Posted on 11/29/2017 12:25:41 PM PST by mairdie
Or, if not Christmas, the same topic for the same fandom from Julia Ecklar, "All About Berries."
Memories.... That was one of my favorite Christmas carols as a child. There were 5 of us kids, all born within 6 years. When I was in about 4th grade for a few years, my mom would have each of us invite 3 or 4 friends, and we would have a caroling party, and go out door to door singing in the neighborhood. With enough voices, you can sound pretty good! Then we would go home for hot chocolate and doughnuts. A big dutch-oven sized pot of milk on the stove, with cocoa powder and sugar, were used to make the cocoa!
What a great story!
I never caroled outside, but I sang in candlelight caroling for Christmas celebrations and I can still put myself in that balcony in the dark hearing all of those voices and feeling the chills rise. What a magnificent season of the year to bring us all together.
Now I have just had a memory of the scent of bayberry candles... My mother would always burn them around Christmas time. Thanks for some memories of her; I don’t think about her very often these days.
I love memories of candles and I love memories of mothers. It’s a word that always made me glow with happiness. Always happy to hear about other people’s mothers. Good people should never be forgotten and their stories should be spread so that they are remembered far and wide. I really believe that they live as long as someone remembers them and that’s the job of all of us.
Two of the high caliber ensembles of my music career used to hire out to tech companies for “Rent-A-Carol” performances.
They were fun as well as profitable. Some concerts were freely done for retirement homes or hospital wards, for those who could not otherwise hear them. The delight in the faces of the very old and very young was more valuable than the money.
We mixed Baroque, Renaissance, Modern, and Popular. They were mostly SATB, but some were divisi. This one was a staple.
Do you have any recordings that you could share? It sounds wonderful.
When I was in the ninth grade, my best friend asked me if I would like to go caroling with her Baptist Youth Fellowship, on the chronic ward of the State Mental Hospital (a truly horrible place), but I said sure, and brought my guitar to accompany the carolers.
I wrote a song for the occasion, which I recorded almost a half century later:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz8y6FCiAPE&list=PLzT3p98dZivSXJGV1PcVRaoTT7WcULeup&index=4
(((You know this one!)))
I just listened to it again and, again, enjoyed it. Well done!
Consider putting it up as a separate thread for the season. I think a lot of people would enjoy hearing it.
You tube did a nice job with the mix. I can hear all the instruments and vocals pretty clearly! :-)
But...anyway...that’s the history behind that particular song. :-)
The State Hospital where it debuted is no more...it was the infamous one in Mattapan.
I would be honored if you set this one to video.
My friend and I are still BFF, and she lives in MA as well.
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