HARDWICK – The United Church of Hardwick opened the Christmas season with an all inclusive winter concert last Sunday afternoon, which featured a number of different singers and musicians as well as a clever bingo contest (with prizes!) and an amusing skit of “dancing knees.” (more later).
photo by Vanessa Fournier
The program began with St. Norbert’s Community Handbell Choir, which consisted of some dozen players ringing a range of tuned bells with special muffled clappers in impressive coordination, creating a lovely delicate sound with overlaying resonance. Their first piece was “Let There Be Peace On Earth,” accompanying the bells with singing, a meaningful message for these times, composed by S. Miller and J. Jackson.
The next two numbers were sung by the choir of the United Church of Hardwick with piano accompaniment. The classic hymn “Amazing Grace” was first. This tune has a fascinating history, for it was written in 1779 by John Newman, who renounced his previous occupation as a slave trader to find salvation through grace. The second song they sang was “Open the Gates of Jerusalem.”
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Roy MacNeil then played several selections from the Partitas and Sonatas for solo violin by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) on his new, recently acquired instrument made by Thurmond Knight of Glover. The first work in B Minor evoked something of late-night meditations appropriate to the days of Advent leading up to Christmas. The second in E Major was slower, perhaps having the visual equivalent of a fresh coat of snow. The third in the sonata form was more playful in its rhythms and tempo, all performed with feeling and precision. Though these violin compositions by Bach (along with those for solo cello) were secular in origin, they certainly take us to some transcendental realm.
The St. Norbert’s Community Handbell Choir returned for three pieces, “Twas in the Moon of Wintertime” (by C. Mokleburst), “The Water is Wide” (by E. Edwards) and “O, How Joyfully” (by C. Mokleburst). In addition to ringing the bells by hand, the players sometimes struck them with mallets for a slightly different effect, and they could also dampen the lingering resonance when they wanted by laying the bells on a soft cushion in front of them or holding the bells to their chests.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Bill Carroll and Friends was a small ensemble of four musicians including Carroll on acoustic guitar, mandolin and vocals, Chris Martin on electric bass guitar and vocals, Donna Thunder Moran on tambourine and vocals and Tommy Trower on percussion. They started with the popular song, “Little Drummer,” with Carroll singing. Then Moran gave an original number, “Wishes Do Come True,” with engaging lyrics based on her own life experiences. They concluded with the enthusiastic old standard, “When the Saints Go Marchin’ In,” with the audience joining vocally and clapping in time.
Everyone participated in choosing favorite Christmas carols from the hymnal and singing together including “Who Would Think That What Was Needed,” “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” “O Come, O Come Emanuel and Joy to the World.”
A unique bingo game had a sheet distributed to the audience with a picture of a Christmas tree having seven numbers on its ornaments to fill in as either true or false in answer to seasonally related questions, and several people got completely correct scores, winning gifts.
“Dancing Knees” got a lot of laughs as seated members of the bell choir concealed themselves behind a long green sheet which when raised at the bottom brought into view cloth dolls attached to their lower legs, which danced up and down to some recorded music, a variation on “Jingle Bells” but with different lyrics.
The final offering of the afternoon was again with the St. Norbert’s Community Bell Choir, playing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” All this winter concert gave us a head start to be in a Christmas mood for the coming weeks.
David K. Rodgers
David K. Rodgers is a writer, mason and card carrying dilettante, who dabbles and babbles in art. He has lived in East Craftsbury for the past 40 years.
