Church Concert

16 Feb 2022

🎶

I gave a concert on the piano and accordion (partly I sang along) in the church in El Morche (back entrance), with works by J. S. Bach, F. Schubert and various songs. One of my passions is environmental protection. That's why I didn't lay out any program notes. The church was full; of course I was a little nervous...

It started on 16 Feb 2022, at 4 p.m. During the concert I announced and explained the music. I managed to keep my nerves down and concentrate on the performances. The concert was very well received by the visitors. Here's the program with my explanations

The program:

J. S. Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Volume 1, Prelude in C major

J.S. Bach: Jesus bleibet meine Freude, from Cantata 147

F. Schubert: Impromptu in A flat major, Op. Posth. 142 No. 2

In Ängsten die einen (German evangelical song book, No. 626, to sing along)

Om namo amitabaya (Buddhist mantra, I sing with accordion)

I find my joy in the simple things (rainbow song, I sing with accordion)

- BREAK -

Hijo de la luna (Spanish song, piano version)

House of the Rising sun (I sing with piano)

Die Erde, die du schufst war gut (German evangelical song book, no. 653, verses 1-3, sing-along)

The Bare Necessities (from the Walt Disney film "Jungle Book", piano version)

In einen Harung, jung und schlank (I sing with accordion)

Wenn here een Pott mit Bohnen steiht (I'm singing with accordion)

Herr, gib uns deinen Frieden (Evangelical song book, No. 436, Sing-Along Canon)

WA Mozart: Sonata in A major, 3rd movement, "Turkish March"

Explanations:

▶ J. S. Bach: Das Wohltemperierte Klavier, Volume 1, Prelude in C major (Köthen, 1722):

"The Well-Tempered Clavier" - that sounds a bit strange, doesn't it? Were the pianos warmed up then, perhaps with an oven? No, "well-tempered" had a different meaning for musical instruments. "Well-tempered piano" means a "well-tuned piano".

Today it is agreed that the 12 semitones should all be tuned at equal intervals, so that C major sounds just as good as D flat major and all other keys. At that time, however, it was customary to tune the pianos in such a way that C major sounds particularly pure, but keys with many accidentals are quite disharmonious. The music was played in keys with as few accidentals as possible, which meant on the piano that the black keys were used as little as possible.

That led to discussions. Johann Sebastian Bach was one of those musicians who wanted to change that. Bach loved using all kinds of keys, and of course they all had to sound good. To reinforce this, in his work "Well-Tempered Clavier" he wrote two pieces of music in each key, two in major and two in minor on each note.

I will now play you the very first composition of this collection, the Prelude in C major. It became very well known, also through the "Ave Maria", which Charles Gounod composed a hundred years later, based on this prelude.

▶ J.S. Bach: "Jesus bleibet meine Freude" from Cantata 147:

Leipzig, May 1723 - Johann Sebastian Bach was 38 years old and got a job as a church musician in Leipzig. Among other things, he had to prepare a cantata performance for every Sunday. The following beautiful melody comes from one of these cantatas. The cantata was performed on July 2, 1732, the first part before the sermon, the second part after the sermon. "Cantata" means "sing". I'm trying to take it seriously now and I'm going to sing a bit...

▶ F. Schubert: Impromptu A flat major Op. Posth. 142 No. 2:

104 years later, Franz Schubert composed the Impromptu in A flat major for piano, in December 1827 in Vienna. He was 30 years young and a year later he died after two weeks of fever. The French word "impromptu" means "improvisation" or "instantaneous idea". The play was not published until 10 years after his death. But then it became quite popular because of the catchy melody.

▶ In Ängsten die einen (EG No. 626):

Social injustice is an important theme in the New Testament. Again and again Jesus shows solidarity with poor people and calls on rich people to adopt a simpler lifestyle. I think the Christian churches should pay more attention to this issue. There are only a few songs about it. One of them is "In Ängsten die einen". I like this song. It very clearly denounces social inequality. I invite you to sing it together now.

▶ Om namo amitabaya (Buddhist mantra):

I am now abruptly changing cultures and religions. I would like to say: For me, all worldviews belong together. When I'm in the spirit of love, I can worship Jesus Christ, but I can also worship Buddha, or Allah, or believe in no god at all. For God it is not important what we call him, but that we live in the spirit of love. And love is a central theme in almost all worldviews.

