor of Middletown’s Congregational Church [14] was eschewed, either by structural acoustics or technique.
One of the groups who uploaded a video to YouTube was in Hudson, Ohio, and the other two had origins in German churches. Two played "Kumbaya" during the collection.
Four who mentioned the arrangement in church bulletins indicated it was a prelude, and three that it was played before a scripture reading. Only one perceived it as a children’s song to be scheduled before their segment of the service. [15]
Performers
John Wilson
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Group: handbells
Rhythm Accompaniment: TD/PI/Mallet; Sk; RT
Hudson Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Instrumental Group: Bell Choir, 10 ringers
Conductor: Sarah Norman
Christ Church
Instrumental Group: Handbell Ensemble, 7 ringers, 3 women, 4 men
Conductor: Robert Schumm
Grace Lutheran Church
Instrumental Group: Joy Ringers Handbell
Conductor: Laurie Sweigart
Credits
John Wilson, 2-3 octaves
African American Spiritual
Arranged by John F. Wilson
Copyright © 1993 by Agape
3-5 octaves
Copyright © 1993 and this Arr. 2001 by Agape
Notes on Lyrics
There were none
Notes on Music
John Wilson
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: Slowly and expressively, quarter note = c.80 beats per minute; changes to rhythmically, quarter notes = 126
Key Signature: 1 sharp, changing to no flats or sharps
Notes on Performance
Hudson Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Occasion: It looked like a rehearsal since few were in the audience, and people moved about while they were playing.
Location: around the altar table
Microphones: none
Clothing: White shirts and gloves
Christ Church
Occasion: Collection during service, 26 January 2014
Location: Altar, behind the altar table
Microphones: none
Clothing: White shirts and black slacks, black gloves
Grace Lutheran Church
Occasion: Collection during service
Location: Behind the choir
Microphones: none
Clothing: The choir wore white robes with maroon stoles; the Joy Ringers wore white shirts and long maroon scarves with white gloves
To be continued in next post
End Notes
1. Ron Johnston. "A Most Public of Musical Performances: The English Art of Change-Ringing." GeoJournal 65:17-31:2006. 18-19. Cited by Robert Adam Hill. "The Reformation of the Bells in Early Modern England." PhD. Simon Fraser University, summer 2012. 175.
2. "Carillon." Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 July 1998; last updated 11 May 2016 by Mic Anderson.
3. Aryeh Oron. "Jacob van Eyck (Composer)." Bach Cantatas website. August 2006.
4. "Carillon History." Guild of Carillonneurs in North America website. 30 March 2012.
5. Guild.
6. "History of the Hudson Clock Tower." Hudson, Ohio, website.
7. Oron.
8. Wikipedia. "Handbell."
9. Nancy Kirkner. "Buying Bells: Choosing a Brand." Handbells website. 10 December 2012.
10. Daniel K. Moore "Technique-ly Speaking: The Basic Ringing Stroke/Shoulder Damp." Overtones: The Official Journal of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers 44: 10-11:May-June 1998. Cited by Wikipedia.
11. Britannica.
12. Camp Songs, Folk Songs. 547.
13. John F. Wilson obituary. NWI Times [Munster, Indiana]. 12 November 2014. He worked for the Anabaptist Mountain View Bible College and Fort Wayne Bible College, as well as the Moody Bible Institute and Indiana Wesleyan University.
14. The Middletown Church bell ringers were discussed in the post for 6 December 2018.
15. For more on my source for church bulletins, see the post for 6 December 2018.
Change ringers in England, who were mentioned in the post for 9 December 2018, learned they produced the loudest tones when the bells began facing upward and sung in a full circle. From there, they made technological changes to the bells’ superstructures so they could make the clappers connect to the bells at predictable times. [1]
The English, however, did not move beyond playing permutations to performing recognizable tunes. That step was taken in the Netherlands where carillons were developed. Today, a distinction is made between a carillon that has at least 23 bells and a chime that has fewer, but then the term was still generic. They were played with keys, levers, and/or pedals connected by wires to the bells. [2]
Jacob van Eyck isolated the overtones produced by bells so they could be forged to sound in harmony. Then, in 1645, he began working with Pieter and François Hémony who, independently, had cast a tuned set of bells the prior year. [3] This was the height of the Dutch East India trade and the newly "rich mercantile towns of the lowlands exhibited their status by installing fine carillons in their church towers." [4]
The Hémonys had no successors and their casting secrets died with them in 1680. Interest in bells themselves waned with the French Revolution, [5] only to be revived by wealthy Americans at the end of the nineteenth century. In Hudson, Ohio, a man who made his money from coal mines paid for a clock tower with four chimes in 1912. [6]
The development of handbells paralleled that of carillons. Van Eyck had a small keyboard with 30 bells installed in his home for practice and teaching students in 1631. [7] Nicolas Jullien established what became the Petit and Fritsen bell foundry in the Netherlands in 1690. Since this was before Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier, it used the overtones of the time, which differed from those that would develop in England after William of Orange ascended the British throne in 1689. [8]
Like carillons, handbells are held in an upright position to produce the maximum sound. Instead of a superstructure controlling the motion, handbells have internal mechanisms that direct clappers to the optimal strike points. [9] Unlike tower bells, the duration of the sound can be limited by "damping the bell with a hand or on the body or a padded surface." [10]
The Encyclopædia Britannica noted the music that adapted the best to carillons was from the period when they first were developed, the Baroque. Romantic music that developed after the French Revolution had to "be chosen selectively." However, it said improvisations on "folk songs and other familiar themes" also worked. [11]
The most popular handbell arrangement of "Kumbaya" was published in 1993 by John Wilson for two or three octaves. He was the executive editor of Hope, a Chicago religious publisher closely associated with Methodists. Its founder, Henry Sheperd Date, had attended the organizational meeting of the Epworth League in 1889. [12]
By the end of the twentieth century, Hope and its Agape subsidiary had expanded their marketing to meet demands from other denominations. Wilson himself had worked for Methodists, Anabaptists, and the Moody Church. [13] He reissued his version of "Kumbaya" for three to five octaves in 2001.
