Derek Reaban

I started off my Palm Sunday job in a very unique way this year. I was only playing on the hymns for the early service and I had arranged with the piano player to spend a few minute prior to the service to try something for Easter Sunday.

I got to Church early and did a relaxed warm-up outdoors as the Choir rehearsed, so I had about 30 minutes to just ease into my sound. When they had finished, I asked our director to listen to my “solo” to see what she thought for Easter Sunday. There were about 50 people in the sanctuary while I played and this was most certainly a performance. I have the new Vincent Cichowicz orchestral excerpts with piano accompaniment book and I played the Post Horn solo from Mahler 3. Wow! I’ve worked this up for auditions in the past, but this was the real deal (sharing my musical message with an audience). Everybody loved it! But we opted to use it for another Sunday (my director wanted something more festive for Easter Sunday).

This is extremely exposed, delicate playing and the emotional satisfaction that I received after playing this piece was very profound. I had just read Lenau’s poem Der Postillion that was posted in the Orchestral forum on Saturday night and knowing the inspiration for this solo made the experience even more powerful for me.

I think when I do it for an actual service I am going to play it from the side room (just next to the piano – “offstage”) to give the appropriate “in the distance” quality that this music calls for.

My Palm Sunday definitely took on a special quality after that. I can see this being extremely powerful for a Good Friday service.

I just wanted to share this very interesting experience.

oldlou

My Palm Sunday contribution,musically, was to play in a 'pick up' brass ensemble at an evening hymnsing at a monstrous local fundemental interdenominational church. There were four trumpeters and two trombonists, one a bass trombone. We simply played straight from the hymnal, accompanied by a very accomplished organist and likewise skilled pianist. It was MOST enjoyable. I felt good aboput using my limited musical ability as a form of praise. There were over 350 people there to sing God's praise.

highbrass

My Palm Sunday experience was not on trumpet, but as a volunteer singer in a symphony chorus colleague's church choir singing the Faure Requiem. A few of us had to perform the Mozart Requiem later that afternoon, but we figured the Faure is gentler and mild compared to, say, something with force like Beethoven 9 or Verdi Requiem, so no harm in singing both requiems in one day. Singing the Faure was nice, since I had previously played French horn for a different chorus and was familiar with the chorus parts (the music was already in my head, so to speak). What made the singing of the Faure so timely was that it was dedicated to a church member who had recently passed away. Singing the "In Paradisum" brought so much more meaning. I should have felt "Requiem"-ed out by the end of the day, but instead experienced a sense of repose and reflection.

Liz

Dan Millheim

I have shared with many here that I am a full time worship pastor at a church in Texas as well as being a trumpet jazz nut. We are a contemporary music oriented church which means we have a rhythm section/horn section/vocal team and choir.The thing that was most meaningful to me this Palm Sunday was that we started off with celebration music related to Palm Sunday and then transitioned to songs related to the cross (we do not have a Good Friday service) so we ended this service in communion. Our aud. is over 3500 seats and we build a 14 foot tall massive cross with hundreds and hundreds of pre-drilled nail holes in it Every person that came to the service was handed a rough, wedge shaped spike nail. We told them to hold on to it during the service. As we started communion our music team lead worship and people were instructed to come forward for communion and then nail their nails into the cross. Many were weaping as it became very real and personal. We also combined worship music with video clips of The Passion of Christ while people were around the cross. It was a very powerful experience! When the last person was finished we faded the lights, while we played a sound track we had made of an angery mob scene,thunder,lightening etc. Then the cross was raised in the dark and a blood red spot light was down washed on the raised cross cover in hundreds and hundreds of nails that represented our sin that Christ has forgiven. People were asked to leave the Aud. in silence without any postlude of any kind.

On Easter we will contrast this sobering conclusion on Palm Sunday with praise and celebration in all the music we do! Have a blessed passion week...HE IS RISEN!

Finish Well,
Dan

Eclipsehornplayer

Great thread....

I got to try out my new Monette STC B4SFL mouthpiece that I had Monette make for my Getzen Capri Cornet.

Wow, what a sound! It has a very deep cup which gives it a Flugel like sound. Very dark and velvety.

The hyms that we are playing at this point in the Cathloic church are very solemn given that we are in Holy week; the week leading to the cruicfixition of Christ.

This proved to be a wonderful match, I had such a soft and dark sound, almost moaning on some hymns. It was a great expirence and I received many complements from the congreagtion as well as the those who are in the choir/Music ministry at my church.

Like Oldlou I too am proud to lend what musical talent God gave me to help glorify him.

God bless one and all during this most holy of times!

Vulgano Brother

Wow, siblings! Thank you all for the reminder that we are the messengers, and not the message! If we clothe our playing "with compassion, and with kindness, humility, gentleness and patience" we have indeed met the needs of the Listener, and we can part some hair at the same time! Let us go for it!