Hallelujah!

It’s Easter week, when we celebrate the most important event ever to happen on earth—the resurrection of Christ.

Why celebrate just a day, when we can celebrate all week?

·         Palm Sunday—The Triumphal Entry

·         Monday—Cleansing of the Temple

·         Tuesday—Teaching in Jerusalem

·         Wednesday—events unknown, but He told us, “Come, follow me.”

·         Thursday—Gethsemane—where those in my religion believe He suffered the sins of the world, overcoming the spiritual separation from God the Father, which would be followed by overcoming physical death soon after.

·         Friday—Crucifixion and Burial

·         Saturday—The Tomb

·         Sunday—The Resurrection—it is not life that is empty, but the Garden Tomb.

It’s worth looking at what we have because He lives—and offering a Hallelujah for those blessings.

I’m sharing this video for that purpose:

You can find this video, and a daily celebration of blessings from the resurrection at Mormon.org/easter.

The video uses many words from Handel’s Messiah. I’m singing “He Was Despised” this Sunday, as part of our Easter worship program. I love the piece, which isn’t done as often as many others; it is mournful, so it needs to be followed up with some Hallelujah songs, which we are doing.

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir recently did a project inviting the world to join them in singing the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel’s Messiah. People were invited to send in a video of themselves singing along, and then a master chorus was produced using those thousands of videos. It’s kind of glorious.

If you loved that, you might want to try singing along for the entire Messiah, with the Tabernacle Choir, and soloists from the Metropolitan Opera, this Friday, Good Friday. It’s being broadcast at my church building at 8:00, and many other places. But it’s also available online for streaming through April 4^th. You can even download a public domain score if you don’t already have one.

Music is one of my favorite ways of shouting Hallelujah, or feeling anything really important. When times are troubled and dark, it’s good to take time to sing Hallelujah, while spring celebrates with us, and everything seems to, and light and hopeful.

Hallelujah!

Holy Week, Part III

[If you saw this a week ago, yes, it is the same. I don't know why my attempts to schedule posts go awry, but I'm reposting Part III, on the day it should have posted, instead of on the same day as Part I.]

This is the third in a three-part series leading up to Easter. I hope these posts will help make your Easter celebration more meaningful this year.

We’re doing more music again today.

I’m a big fan of The Piano Guys videos. I stood for three hours last summer to see them in concert, in a standing-room-only venue. “The Mission/How Great Thou Art” is their latest video, just out a couple of weeks, filmed in Brazil, at the Christ the Redeemer statue. No words, but powerful music.

 

 

Back in the late 1970s I was in one of the several Brigham Young University choirs when we performed the oratorio The Redeemer, by Robert Cundick, for the first time. I’ve always loved the final piece, “He Is the Root and the Offspring of David,” with words coming from Revelations 22:16-17. It not only celebrates the resurrection, but the approaching Second Coming. The music is stunning. It’s also challenging, which my little choir is finding. But our intrepid little group is trusting that the Lord will help us do it well enough to bring the Lord’s spirit to our Easter celebration. Here is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir doing it.

 

 

Holy Week, Part II

This is Part II in a three-part series celebrating the week coming up on Easter. Monday’s post shared videos telling the story of that historic week. Today we’re highlighting some music. I think I’ve mentioned before, music is a big part of my life. So when I celebrate big things, like Christmas and Easter, music is shows up a lot.

Today is just a small sampling of music that I hope will help you feel the spirit of Easter.
 

“O Divine Redeemer” is a piece I first learned in high school. I’ve done it in choirs. I’ve done it as a solo. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir is probably a quintessential version.

 

 

“Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?” is kind of a southern spiritual. My church choir is working on this one for Easter, with a soloist and violin. I don’t know what should be the definitive version, but I like this one, by the Annie Moses Band.

 

 

“Christ the Lord Is Risen Today” is one of my favorite Easter pieces in our hymnbook. I’m scheduled to play the organ—and lead the choir—on Easter Sunday. But Mr. Spherical Model also plays the organ, and he wants to play that day, because he likes to really play the organ with this hymn. So I might let him. This is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir again.