Post-Modern People Living Victorian Lives
A week before Christmas I had the pleasure of participating in two evening sing-a-longs in people's homes. The first evening was a tradition that I have been going to for the better part of ten years now. A couple I know well live out in the country and have built a nice home on some ten acres. It's a bit of an unusual house. There's a plane in the garage and a pipe organ in the bedroom! The plane is currently under repair, but the pipe organ (two manuals) is in fine working order. One of the organists from the parish where I first served as pastor comes out with his wife and children and plays carols on this 140-year old instrument.
Neighbours, friends and this year even visitors from Germany were present for the evening's fun. We eat, socialize but most importantly sing together. It is a happily uninhibited affair. Song sheets are shared and fooling around with the notes is not frowned upon. Young children, teenagers, young adults, middle-age folks and retirees are all at home with one another. Sometimes we sing for two hours -- this year was more like an hour and a half.
The next night I was at a home in downtown Toronto where a pre-Christmas soiree has also been a family tradition for a long time. Our hosts are very gracious and also believe in people making music together. The chosen instruments for this year's singing sessions were bagpipes (you read that right) and jazz electric guitar.
Time was that people had to make their own fun. It is a loss, I think, that we do it so little now. In the 19th century sheet music was sold in the same way that downloads are purchased today -- a piece of sheet music was the "single" of its day.
I see it happen a bit in my own parish. Many of my parishioners are from Goa, India and from the Philippines. Both cultures have a healthy tradition of playing music as a form of entertainment. I was a little surprised to learn of the broad acceptance of American country music especially in Goa, but at least one reason is clear -- it is playable and singable.
It might seem to us that such traditions belong to former times, but they show us that we find something in these social experiences of music that can't be replaced with pre-recorded music and a pair of headphones. Singing is a great way of being together, and we need more of that. It is a good idea that is neither post-modern nor Victorian.
Neighbours, friends and this year even visitors from Germany were present for the evening's fun. We eat, socialize but most importantly sing together. It is a happily uninhibited affair. Song sheets are shared and fooling around with the notes is not frowned upon. Young children, teenagers, young adults, middle-age folks and retirees are all at home with one another. Sometimes we sing for two hours -- this year was more like an hour and a half. The next night I was at a home in downtown Toronto where a pre-Christmas soiree has also been a family tradition for a long time. Our hosts are very gracious and also believe in people making music together. The chosen instruments for this year's singing sessions were bagpipes (you read that right) and jazz electric guitar.
Time was that people had to make their own fun. It is a loss, I think, that we do it so little now. In the 19th century sheet music was sold in the same way that downloads are purchased today -- a piece of sheet music was the "single" of its day.
I see it happen a bit in my own parish. Many of my parishioners are from Goa, India and from the Philippines. Both cultures have a healthy tradition of playing music as a form of entertainment. I was a little surprised to learn of the broad acceptance of American country music especially in Goa, but at least one reason is clear -- it is playable and singable.
It might seem to us that such traditions belong to former times, but they show us that we find something in these social experiences of music that can't be replaced with pre-recorded music and a pair of headphones. Singing is a great way of being together, and we need more of that. It is a good idea that is neither post-modern nor Victorian.