I will now sing you one of the most famous mantras. The translation:

"Om, I bow to Amitaba, the Buddha of limitless light

and take refuge in the three jewels Buddha, Dharma and Sangha"

This refuge to the three jewels Buddha, Dharma and Sangha plays a central role in Buddhism.

▶ I find my joy in the simple things:

This is a song of the so-called Rainbow movement. This movement consists of gatherings under the simplest of conditions in secluded places, mostly somewhere in the mountains. The meetings usually last a month, people bring a tent to sleep in, people dig a ditch for a toilet, they go to a river to wash, etc.

The meetings are open. If you walk between the many tents, you will notice that no music can be heard from the radio or loudspeakers. That's undesirable there, and people actually stick to it. This tradition means that many people there sing and make music themselves. There I also got to know the mantras, as well as bhajans from Hinduism, African songs, also German, Spanish and especially English rainbow songs. I'll sing you an English one now. The lyrics:

I find my joy in the simple things, coming from the earth.

I find my joy in the sun that shines and the water that sings to me.

Listen to the wind and listen to the water, hear what they say!

Singing heya, heya, heya, heya, heya heya ho.

Let me never forget, never forget to give thanks, give thanks, give thanks, give thanks and praise.

Singing heya, heya, heya, heya, heya heya ho.

- BREAK -

▶ Hijo de la luna:

This song was released by Spanish band Mecano in 1986. "Hijo de la luna" means "son of the moon". It's about an old, rather cruel legend.

▶ House of the Rising sun:

It's about a boy who works in a brothel. The brothel is called "House of the Rising Sun". The mother is a seamstress by profession, she sewed him a pair of jeans. The father is a drinker, he is only satisfied when he has alcohol.

It was originally a 19th-century folk song. There are over 250 commercially recorded versions. I'm going with the 1964 version of The Animals.

▶ Die Erde die du schufst, war gut (EG 653):

In my opinion, the church should also become more active in the subject of ​​environmental and climate protection. She cannot refer directly to the Bible, because these problems did not exist in biblical times. But of course environmental and climate protection is very important to God.

For us this means: whenever possible, do not use a car or plane, but use public transport, ride a bike or walk, grow our food in the garden or buy organic, avoid waste, live simple... Here is a song that deals with the care of creation. We sing verses 1 to 3.

▶ Probiers mal mit Gemütlichkeit:

It is the most famous song from the Walt Disney film "The Jungle Book" from 1967. The film was already very successful in the USA, but even more so in Europe and mostly in Germany. Here is my piano version.

▶ In einen Harung, jung und schlank:

The lyrics are a joke about two fish, the origin of the song is unknown. "Harung" is an ancient word for "herring". Anyone who knows the song is welcome to sing along.

▶ Wenn hier een Pott mit Bohnen steiht:

Now a song from the "World Music" category, in the language of my home country. I come from Ostfriesland. Why do I count a German folk song as world music? To understand that you have to talk to the people of Ostfriesland. Then you soon realize that they are not really aware that they belong to Germany. Rather, they consider Ostfriesland to be a separate part of the world. So this old song of Ostfriesland song is after all - world music!

Usually the refrain is: "Marei, Mara, Maruschkaka" etc. I know it with another refrain and I don't know where I got it from.

The translation:

If there is a pot of beans here

and there a pot of porridge,

then I leave porridge and beans and dance with my Marie

ralala...

Marie, Marie, what are you thinking

what do you have in mind?

Are you thinking of the big pot with porridge and beans in it?

ralala...

Marie, she is so sweet and kind,

from head to feet,

and if I give her a kiss,

oh boy, how sweet does that taste!

ralala...

▶ Herr, gib uns deinen Frieden (German evangelical song book, no. 436)

We sing this canon together. I chose him because of the threat of war in Ukraine. I think war and peace between peoples is a result of war and peace within each and every one of us human beings.

▶ W.A. Mozart: Sonata No. 11 in A major, 3rd movement, "Turkish March" (Vienna or Salzburg, 1783):

Turkey was powerful during Mozart's lifetime and is also called the "Ottoman Empire". The military music of the Ottoman Empire was particularly well known in Austria, where Mozart lived. In the Turkish March, Mozart imitated this military music. This gave the Turkish March an exotic touch and distinguishes it from the rest of Mozart's piano pieces, in particular through the even metrical accents typical of marches and the abrupt harmonic changes.