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The United Choir Concert: Past and Present · Centrally Speaking

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Centrally speaking, is the Central Schwenfelder Church's podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: It speaks about issues that would be of interest to our society.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: In particular, it addresses how a Christian worldview intersects with Western secular culture.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: In the spirit of the church's founder, we take the perspective of the Middle Way, which is in agreement with the historic Christian Church.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Dr.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_02: Drake Williams, Minister of Mission and Theology of the Church.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_02: Our website is www.cscfamily.org.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_02: So we're here today talking about the United Choir Concert, Past and Present, a long-standing concert through the Schwenkfelder Churches, and I'm very fortunate to be able to have with me today Sally House.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_02: Sally has accepted the position of the United Schweinfelder Choir as of just 2022.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: She's a director.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: She has a Bachelor of Science degree in music education from Lebanon Valley College and a master's degree in education from Cabrini.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_02: After 33 years, she retired from her position in the Potsdown School District, teaching general music and choral music in all grades.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_02: And she has served as the choir director at several area churches and currently is the director of music at Central Schweinfelder Church since September 2006.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: And we're very glad to be able to talk with you about the United Choir Concert.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_02: And maybe you could tell our listeners what is the United Choir concert?
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's a concert of a group of singers from various churches in the community.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: At this point in time, it's become that.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: And we prepare a concert in December for performance at Central Schwankfelder.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_01: The performance this year is on December 4th at 2:30 p.m.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of moving parts.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: We have the organ, we have a small ensemble that accompanies us for some of our numbers.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: We have two accompanists on piano who sometimes do accompaniments as a duet in conjunction with our singing.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: We do about 15 numbers, and it's really a wonderful, inspiring way to start the Christmas season.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: Happens during Advent, but we do some Advent and some Christmas music, and it's just a wonderful way to kind of get the season going.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_02: If someone attended a United choir concert for the first time, I assume they're going to hear Christmas music, but what else would they expect in this type of concert?
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they will hear we have an extended organ prelude before the concert.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: So come rolling.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: You would hear probably, well, we do some hymn singing.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_01: So there's we would open with a hymn, and then you'll hear five numbers, and then we will move ahead to another hymn with the congregation.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes an organ solo is filled in there.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes it's a piece played by the ensemble with no singers.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: And then the singers will sing another set of music followed by a hymn, and then a final set of music followed by a hymn.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's advent music and Christmas music.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: And there's also a section of sacred music, but not seasonal, just a general set.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: And this year that set is actually being dedicated to the memory of Ed Wheeler.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: This concert's uh probably about an hour and a half, or is it two-hour concert?
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: No, it's I think it'll run probably about an hour and a half.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_02: This is a longstanding tradition, these United Choir Christmas concerts.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_02: How long has the United Choir been singing Christmas concerts?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the United Choir started singing Christmas concerts actually in 1956.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_01: But the United Choir started according to the record, it maybe started before and nobody kept records.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: But from what I could find, the first concert was in 1927.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: That was in October, and they sang a cantata, one that I didn't actually recognize, but they got together, I guess, for the purpose of putting together a cantata.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: But the Christmas tradition began in 1956.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: And how did it start?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: I'm guessing, of course, this is me just postulating, and I'm not sure, you know, I'm just guessing that people, you know, wanted to, number one, it was just uh Schwankfelder churches that were involved.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_01: So it was truly a Schwankfelder tradition.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: And there were, I guess five, you probably know this history better, maybe than I, but there were probably, I think, five churches then.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: So those churches probably wanted to put some things together, number one, to stay connected with each other.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe number two, because you can do things like cantatas and music with accompanists and things like that when you have a large enough choir to support all of that happening.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: You need the number of singers, you need balance between the different sections.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, if Central had great tenors and sopranos and Palm had great altos and basses, you have a great choir.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you're not trying to you have every part filled.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm assuming that that is part of the reason for it.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_01: It seems that back in the early days, they got together for the purpose of concerts, yes, but often the concert was after the general conference meeting, or they sang for a specific dedication of an organ or the dedication of a new church building or that kind of situation.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's how it kind of began that there was a purpose to put a choir together because of some special anniversary event or dedication kind of event.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: So a way of bringing Schwenckfelder churches together to sing, and then it's continued on for many, many years since.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_02: Why do you think it's lasted so long?
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: I think people really enjoy being together.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: I think they enjoy being with people that are of a like ilk, like people who enjoy just singing music and being part of a larger choir, a more festival kind of a choir that gives a different feeling.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then as you sing with that group, then they become your friends, and then you look forward to seeing them for rehearsals and getting together and you know the whole social aspect of it as well.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_02: And then uh it's broadened out since the 50s to include other churches in the area.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: About how many other churches have been involved with the United Choir concert over the years?
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: Back in 2010, there were 33 churches involved.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Unfortunately, COVID has kind of dwindled our numbers, and we're really trying hard to make a comeback.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: So last year we had 12 churches involved.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm not sure this year we look like we have similar clientele to last year, except it is slightly bigger.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: We have instead of 24 people, we're up to like 31 people.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: So we're trying to come back and get it back to the you know, 75 people that it was back in the day before COVID.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_02: Sure, but this tradition of the United Choir concert also now reaches out to other churches and and they keep coming to sing too.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: They do, yeah.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_02: What has been the attraction for that?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_02: Surely they must have Christmas music in their own churches, right?
