Deep River

[creekster]

This thread happened while I was out camping so I missed it altogehter. I just wanted to add that I have personally played guitar more than a few times in sacrament meeting. A couple of times I played a classical guitar but I have also played my sturdy standby washburn steel string as well as an electric bass more than once each (the bass was part of an ensemble, not as a solo, and the washburn was once part of a guitar duet!). Our ward has also had a trumpet solo playing Jesu, Joy of man's Desire accompanied by our pipe organ (we are blessed iwht a real pipe organ and not just one of those electric abominations). These were all spirrutally uplifting.

I also want to add that I absolutely endorse Requiem's view of great classical music. I always find Bach sublime and spiritually moving. Many of Mozart's pieces transcend doubt and transport one to a faithful summit. My son studied piano realitvely seriously and he was asked to play a number of classical pieces in sacrament meeting. He has played several bach and mozart numbers as well as a piece by Rachmaninoff (it was a poriton of a prelude, but as I sit here I can't recall which one) and to my knowledge we did nto receive complaints. Our ward is not a university ward, either. It is a run of the mill suburban family ward in California that just happnes ot have been blessed by a rather long tradition of musical excellence that was shared with and by the congregation at alrge.

I also agree with Requiem's comments that the church is losing organists at an alarming pace. A pianist is not an organist, btw. This is a problem that does affect the potnetial for a spiritual experience in sacrament meeting, IMO. In my ward we are again blessed with two sisters that know how to play the organ and play it well with proper pacing, voicing and use of stops. When I attend other wards I am frequently disappoiunted in both the poor quality of organ they are forced to use and the poor quality of organist that is playing it. How many times have you attended a ward where the hymns sound like funeral dirges?

One other minor note (I think this was in this thread) I visited a showing of Mozart's orignal manuscripts in NYC this past year and he made a lot of corrections so I guess I just happened to miss his perfect first draft.

[Requiem]

Originally Posted by creekster

This thread happened while I was out camping so I missed it altogehter. I just wanted to add that I have personally played guitar more than a few times in sacrament meeting. A couple of times I played a classical guitar but I have also played my sturdy standby washburn steel string as well as an electric bass more than once each (the bass was part of an ensemble, not as a solo, and the washburn was once part of a guitar duet!). Our ward has also had a trumpet solo playing Jesu, Joy of man's Desire accompanied by our pipe organ (we are blessed iwht a real pipe organ and not just one of those electric abominations). These were all spirrutally uplifting.

Thank you for this information. I am interested in using the guitar pieces you played. The steel string duet sounds wonderful! I would appreciate your recommendations.

[creekster]

Originally Posted by Requiem

Thank you for this information. I am interested in using the guitar pieces you played. The steel string duet sounds wonderful! I would appreciate your recommendations.

I will look through my music tonight. My recollection is that the duet was a medley we put together of a few priamry songs (IOW, the material wasn't too challenging, which is oncissitent with my skill level) but I'll poke around and see what I can find.

[MikeWaters]

Another Deep River, on a train. He's my favorite street musician, I guess.