Wilson emphasized the melody throughout, usually scoring it in octaves. The other instruments played chords like a piano accompaniment that required precision attacks by the players. Toward the end, the higher bells had a descant, but the sheet music advised players to "bring out melody."
The time signature varied, but the bell choirs played every melodic section slowly enough that the overtones dissipated between strokes. The clamor of Middletown’s Congregational Church [14] was eschewed, either by structural acoustics or technique.
One of the groups who uploaded a video to YouTube was in Hudson, Ohio, and the other two had origins in German churches. Two played "Kumbaya" during the collection.
Four who mentioned the arrangement in church bulletins indicated it was a prelude, and three that it was played before a scripture reading. Only one perceived it as a children’s song to be scheduled before their segment of the service. [15]
Performers
John Wilson
Vocal Soloist: none
Vocal Group: none
Instrumental Group: handbells
Rhythm Accompaniment: TD/PI/Mallet; Sk; RT
Hudson Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Instrumental Group: Bell Choir, 10 ringers
Conductor: Sarah Norman
Christ Church
Instrumental Group: Handbell Ensemble, 7 ringers, 3 women, 4 men
Conductor: Robert Schumm
Grace Lutheran Church
Instrumental Group: Joy Ringers Handbell
Conductor: Laurie Sweigart
Credits
John Wilson, 2-3 octaves
African American Spiritual
Arranged by John F. Wilson
Copyright © 1993 by Agape
3-5 octaves
Copyright © 1993 and this Arr. 2001 by Agape
Notes on Lyrics
There were none
Notes on Music
John Wilson
Time Signature: 4/4
Tempo: Slowly and expressively, quarter note = c.80 beats per minute; changes to rhythmically, quarter notes = 126
Key Signature: 1 sharp, changing to no flats or sharps
Notes on Performance
Hudson Evangelical Presbyterian Church
Occasion: It looked like a rehearsal since few were in the audience, and people moved about while they were playing.
Location: around the altar table
Microphones: none
Clothing: White shirts and gloves
Christ Church
Occasion: Collection during service, 26 January 2014
Location: Altar, behind the altar table
Microphones: none
Clothing: White shirts and black slacks, black gloves
Grace Lutheran Church
Occasion: Collection during service
Location: Behind the choir
Microphones: none
Clothing: The choir wore white robes with maroon stoles; the Joy Ringers wore white shirts and long maroon scarves with white gloves
To be continued in next post
End Notes
1. Ron Johnston. "A Most Public of Musical Performances: The English Art of Change-Ringing." GeoJournal 65:17-31:2006. 18-19. Cited by Robert Adam Hill. "The Reformation of the Bells in Early Modern England." PhD. Simon Fraser University, summer 2012. 175.
2. "Carillon." Encyclopædia Britannica. 20 July 1998; last updated 11 May 2016 by Mic Anderson.
3. Aryeh Oron. "Jacob van Eyck (Composer)." Bach Cantatas website. August 2006.
4. "Carillon History." Guild of Carillonneurs in North America website. 30 March 2012.
5. Guild.
6. "History of the Hudson Clock Tower." Hudson, Ohio, website.
7. Oron.
8. Wikipedia. "Handbell."
9. Nancy Kirkner. "Buying Bells: Choosing a Brand." Handbells website. 10 December 2012.
10. Daniel K. Moore "Technique-ly Speaking: The Basic Ringing Stroke/Shoulder Damp." Overtones: The Official Journal of the American Guild of English Handbell Ringers 44: 10-11:May-June 1998. Cited by Wikipedia.
11. Britannica.
12. Camp Songs, Folk Songs. 547.
13. John F. Wilson obituary. NWI Times [Munster, Indiana]. 12 November 2014. He worked for the Anabaptist Mountain View Bible College and Fort Wayne Bible College, as well as the Moody Bible Institute and Indiana Wesleyan University.
14. The Middletown Church bell ringers were discussed in the post for 6 December 2018.
15. For more on my source for church bulletins, see the post for 6 December 2018.
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