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: They do, they do, yes.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: And we all, you know, we all have Christmas music in our own churches.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: But again, and again, especially with COVID, people now coming to church online and less clientele in the churches.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_01: We're all struggling a little bit with numbers with our choirs.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: And when you have more people, there's just more opportunity to do music that is different than what you can do with a smaller choir.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: So it gives you opportunities to choose different pieces of music as a director, to sing different pieces of music as a singer, and to do it with instrumental accompaniment.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: So we're all coming together and we can all sing over the trumpets, you know, we have to have enough voices to be heard over the instruments.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: So sure it gives you some uh options of music that you can't necessarily do in your home church setting.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_02: What is it about Christmas music that's so special in your mind that is so attractive to others?
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: I think Christmas is kind of universal.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: The music of Christmas is universal across all denominations.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: We may not sing the same hymns at Central as the Lutheran Church down the road on any given Sunday, but I bet that during the season of Christmas, many of our denominations are singing and loving the same hymns and carols.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: Christmas itself is tied to many happy memories for many people.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so sharing music of the season brings joy.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we all want to celebrate the birth and the joy of the Christmas season and the nativity story.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I think Christmas music is really special in that we all share it.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's something that we all share.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's not a um Lutheran hymn and it's not a United Church of Christ hymn.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's music that we all embrace.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_02: Is it the melody?
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_02: Is it the lyrics?
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh maybe it's all of these things together that trigger memories from our past that's good to celebrate.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's the whole story of the nativity.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's that whole story that we learned as little children, and we believe and we we have faith that that is the truth, and that is the fact, you know, that Christ was born of a virgin, and all of that is part of the love of Christmas music.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: Earlier in our conversation, you talked about Advent and distinguishing that from Christmas.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_02: Are there Advent carols that are different from Christmas carols?
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_01: There is not the plethora of Advent carols that there is of Christmas music, but there is Advent music.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Advent is the season prior to Christmas.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: It's actually a longer season than Christmas in the church calendar.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: Advent is a season of preparation, and we prepare our homes for celebrations and gatherings.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: We prepare by purchasing gifts for loved ones, but mostly we should be preparing our hearts to welcome the Christ child.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: So that is the purpose of the Advent season.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: During Advent, we recognize the darkness of the world without the light of Christ, and we look forward with hope to the peace and joy of Christ's coming, that Christ's coming would like give to our lives.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: That's basically what the thrust of the Advent music is.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: Christmas music, on the other hand, is the celebration of the birth.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Christ is born, Jesus is come to free us from sin, to bring us salvation.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: So it's the actual event has now occurred, and the music relates to all of those pieces of the event with the shepherds being shared with from the angels and the glorious music that they heard from the angels telling them to go and visit the Christ child, the story of the wise men and their visit to the Christ child and their travels, and just music that takes us from Christmas Day and the birth of Christ to the cross and the salvation and the full purpose of Christ's life on this earth.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_02: Can you give an example of an advent Carol?
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: Well, O come O come Manuel is kind of uh inclusive, Carol.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the title is O come o come manual, it's pleading, pleading for Christ to come and free us from our captivity.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: And each verse begins with the same kind of pleading.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: The second verse is oh come thou dayspring and cheer us.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: And the third verse, come thou wisdom, and show us the path of knowledge, come, desire of nations, and bind us in one heart, which is in essence peace.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: Another hymn that I really enjoy as an advent hymn is called People Look East.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_01: And it's a carol of hope and excitement and anticipation and preparation.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I kind of think of Ucamo come Emanuel as kind of a mournful type of an Advent hymn, but People Look East is a joyful one.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: It has a very different feel to it.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: Some of the lyrics include to trim the hearth and set the table to welcome love the guest, love being Christ, of course, love, a capital L.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: And then also in another verse, although the earth is bare, we're singing for love the rose to be on his way and kind of comparing the seed being planted and then coming to full glory in a rose as the seed of Christ being planted in Advent in our hearts, and then coming to pass as a Christ child.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: Love the stars on the way to bring more light than the sun and moon combined.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: But still, we are looking ahead in Advent to the coming of the Lord.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_02: It's looking forward in anticipation rather than actually here.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_02: Some of the traditional themes about this time of year are hope and love and peace and joy.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_02: Might you share a Christmas carol or an advent carol that embodies each of these?
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: So I can think of songs that actually state the four components of Advent, love, peace, hope, joy.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: Not necessarily hymns, though, they're more like uh composed songs, especially for children as they are learning about the components of Advent.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_01: Children's songs often actually state each of those.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: And if you do any Advent candle lighting, songs that kind of relate to lighting the Advent candle also kind of state them all.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_01: To actually these sayings, peace, love, hope, and joy in the song.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: It's not directly happening.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: But I do really like the Advent hymn, Come Thou Wonderful.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_01: Oh thou joyful, oh thou wonderful.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: Because there it does talk about grace being revealed at Christmas tide and that Jesus came to win us from all sin.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: That is definitely hope.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: One of the verses says, Oh thou joyful.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, there is the word joy uh anyways as one of the components, peace revealing Christmas tide.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: So there's talking about peace and binding us together as one.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_01: And the second verse is oh thou joyful, oh thou wonderful, love revealing Christmas tide.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I kind of feel that in that hymn, we're really discussing either directly or indirectly, each of those four components of Advent.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_02: We've been talking about a variety of carols and hymns, but some of them are rather dated hundreds of years ago.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: Do you feel that these messages from these carols still have value today?
