Category Archives: Inspirational Music

Two #Hanukkah Songs #Chanukah #Music

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The Jewish Festival of Lights begins tonight! In the spirit of celebration and friendship, I offer you two Hanukkah songs played on zither and viola.

The first is “Chanukah.” I couldn’t find out who wrote these lyrics and music; so, please share if you know! It’s the 10th song on
this page,
under the “Chanukah” heading.

The second is “I Have a Little Dreidel,” also known by many other names! It is so popular that even non-Jewish people recognize it. Though I’m not Jewish, I have played Dreidel with Jewish friends during Hanukkah, and won some chocolate gelt, too! You know, those foil-covered chocolate coins that often come in a mesh bag and bring the promise of sweetness! You can read more about this fun and popular song
here.

You can also listen to the
First Night Chanukah Blessings
I recorded with ukulele last year.

I wish everyone who is celebrating a happy, blessed, sweet, and joyous Hanukkah/Chanukah! Gotta love those latkes! 😀

This post is part of my Holiday Blogging Party.
You’re invited!
Please click the link, and participate as much as you like!

“Come, Ye Shepherds” #Advent #Music

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“Kommet, Ihr Hirten” (“Come, Ye Shepherds”) is a traditional German Christmas carol. However, it is based on an earlier Czech carol, entitled “Nesem vám noviny.” The melody is Bohemian, author unknown. Carl Riedel wrote the German lyrics, and the carol was first published in 1870.

The lyrics urge “Shepherds, men and women” to come to the Nativity scene and see the “lovely child.” They describe the angel’s visit, the shepherds’ walk to the manger, and their adoration of the Lord who has brought “peace on earth, goodwill to all mankind.”

I hope you enjoy this arrangement featuring melody and harmony on Oriole (soprano) and alto recorder respectively, lyre accompaniment, and the German lyrics I learned from a record album about 20 years ago!

This post is part of my Holiday Blogging Party. Want to participate?
Click here to learn how!

“Once in Royal David’s City” #Advent #Music

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This beautiful Christmas carol began as a poem written by Cecil Frances Alexander in 1848. The poem is based on Luke 2:4-7, which read:

“And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.”

In 1849, English organist Henry John Gauntlett discovered the poem and set it to his melody entitled “Irby,” which is the tune we still sing today.

I first heard this carol on a CD of English (as in from England) carols someone gave me for Christmas when I was about 15. It was a choral arrangement that began with a soprano soloist. For some reason the melody and
lyrics
were unforgetable to me, and I learned to play the carol by ear on piano to accompany my singing.

Here is “Once in Royal David’s City” on ukulele, viola, alto recorder, and lyre. I hope you enjoy it!

This post is part of my Holiday Blogging party. And you’re invited!
Click here to learn how to participate!

“Huron Carol” #Advent #Music

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This haunting carol is said to be Canada’s oldest Christmas song. Jean de Brébeuf, a Jesuit missionary at Sainte-Marie among the Hurons, wrote “Huron Carol” around 1642. It is also called “Twas in the Moon of Wintertime.”

The lyrics are an aboriginal Canadian retelling of the Nativity story, using imagery familiar to native people. Brébeuf wrote the lyrics in the Huron/Wendat people’s native language, in which the original title is “Jesous Ahatonhia” (“Jesus, he is born”). The song has been translated into both French and English.

The melody is based on a French folk tune called “Une Jeune Pucelle” (A Young Maid). The carol is still found in Canadian hymnals today.

I hope you enjoy listening to “Huron Carol” on ukulele, viola, and alto recorder!

This post is part of my Holiday Blogging Party.
You’re invited!
Please click the link and participate as much as you wish!

“Patapan” #Advent #Music

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French poet Bernard de La Monnoye wrote “Patapan” (or “Pat-a-pan”), a Burgundian carol first published in 1720. Its original title was “Guillô, Pran Ton Tamborin” (“Willie, Bring Your Little Drum” or, as some English translations say, “Willie, Take Your Little Drum”). “Patapan” is a lesser known, but beautiful traditional Christmas carol that revolves around shepherds playing simple instruments at the birth of Christ. The title itself, “Patapan,” mimics the sound of the drum, and the sound “tu-re-lu-re-lu” in the refrain mimics the flute or fife. You can find one anonymous English translation
here.

I hope you enjoy hearing this carol on zither, which is a plucked instrument, and Oriole recorder, a vertical flute!

This post is part of my Holiday Blogging Party. You’re welcome to join in!
Click here to learn how.

“Infant Holy, Infant Lowly” #Advent #Music

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“Infant Holy, Infant Lowly” is a traditional Polish Christmas carol. Its original title is “W Żłobie Leży.” Edith Margaret Gellibrand Reed translated the lyrics into English in 1920. The text is based on Luke 2:7, which reads, “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. (KJV)” The melody may date back as far as the 13th century.

Today you’re listening to melody and harmony on alto recorder, melody on viola, and ukulele accompaniment. I hope you enjoy this beautiful carol!

“Angel” #Music

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Tomorrow we celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States. Wherever you live, this can be a time to reflect on and express gratitude and thankfulness. Gratitude is the inner feeling that you have received kindness. Thankfulness is the expression of that feeling. Both are positive and, though seemingly small, add so much to our lives. After all, if we don’t acknowledge the good things we already have, how can we receive more? The feeling of gratitude opens us to more positive feelings, including kindness and compassion toward ourselves and others.

“Angel” is a piece I wrote in 2003, on keyboard and harmonica. I hope you enjoy hearing it on lyre, Oriole soprano recorder, Oriole Dolce Duo (a double flute), and viola. Putting this together was a labor of love!

I wish each one of you a blessed, happy, hopeful, peaceful, and safe Thanksgiving, and many moments of gratitude and thankfulness now and every day!

“Come, Ye Thankful People, Come” #Music

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Henry Alford wrote this hymn in 1844. The text is based on
Psalm 104.
The melody is “St. George’s Windsor” by George Job Elvey.

I hope you enjoy this Thanksgiving/Harvest Festival hymn played on ukulele, viola, alto recorder, and lyre!

Waxing Rewards – Tale Weaver #302 #SixSentenceStories #Music

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I could wax poetic about the joys of playing a musical instrument! And indeed, there are many rewards. However, they don’t come at the beginning, when what you hear in your head sounds so much more beautiful than what you’re playing actually brings forth. The rewards wax like the moon, appearing with time, great patience, focused practice, and a healthy sense of humor! Meanwhile, you can still have fun and enjoy learning, as with this piece called “Carousel” that I wrote for viola and ukulele. If you want to learn a musical instrument, realize that it must be learned, that beginners aren’t supposed to sound like professionals–and play on!

—
Written for
MLMM Tale Weaver #302 – Beginnings
and
#SixSentenceStories – Wax

“We Gather Together” #Music

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“Wilt Heden Nu Treden” is the original Dutch title of the hymn we know as “We Gather Together.” Adrianus Valerius wrote the text in 1597, to celebrate the Dutch victory over Spanish forces at the Battle of Turnhout. The melody is a traditional Dutch folk tune, author unknown. Today the hymn is most often associated with Thanksgiving. You can read the English lyrics
here.

I hope you enjoy hearing “We Gather Together” on lyre, viola, and Oriole (soprano) recorder!