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, absolutely.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: I wouldn't be in this position if I didn't think that.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, that's too obvious a question.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: Why do you think that they have value for today?
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: I think the value is in looking at the lessons of the Christmas and Advent seasons of Emmanuel, God with us, and looking at this promise and remembering that it isn't just for a day.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Jesus didn't just come on December 25th.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: God with us goes through us through our entire year, for our entire life, and really forever.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: So we have to look at this promise as, you know, it's not just on December 25th.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's for every day.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: Every day, God brings us hope, peace, joy, and love.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: Every day through we need to be reminded.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: Every day we need to remind ourselves that you know the Advent and Christmas lessons are with us.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: They're with us every day.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: Every day we have Christ's birth, crucifixion, and resurrection uplifting us and inspiring us and moving us forward.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: We are reminded each Advent and Christmas season that God has brought us out of darkness and will continue to guide us to the light, no matter what our lives throw our way.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: We need only to seek him.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's the value, is that it's kind of a yearly reminder that we carry Christ with us all the time, Emmanuel God with us.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: And this message then encased in melodies that trigger our hearts and enlighten our minds.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: This past year, I know the United Choir suffered the loss of beloved director, Ed Beeler.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: I know it was a tremendous loss, and I'm sorry for those who are listening who are still grieving his loss.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: But he was particularly enthusiastic about this concert, the United Choir concert.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_02: Since you knew him, Sally, what what made him so passionate about this particular concert?
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think, first of all, he's very passionate about music.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: I know he was a tuba player and he just loved music.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: He loved playing in Red Hill Band and he loved directing this concert and directing his choir at Palm.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: He directed at Palm for 50 years.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: He directed United Choir for 37 years.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: So you've got to be pretty passionate about music for that to take such a large part of your life.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_01: And I think he was also a man with a very strong faith and was very passionate about sharing the good news with others.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I think singing the music of this joyous Christmas season is a wonderful way to share the story of Christ's love.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I think he um really was passionate about that, the inspiration and the joy of the season.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: And you mentioned that there'll be a song or two dedicated to him this year in this choir concert.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_02: Is that correct?
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: I chose the opening section of five songs to honor Ed's memory.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_01: And one of the pieces was commissioned for an anniversary at the Palm Springfelder Church.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: There were several pieces commissioned from Joseph Martin.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: One was to honor a longtime organist, Peg Jacobs, upon her passing.
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: And a third one was commissioned just recently to honor Ed's 50 years of service at Palm.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: So those three numbers are included.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: I chose a lovely arrangement of Amazing Grace because that was Ed's favorite hymn.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: I just like at the very end.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: The melody is actually not the same melody as the amazing grace that we all think of, but it does bring that melody out in the very last phrase as it says, and Grace will lead me home.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I'm gonna cry, sorry.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: I just thought that was uh honored Ed also.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_01: And and also, uh, I mean, obviously, all of this is to the glory of God.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: It is not to the glory of Ed, but I think the pieces honor him as they lead us to the Lord.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, oh yes.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure those will be very warming songs for those who are in attendance and are listening.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: What are some of the other songs that you'll be singing this year?
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: Other pieces include traditional carols.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes they're set to different words than what we might.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: One of the uh titles would be Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella, but it's set to completely different text.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: But we have a contemporary piece that is kind of married and combined with angels we have heard on high.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_01: So that's kind of an interesting piece.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: That actually breaks into six parts at the end.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: So it's kind of a very, very full kind of piece with uh accompaniment with the instrumentalists.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we're doing a lovely a cappella piece.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm hoping we can get it together in a cappella, um, but it's called In Silent Night.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: And I really like the way this piece takes us right through to the cross, right through Christmas to the cross.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_01: And then we're doing this kind of rollicking spiritual that combines two pieces uh children go where I send thee and go tell it on the mount.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm pretty uh pretty excited about about that piece too.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_01: So we have lots of music that we're doing.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_02: That's great.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_02: So the concert is December 4th at 2:30 at the Central Schwankfelder Church, and the organ preludes will begin ahead of time.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_01: About 20 minutes before, yes.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: And if people would like more information about the concert, they can find it on your website.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_02: Can you mention that for us?
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, the website is unitedchoir.org.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would just really love to have people come out and support the program.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the choir may be a bit smaller, but you will not be disappointed with the quality.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_01: The singers are working hard to bring an inspiring service of music.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: So let's all come, let us adore him.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: Wonderful.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: Sally, thank you so much for letting me ask you a few questions.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_02: And then we certainly warmly invite everybody to this concert on December the 4th at 2 30.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Drake.